Brian is my favorite independent journalist. I've always thought he would be perfect as DNC chair or press secretary to the president, but he prefers the vital service he performs now. We are lucky to have him. His family must be so proud. He is also a best-selling author.
Ah, yes. Among the reasons I didn't become a lawyer. Carroll didn't prove she was raped, but that doesn't mean Donnie didn't rape her ("as many people commonly understand the word"), which the jury concluded he did.
As for ABC, they haven't been paying attention. Whatever they think they bought for $15M has a shelf life of about one second. Donnie can turn on them again in the blink of an eye.
I hope good journalists can survive on Substack. I have given up all my MSM subscriptions, as well as Amazon Prime, but like abandoning Twitter for Bluesky, it feels like ceding the field to the obnoxious right. So, rather than spending the next 4 years kvetching and running, let’s focus instead on concrete ACTION we can take to preserve what is left. This includes supporting independent journalists, but also unbowed institutions like maybe ACLU? Your suggestions here:_______________
NAACP, Bold Progressives, 350.org, NRDC, Earthjustice, PBS, Climate Reality Project, Planned Parenthood, VoteVets.org, Doctors Without Borders, your local foodbank and plenty more.
Support news organizations that have their own reporters and journalist and who gather primary facts. News organizations that have reporters at the White House and in Washington and who are investigating facts and have reporters in foreign countries, etc.
If your primary news source is someone's blog or podcast that just creates opinions from reading some other news source, you will eventually be misled. And more importantly, you won't know when it happens.
And the primary news sources will die from lack of funds.
I read the New York Times, Reuters, StlToday and read/listen to NPR and PBS.
The question for me, is if the news source says something is a fact, that it is a fact.
News articles and opinion pieces are all mixed fact with opinion. News articles seem to be heavier on facts and opinion articles heavier on opinion.
Could happen, may happen, will lead to, is like, they are all alike, compares to, person said and that person is really important, means, serious, vague summations (very large, very small) and many other phrases indicate opinion.
Fox is worthless because of examples like Dominion voting systems, Sandy Hook and many others. Lots of mainstream news sources are valid, if you are careful to separate facts from opinion and draw your own conclusions. If a mainstream news source says something is a fact that was not a fact, the other mainstream news sources will report that lie.
If a news source says person A said statement B. Person A saying statement B is the fact, statement B is NOT a fact. Conservative media often takes statement B as a fact.
I value the opinion of people like Lucas Kunce, but I never adopt it as my opinion.
I want to underline SPLC. I've depended on them to give me straight answers for a very long time. Morris Dees had steel cable in his spine except when it came to his conduct with women, sadly.
I have completely pulled away from mainstream media. Stopped my NYT subscription after the Biden debate, stopped watching MSNBC after the election. Its BTC, Medias touch, and substacks like Hopium Chronicles, David Pakman, and a few others from here on.
I never had a NYT subscription, and I don't watch TV, but you can also check out "The Guardian," "The Intercept," "Common Dreams," and a couple of others. I was initially very impressed with "The Lever," but it's frustrating, because they just keep telling different versions of the same story: money corrupts politics in this country. Every presentation is a different example of that problem. I already know money corrupts politics in this country. We don't need a five cent cigar. We need five cent politicians who aren't moved by tens of thousands or more of dollars.
My ubderlying guide at this point is corporate media is more concerned with its bottom line than the truth whic became obvious to me over the ladt months of the campaign. "Sane-washing" began trending as a synonym for "normalizing" Trump.
Even left leaning MSNBC seemed to be more about catastrophizing and fear promoting in order to keep viewership. Im tired of the paradigm.
By viewing a variety of substacks/podcasts i feel im getting a somewhat more honest view, but still at this point, my time to devoted to political things is down about 80% compared to pre-election.
I'm backing off to enjoy other aspects of life, without going full "head in the sand"
News media is a business. I expect them to maximize profit.
I used to use truth as synonymous with fact, but with, Trump truth has developed a much different meaning.
I've put my head in the sand also. I read purely for facts and ignore just about all opinion articles. And the opinion articles I do read, I read to see if there are any facts I am missing.
Lucas Kunce's substack is like that for me. It's opinion, but I read it for other facts. For example I did not know the CEO who got shot had just implemented an AI system to increase and decrease approvals at his whim. I have not verified it elsewhere, but I think, since Lucas stated it as a fact, it was a fact. Hopefully it was.
My fear is that if everyone gets their news from opinion sources (blogs, podcasts, etc), the primary news media will die. The people gathering the facts will go away and we will be left with only opinion and make believe (like Fox).
And when people (like me with the above Lucas fact) unquestionably believe someone, that someone becomes enormously powerful and will eventually mislead them.
You have done the exact same thing that the Republicans have successfully done for years. You lumped all the mainstream media together and said we should not believe them, but rather, we should believe you.
Just like the Republicans, you have chosen a few articles out of thousands that support your hypothesis and overlayed them across the whole news organization. And further across many other unnamed news organizations.
You are asking the wrong question. The question you need to ask is, does that news outlet print facts accurately. That is, when the news organization said something happened, it really did happen. And when they make mistakes, they correct them.
Fox does not (Dominion voting systems, etc.). The New York Times does. And when the NYT makes a mistake, it's news for all organizations.
Conclusion is the readers responsibility. If you read someone's opinion and take that as fact you will always be misled. It is the readers responsibility to separate fact from opinion. It is the readers responsibility to make their own conclusions. (Unlike Rush Limbaugh that used to say he told his readers what to think.)
If you have convinced yourself the mainstream media prints lies and only Brian Tyler Cohen or your single news source prints the truth, you have set your self up to be mislead, just like the MAGA crowd is continuously misled. And you will eventually be misled as MAGA has been.
My guidelines. Choose a news outlet that has its own reporters and journalist and does their own primary fact gathering (not just reading some other news outlet's news and giving you their opinion). Choose a news outlet that is peer reviewed (if they print a lie, other news outlets will report it). Read the opinions of others, but make your own conclusions.
The loss to the country will be when everyone gets their news from opinion podcasts, blogs and Tik Tok/Facebook/Twitter feeds and the primary news outlets can no longer afford to stay in business and deliver the primary facts.
I congratulate BTC on his large following and his popularity. His 3.5 million followers ensure he his compensated well above any reporter at the NYT, WaPo or LA Times.
But is he a journalist? Or even an independent media "expert?" He is an entertainer, and no doubt a talented one. And we all need great entertainment, so good on him.
He links to an opinion piece by conservative opinion writers Ross Douthat and David French in the NYT as evidence of the NYT's rot and bias. The opinion section is not journalism; a NYT reporter did not write the words that BTC quotes. So while BTC excites us and gets our ire up hoping we'll believe in NYT's "both sides isms," he hasn't give us facts to support that. Nor is there much "expert" analysis in BTC's post.
The populace may prefer to receive information from entertainers -- I enjoy Stephen Colbert -- but entertainment is not news or analysis.
Lastly, if engagement, clicks and followers equal dollars (which they do), perhaps understand that while folks like BTC cash in, we may all be better off if we acknowledge that we would rather be entertained than informed.
Brian deserves a larger platform to reach more readers! It absolutely amazing the Friday PBS, and traditional media Sunday panel news shows don’t delve into this issue AT ALL.Media capitulation to populism based aristocracies is consistent part of past global cycles similar to the upcoming MAGA:DOGE one in January.
Vance, Reich , Cox-Richardson’s descriptions of global populist based cycles over decades should be voluntary better yet mandatory school / higher ed civics and gov’t curriculum offerings..Watch for a prolonged resurgence in Substack sub orders over 4 years and further cutbacks in traditional media, deservedly so.
I truly hope you are right. We know networks thrive financially from advertising. If a lot of people unplug, viewership declines, and advertisers won't pay as much for commercials. That would hit them in the bottom line, where it hurts the most.
Right you are Brenda. Networks already cutting back either demoting or firing anchors like CBS Jeff Glor and Honda Kotb on NBC quietly eased out.wait for Kennedy Jr to banish drug commercials, these commercials plus the huge volume of insurance commercials (progressive, State Farm..) won’t be missed..
Hopefully if anyone reading this is not already following BTC they will after reading this. We must band together and make journalism such as his a strong very obvious presence in our every day world where millions get this unbiased reporting. Just as we have to do all we can to support the likes of Lucas Kunce. Many of us don't have much extra money can can't afford monthly subscriptions, but I feel that just by following and making constructive comments we let each other know we are not alone and we let Mr. Kunce know how much we value him.
It has been disheartening, discouraging, and disturbing to see the capitulation of mainstream media, but let's not kid ourselves that this capitulation has only been of late. Why were President Biden's wonderful accomplishments in rescuing America from Trump's messes, including Covid, the exploding deficit, creating jobs, promoting Unions, strengthening NATO, strengthening our military connection with Australia such as had not been seen since WWII, the huge infrastructure bill, and more not the subject of huge coverage by mainstream television, newspapers, and radio stations? The reason is MSM is owned by billionaires and billionaire corporations, who wanted to insure another round of tax cuts and less regulation. Reagan fomented this nauseating course when he gutted the FCC and eliminated the " Fairness Doctrine," which required all media to present BOTH sides of any issue. Also, gutting the FCC allowed a single person or business to own two or more media, such as a T.V. station and a major newspaper, in a mass market, resulting in one owner to be able to blanket his editorialized " journalism"; i.e. his opinion or outright propaganda, to millions of people multiple times a day, every day, every week, every year. This is how Rupert Murdoch got his clutches on the American market. He bought an independent T.V. station in Dallas/Fort Worth and bided his time. Next, he purchased Channel Four, previously a CBS outlet, made it Fox Four, and after a little time passed, he purchased the " Dallas Norning News," the newspaper dominant in the region. Murdoch continued increasing his holdings. The actions that caused him to be booted out of the U.K. and Australia were rewarded here. Our other big problem was the SCOTUS ruling on " Citizens United vs FEC, "which has allowed big, dark, dirty money to sway our elections. Just look at Elon Musk......
Sanders does, Warren does, Ocasio-Cortez does, Lucas Kunce does (even though he didn't get elected), Trygve Hammer does (also didn't get elected), Tester probably does, the guy from Rhode Island (Sheldon Whitehorse) does, and some others do.
We need to come up with a similar "megaphone" as Fox "Entertainment" maybe Bloomberg, or some other left-leaning billionaire could invest in their own Media Company, like Rupert Murdoch's. It is almost impossible to break through the non-stop disinformation and lies Fox share with their cult followers.
So im new to you substack Lucas. I proudly voted for you three. times now. Twice was in a Democratic Primary's an Once in State. I love your story and your perspective. Iwas wondering if you or the Democratic Party here in Missouri have considered using signs to put facts in front of Republicans who are being controlled by misinformation. I'm in recovery an we call this planting seeds. When one truth gets in sometimes it frees people from denial. Just a thought I wanted to throw your way. I really hope to get to vote for you again...maybe next time it will be for President!!
Brian is my favorite independent journalist. I've always thought he would be perfect as DNC chair or press secretary to the president, but he prefers the vital service he performs now. We are lucky to have him. His family must be so proud. He is also a best-selling author.
Does he collect any news facts himself or just opine on the news from other news outlets?
Those are my thoughts exactly!
Ah, yes. Among the reasons I didn't become a lawyer. Carroll didn't prove she was raped, but that doesn't mean Donnie didn't rape her ("as many people commonly understand the word"), which the jury concluded he did.
As for ABC, they haven't been paying attention. Whatever they think they bought for $15M has a shelf life of about one second. Donnie can turn on them again in the blink of an eye.
I hope good journalists can survive on Substack. I have given up all my MSM subscriptions, as well as Amazon Prime, but like abandoning Twitter for Bluesky, it feels like ceding the field to the obnoxious right. So, rather than spending the next 4 years kvetching and running, let’s focus instead on concrete ACTION we can take to preserve what is left. This includes supporting independent journalists, but also unbowed institutions like maybe ACLU? Your suggestions here:_______________
NAACP, Bold Progressives, 350.org, NRDC, Earthjustice, PBS, Climate Reality Project, Planned Parenthood, VoteVets.org, Doctors Without Borders, your local foodbank and plenty more.
I'm so glad you responded because you named many more groups that need our monetary support now more than other. Thank you, Hyla!
thank you, Brenda. Everybody's got end-of-year fundraising going on right now so the timing seemed synchronous (:
* ever, not other
Support news organizations that have their own reporters and journalist and who gather primary facts. News organizations that have reporters at the White House and in Washington and who are investigating facts and have reporters in foreign countries, etc.
If your primary news source is someone's blog or podcast that just creates opinions from reading some other news source, you will eventually be misled. And more importantly, you won't know when it happens.
And the primary news sources will die from lack of funds.
Ok, Joe and Jim, what newspapers are left that fit your criteria?
I read the New York Times, Reuters, StlToday and read/listen to NPR and PBS.
The question for me, is if the news source says something is a fact, that it is a fact.
News articles and opinion pieces are all mixed fact with opinion. News articles seem to be heavier on facts and opinion articles heavier on opinion.
Could happen, may happen, will lead to, is like, they are all alike, compares to, person said and that person is really important, means, serious, vague summations (very large, very small) and many other phrases indicate opinion.
Fox is worthless because of examples like Dominion voting systems, Sandy Hook and many others. Lots of mainstream news sources are valid, if you are careful to separate facts from opinion and draw your own conclusions. If a mainstream news source says something is a fact that was not a fact, the other mainstream news sources will report that lie.
If a news source says person A said statement B. Person A saying statement B is the fact, statement B is NOT a fact. Conservative media often takes statement B as a fact.
I value the opinion of people like Lucas Kunce, but I never adopt it as my opinion.
For me, the St. Louis Post Dispatch certainly strives to fit the criteria. There are many more, but none are podcasts or blogs.
Yes, and these blogs and podcasts rarely have journalists serving them.
ProPublica is the best at in-depth research on important topics
Yes, the ACLU, the SPLC, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Public Citizen, and others who rely on donations or subscriptions.
I want to underline SPLC. I've depended on them to give me straight answers for a very long time. Morris Dees had steel cable in his spine except when it came to his conduct with women, sadly.
Read for facts and draw your own conclusions and opinion. Never take some else's opinion as fact.
Thanks for posting about Brian Tyler Cohen. His voice and content has helped me to stay informed.
Thanks to Lucas and BTC... you guys rock!
I have completely pulled away from mainstream media. Stopped my NYT subscription after the Biden debate, stopped watching MSNBC after the election. Its BTC, Medias touch, and substacks like Hopium Chronicles, David Pakman, and a few others from here on.
I never had a NYT subscription, and I don't watch TV, but you can also check out "The Guardian," "The Intercept," "Common Dreams," and a couple of others. I was initially very impressed with "The Lever," but it's frustrating, because they just keep telling different versions of the same story: money corrupts politics in this country. Every presentation is a different example of that problem. I already know money corrupts politics in this country. We don't need a five cent cigar. We need five cent politicians who aren't moved by tens of thousands or more of dollars.
You betcha!
Where do you get your facts? And if that source prints a lie, will you know it was a lie?
My ubderlying guide at this point is corporate media is more concerned with its bottom line than the truth whic became obvious to me over the ladt months of the campaign. "Sane-washing" began trending as a synonym for "normalizing" Trump.
Even left leaning MSNBC seemed to be more about catastrophizing and fear promoting in order to keep viewership. Im tired of the paradigm.
By viewing a variety of substacks/podcasts i feel im getting a somewhat more honest view, but still at this point, my time to devoted to political things is down about 80% compared to pre-election.
I'm backing off to enjoy other aspects of life, without going full "head in the sand"
News media is a business. I expect them to maximize profit.
I used to use truth as synonymous with fact, but with, Trump truth has developed a much different meaning.
I've put my head in the sand also. I read purely for facts and ignore just about all opinion articles. And the opinion articles I do read, I read to see if there are any facts I am missing.
Lucas Kunce's substack is like that for me. It's opinion, but I read it for other facts. For example I did not know the CEO who got shot had just implemented an AI system to increase and decrease approvals at his whim. I have not verified it elsewhere, but I think, since Lucas stated it as a fact, it was a fact. Hopefully it was.
My fear is that if everyone gets their news from opinion sources (blogs, podcasts, etc), the primary news media will die. The people gathering the facts will go away and we will be left with only opinion and make believe (like Fox).
And when people (like me with the above Lucas fact) unquestionably believe someone, that someone becomes enormously powerful and will eventually mislead them.
Joe,
I like your perspective.
The way I see it, its facts that lead to truth... not truthiness or propaganda.
Not really different from scientific inquiry, where data leads to truth.
Gravity is not a fact, its truth. You have countless examples of gravity, those are the facts. Gravity itself is the truth.
Your inquiry into facts and discernment about them is inspiring... and a fine example of what it takes to be an informed citizen in this world.
Thank you Joe.
Joe,
You and I are thinking far too critically for this discussion.
BTC has started organizing independent progressive journalists in CHORUS
You have done the exact same thing that the Republicans have successfully done for years. You lumped all the mainstream media together and said we should not believe them, but rather, we should believe you.
Just like the Republicans, you have chosen a few articles out of thousands that support your hypothesis and overlayed them across the whole news organization. And further across many other unnamed news organizations.
You are asking the wrong question. The question you need to ask is, does that news outlet print facts accurately. That is, when the news organization said something happened, it really did happen. And when they make mistakes, they correct them.
Fox does not (Dominion voting systems, etc.). The New York Times does. And when the NYT makes a mistake, it's news for all organizations.
Conclusion is the readers responsibility. If you read someone's opinion and take that as fact you will always be misled. It is the readers responsibility to separate fact from opinion. It is the readers responsibility to make their own conclusions. (Unlike Rush Limbaugh that used to say he told his readers what to think.)
If you have convinced yourself the mainstream media prints lies and only Brian Tyler Cohen or your single news source prints the truth, you have set your self up to be mislead, just like the MAGA crowd is continuously misled. And you will eventually be misled as MAGA has been.
My guidelines. Choose a news outlet that has its own reporters and journalist and does their own primary fact gathering (not just reading some other news outlet's news and giving you their opinion). Choose a news outlet that is peer reviewed (if they print a lie, other news outlets will report it). Read the opinions of others, but make your own conclusions.
The loss to the country will be when everyone gets their news from opinion podcasts, blogs and Tik Tok/Facebook/Twitter feeds and the primary news outlets can no longer afford to stay in business and deliver the primary facts.
I congratulate BTC on his large following and his popularity. His 3.5 million followers ensure he his compensated well above any reporter at the NYT, WaPo or LA Times.
But is he a journalist? Or even an independent media "expert?" He is an entertainer, and no doubt a talented one. And we all need great entertainment, so good on him.
He links to an opinion piece by conservative opinion writers Ross Douthat and David French in the NYT as evidence of the NYT's rot and bias. The opinion section is not journalism; a NYT reporter did not write the words that BTC quotes. So while BTC excites us and gets our ire up hoping we'll believe in NYT's "both sides isms," he hasn't give us facts to support that. Nor is there much "expert" analysis in BTC's post.
The populace may prefer to receive information from entertainers -- I enjoy Stephen Colbert -- but entertainment is not news or analysis.
Lastly, if engagement, clicks and followers equal dollars (which they do), perhaps understand that while folks like BTC cash in, we may all be better off if we acknowledge that we would rather be entertained than informed.
Thank you. We need to read for facts. We need to draw our own conclusions from facts.
Our news sources need to provide their own primary news reporting and analysis. Their own reporters. Their own investigations.
If you read someone else's opinion as fact, you will be misled and worse, you will not know were misled.
They aren’t kissing his ring, they are fellating his ass, which is my only disagreement with anything you wrote. Otherwise, totally on target!
Brian deserves a larger platform to reach more readers! It absolutely amazing the Friday PBS, and traditional media Sunday panel news shows don’t delve into this issue AT ALL.Media capitulation to populism based aristocracies is consistent part of past global cycles similar to the upcoming MAGA:DOGE one in January.
Vance, Reich , Cox-Richardson’s descriptions of global populist based cycles over decades should be voluntary better yet mandatory school / higher ed civics and gov’t curriculum offerings..Watch for a prolonged resurgence in Substack sub orders over 4 years and further cutbacks in traditional media, deservedly so.
I truly hope you are right. We know networks thrive financially from advertising. If a lot of people unplug, viewership declines, and advertisers won't pay as much for commercials. That would hit them in the bottom line, where it hurts the most.
Right you are Brenda. Networks already cutting back either demoting or firing anchors like CBS Jeff Glor and Honda Kotb on NBC quietly eased out.wait for Kennedy Jr to banish drug commercials, these commercials plus the huge volume of insurance commercials (progressive, State Farm..) won’t be missed..
Is there a national comprehensive news source that has not offered money on bended knee to Trump? Washington Post - no; New York Times - no.
Hopefully if anyone reading this is not already following BTC they will after reading this. We must band together and make journalism such as his a strong very obvious presence in our every day world where millions get this unbiased reporting. Just as we have to do all we can to support the likes of Lucas Kunce. Many of us don't have much extra money can can't afford monthly subscriptions, but I feel that just by following and making constructive comments we let each other know we are not alone and we let Mr. Kunce know how much we value him.
It has been disheartening, discouraging, and disturbing to see the capitulation of mainstream media, but let's not kid ourselves that this capitulation has only been of late. Why were President Biden's wonderful accomplishments in rescuing America from Trump's messes, including Covid, the exploding deficit, creating jobs, promoting Unions, strengthening NATO, strengthening our military connection with Australia such as had not been seen since WWII, the huge infrastructure bill, and more not the subject of huge coverage by mainstream television, newspapers, and radio stations? The reason is MSM is owned by billionaires and billionaire corporations, who wanted to insure another round of tax cuts and less regulation. Reagan fomented this nauseating course when he gutted the FCC and eliminated the " Fairness Doctrine," which required all media to present BOTH sides of any issue. Also, gutting the FCC allowed a single person or business to own two or more media, such as a T.V. station and a major newspaper, in a mass market, resulting in one owner to be able to blanket his editorialized " journalism"; i.e. his opinion or outright propaganda, to millions of people multiple times a day, every day, every week, every year. This is how Rupert Murdoch got his clutches on the American market. He bought an independent T.V. station in Dallas/Fort Worth and bided his time. Next, he purchased Channel Four, previously a CBS outlet, made it Fox Four, and after a little time passed, he purchased the " Dallas Norning News," the newspaper dominant in the region. Murdoch continued increasing his holdings. The actions that caused him to be booted out of the U.K. and Australia were rewarded here. Our other big problem was the SCOTUS ruling on " Citizens United vs FEC, "which has allowed big, dark, dirty money to sway our elections. Just look at Elon Musk......
We're turning into Hungary even faster than historians imagined. Does anyone have any courage at all?
Sanders does, Warren does, Ocasio-Cortez does, Lucas Kunce does (even though he didn't get elected), Trygve Hammer does (also didn't get elected), Tester probably does, the guy from Rhode Island (Sheldon Whitehorse) does, and some others do.
I love that you spelled his last name Whitehorse...he's definitely a modern day equivalent to a knight in shining armor...in my book.
Oops. I mistyped. But you're very right.
We need to come up with a similar "megaphone" as Fox "Entertainment" maybe Bloomberg, or some other left-leaning billionaire could invest in their own Media Company, like Rupert Murdoch's. It is almost impossible to break through the non-stop disinformation and lies Fox share with their cult followers.
So im new to you substack Lucas. I proudly voted for you three. times now. Twice was in a Democratic Primary's an Once in State. I love your story and your perspective. Iwas wondering if you or the Democratic Party here in Missouri have considered using signs to put facts in front of Republicans who are being controlled by misinformation. I'm in recovery an we call this planting seeds. When one truth gets in sometimes it frees people from denial. Just a thought I wanted to throw your way. I really hope to get to vote for you again...maybe next time it will be for President!!