News Brief: CNN's Failed Smear Campaign Against Rep. Rashida Tlaib w/ Prem Thakker
Added 2024-09-30 18:44:49 +0000 UTCIn this Patreon-only News Brief, we detail last week's manufactured controversy targeting Congress' lone Palestinian-American, and what it says about US media's editorial standards when attacking those challenging NatSec orthodoxy.
We are joined by Prem Thakker of Zeteo News.
Comments
Thanks for your reply -- it made me realize that I forgot to put the words "to bed, definitively" in that second paragraph that I wrote. I have edited my comment so that it reflects my original intent -- frankly, I trust Rashida Tlaib not to be anti-Semitic and I do not trust the mainstream media to be honest in their accusations of her (and others) being anti-Semitic. My concern is that many Americans don't trust Congresswoman Tlaib and do trust the media, and so when we dissect CNN's coverage we should do it as thoroughly as possible. I agree with you completely that Neema's and Adam's analysis stands without addressing my point. I also agree with your conclusion that the left should learn not to be distracted by having to engage with bad faith actors who consistently make these baseless charges of anti-Semitism. I just thought that having the full text of the quote, which unambiguously settles the question of what Congresswoman Tlaib's intention was in this instance, buttresses Citations Needed's argument here and may be a good resource if you're discussing this story with someone who is uninformed but may be generally sympathetic or open minded.
Mike DeBackPack
2024-10-03 16:51:24 +0000 UTCWhile I appreciate the sentiment I’m reading here—an intention to be vigilant against anti-Semitic rhetoric that, unfortunately, I have personally heard from people, though few and far between—I think the point they’re making about “laundering U.S. policy” regarding Israel by shifting the focus to speculation about Tlaib’s views about Jewish people addresses your point. There is overwhelming evidence that Tlaib’s criticisms are consistent and in good faith. In contrast, the AG’s repression of student protesters to quell dissent as an agent of an antidemocratic state military apparatus goes unremarked upon. The target has moved, and as audiences we let them manufacture consent by entering every discussion on this topic taking the right’s framing for granted, continuing to conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism every time a critique is made. The coverage is already so distorted, I think the argument is the left needs to stay on target in the face of these rampant and cynical misrepresentations.
Gabriella Huggins
2024-10-03 16:24:47 +0000 UTCGreat news brief guys -- I appreciate you guys covering this ridiculous media cluster and I love hearing Mr. Thakker's thoughts on this as well. I do think that you guys missed an opportunity to put the question of "why does Rashida Tlaib speculate that the Michigan Attorney General's Office hold an anti-Palestinian bias? Could it be, perhaps, that Tlaib is anti-Semitic?" to bed, definitively. Tlaib very obviously DID NOT explicitly that it was because Nessel is Jewish -- and CNN's coverage stating that she did is media malpractice -- but it is a reasonable question for a reader to ask. The problem is that Tlaib DID state exactly why she thought that the Michigan Attorney General behaved differently here than anywhere else, and it was quoted in the exact same Detroit Metro Times article (a couple of paragraphs after the one you guys read out): “I think people at the University of Michigan put pressure on her to do this, and she fell for it,” Tlaib says. “I think President Ono and Board of Regent members were very much heavy-handed in this. It had to come from somewhere.” So the question above was put to bed, answered unambiguously and anyone who read the whole article could see it! Again, great News Brief, but I think that your point could have been even stronger if you had included this part of Tlaib's quote to put it in it's true, FULL context and I wanted to put it hear for your listeners to go look at themselves if they haven't already read the original interview from the Detroit Metro Times.
Mike DeBackPack
2024-10-01 10:46:41 +0000 UTC
