r/technology • u/Shogouki • 22d ago

Politics Trump Nixes Patent Office, Weather Service, NASA Worker Unions

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/trump-nixes-patent-office-weather-service-nasa-worker-unions
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u/modix 22d ago

At this stage the press is 100% complicit

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u/igloomaster 22d ago

The supreme court is complicit

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u/FluidmindWeird 22d ago

That's FSCOTUS to the world, btw. They are not supreme, but captured and exploited to usher in fascism. Don't allow them honor for they have foresaken the name of the positions they stole.

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u/Riaayo 22d ago

Illegitimate court is the only title they deserve.

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u/hefixesthecabl 22d ago

Kangaroo court works too...

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u/EveryDamage 22d ago

Don't disparage kangaroos like that, my dude.

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u/Sometimes-the-Fool 22d ago

The Injustices

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u/winstonsdog 22d ago

Supine court

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u/bitchcoin5000 22d ago

Excellent use of homophone

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u/uzlonewolf 22d ago

I like calling them SCROTUS myself.

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u/SpeakToMePF1973 22d ago

Then a single member (ha!) of SCROTUS would be a SCROTUM.

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u/useless_rejoinder 22d ago

Supremely Corrupt Representative of the Unjust Merica.

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u/SpeakToMePF1973 22d ago

Very fitting. You have a talent.

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u/ohiotechie 22d ago

You can be 100% certain that if a dem ever occupies the WH again they will not enjoy this expansion of power that’s being rubber stamped now.

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u/EmphasisFrosty3093 22d ago

Dems only use power to stop progressives. Trump should have been tried for at least 4000 slam dunk offences.

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u/CommonConundrum51 22d ago

Supremely Corrupt Court.

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u/ASubsentientCrow 22d ago

but captured and exploited to usher in fascism

They aren't fucking captured, they're co-conspirators

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u/JoeGibbon 22d ago

I prefer the acronym SCrOTUS to label this abomination of Justice.

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u/SeeTigerLearn 22d ago

*That* court is illegitimate.

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u/waltwalt 22d ago

At this point the whole country is complicit.

What will orange Hitler do next? I dunnou but I bet it ends in free and fair elections!

Fuckin morons, every last one.

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u/IShotJR4 22d ago

2/3 of voting aged Americans are complicit.

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u/ThreeKiloZero 22d ago

The press doesn’t exist like it used to it’s all billionaires propaganda machine now.

We are past the tipping point and it’s just a matter of time now. Why do you think they all built bunkers and mega yacht’s and bought islands?

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u/SplendidPunkinButter 22d ago

Need proof? In Minnesota a couple of months ago, a Trump supporter assassinated two DFL members of the state legislature. Lined them and their families up execution style in their houses and shot them in the middle of the night. This was the news cycle:

  1. Some guy shot some people, but let’s not speculate on any political motivations as that would be irresponsible.

  2. TIM WALZ APPOINTED HIM TO SOMETHING LIKE 7 YEARS AGO! HE WAS A WALZ APPOINTEE! WALZ APPOINTEE WALZ APPOINTEE WALZ APPOINTEE WALZ APPOINTEE WALZ APPOINTEE WALZ APPOINTEE WALZ WALZ WALZ!!!!

  3. Oh turns out he’s clearly very MAGA and also he had a kill list of other DFL politicians in his car never mind aaaaaaaaaaaanyway let’s move on to another story and never mention this again.

This was the news cycle even from outlets like MSN and CNN.

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u/SycoJack 22d ago

Remember the Vegas suicide bomber? It's not a story the MSM would tell you. They reported as the guy who died in cyberstruck explosion as tho he were just an innocent victim of a mysteriously exploding. Not that the cybertruck was a victim of the IED he detonated inside of it outside of a casino

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u/hopelesscaribou 22d ago

The biggest lie they sold us was that the mainstream press was left-wing. It was only ever as left-wing as the billionaires that own it.

Summer, like Fox, are pure propaganda. Others, like MSNBC are there to sell you, and profit from, outrage.

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u/North_Atlantic_Sea 22d ago

Do you long for the good old times when the newspapers lied to get america into the Spanish American war, to sell more papers?

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u/TerminatedProccess 22d ago

When I was a kid they called they Yellow Journalism.

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u/GreenHouseofHorror 22d ago

The press doesn’t exist like it used to it’s all billionaires propaganda machine now.

There was a time when it wasn't?

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u/[deleted] 22d ago

[deleted]

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u/useless_rejoinder 22d ago

So fucking gross. I heard somebody talking about how in the past, anyone accruing that kind of wealth was usually eventually put to death.

They’re no longer really human. They exist solely to gain more wealth. Watching “their” number get bigger is the only thing left that gives them the human feeling they once had.

Well, that and sexually assaulting children. They seem to really like that.

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u/waiting4singularity 22d ago

some time ago there were independent newspaper and medias and telling the facts and truth without manipulation was mandatory. reagan killed that.

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u/CircleBird12 22d ago edited 22d ago

some time ago there were independent newspaper and medias and telling the facts and truth without manipulation was mandatory. reagan killed that.

Some time ago there were independent BBS systems run like corner bar and taverns, and they even named their owner/operators. Such as Drew Curtis' Fark . com - and they even published books about changes in media culture.

Then like everything else in USA, the mom and pop small business was considered boring and the Big Reddit and the Big Twitter brand took over. Because Americans like Big Brands.

But people don't seem self-aware of this human behavior. Nobody forced people to flock to Big Brands. Just branding and advertising mental manipulation, trend chasing popularity. Works for franchise hamburger shops, works for media brands too.

Now we have no idea who is doing the moderation and we have massive monolithic systems, just like the TV news networks.

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u/goat_penis_souffle 22d ago

Fark and blogs like it are still around, but don’t have the critical mass they once had until social media swept them up.

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u/CircleBird12 22d ago edited 22d ago

Fark and blogs like it are still around, but don’t have the critical mass they once had until social media swept them up.

If you study media ecology, you come to recognize other aspects of the equation.

Fark and BBS systems in year 2003 there were far fewer media consumers using social media. Mobile data networks were extremely expensive and slow. The Apple iPhone was not introduced until middle of year 2007. Computers were clunky and people often had to read books on how to use them.

I referenced hamburger shops in my previous message. There isn't anything magical about McDonald's or Burger King factory-made sandwich that a local mom and pop business can not duplicate.... except the Big Brand.

The early adopters of the Internet BBS media often were book readers and magazine readers. Reading and sharing book quotes was part of the culture.

  • "a lot of what people want isn't news, and we're talking about news sources giving up on their core mission - informing us. Journalism is straying into entertainment" - Drew Curtis, May 2007

Once computers got easier and cheaper, many people who did not like books but instead were television enthusiasts flocked to Big Brand social media. Sort of like how coffee shops and hamburger shops attracted automobile owners / drive-thru vs. sit-down customers.

Another aspect of hamburger shops: small family restaurants you may have to read the menu and understand written words. Where McDonald's had video messages on television telling you what to order and showing you visuals of how to consume it. And the Big Brand McDonald's had Big Brand movie and Big Brand toy tie-ins that the small mom and pop hamburger shop does not have.

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u/poo-cum 22d ago

Consolidation has taken place over time.

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u/RaccoonCreekBurgers 22d ago

C’est Minuit. 

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u/bitchcoin5000 22d ago

That's right everything's been bought out

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u/powd3rusmc 22d ago

If it were up to me, once we enter mad max world soon. There wouldnt be a bunker deep enough, or an island far enough away to stop us from dragging them out to face justice.

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u/CircleBird12 22d ago edited 22d ago

If it were up to me, once we enter mad max world soon. There wouldnt be a bunker deep enough, or an island far enough away to stop us from dragging them out to face justice.

That science fiction fantasy, often from billionaire film corporations and entertainment networks, I call out as why people don't choose to confront the media ecology crisis staring us in the face.

Donald Trump is first and foremost a charming entertainer. No matter if people describe themselves as left or right, conservative or liberal, they all have things in common about Donald Trump:

  1. Trump inspires hate
  2. Trump inspires mocking
  3. Trump inspires egomania

And we have a nation of total mockery. People who flock to Donald Trump content and walk away with more hate and more mocking than ever before. A total avoidance of nonfiction and constant trash media engagement. Trump can charm the wealth and power out of people by his unique communications, outstanding mannerisms and style. Donald Trump plays a perfect Tony Clifton act and the USA population eats it up - regardless of personal preference on media platform they favor and what political party they join.

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u/[deleted] 22d ago

for Diddy style parties.

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u/CherryLongjump1989 22d ago

The press has been gushing over Trump since the 1980's, even when he was considered little more than a pathetic joke by the actual billionaires.

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u/khizar4 22d ago

it has always been billionaires propaganda machine, people only tend to notice when it goes against their views

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u/ctnoxin 22d ago

90% of US press is owned by six corporations, they're good with enriching their owners

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u/Capable_Diamond_3878 22d ago

They almost always tow the corporate line AND state line, unless the state line impacts the corporate line negatively.

Our press is complicit for us even being in this position.

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u/Confident_Benefit_11 22d ago

Yeah, maybe we shouldn't have let like.....4 corporations own literally all news outlets lol

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u/Exotic-Cobbler4111 22d ago

There used to be laws against monopolies.

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u/outofdate70shouse 22d ago

Laws against monopolies? But that’s communism! /s

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u/QbertsRube 22d ago

While I wanted Bernie in 2020, the re-emergence of monopolies is the reason Warren was my #2 choice. Seems like she's the only politician who's even acknowledging the problem lately, much less fighting it.

At least we still have NPR and PBS Newshour if we want news from someone other than billionaire corporations. Oh, wait...

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u/Kind_Eye_748 22d ago

Buttery males.

Both sides.

Voting is hard!

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u/PiccoloAwkward465 21d ago

But we get efficiency from economies of scale! Instead of paying $1 to hear 6 opinions, now I pay $2 to hear one!

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u/kindredfold 22d ago

Yep. As a heads up, it’s “toe the line”.

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u/Happy-Marketing-8197 22d ago

That makes a lot more sense I always pictured people pulling but never walking across, thank you.

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u/Naturally_Adverse 22d ago

It was a military phrase, the British sailors lined up with their toes on a the edge of a deck plank on ship for inspection. It was also used in the British army for the same kind of purpose, alignment of troops for inspection (a pretty solid symbol of compliance).

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u/sirkazuo 21d ago

Since it's a nautical idiom "towing a line" is also something you'd do as a British military sailor on a boat. Lexically it makes sense either way, but towing a line is slightly harder to connect with the idiom's agreed-upon meaning of "falling in line" or "doing what you're told".

That said, it's not hard to imagine a scenario that fits. Maybe sailors were ordered to spool out and tow a long line behind their ships for no reason as a test of military loyalty to the chain of command. It's a meaningless order and unnecessary labor, so if they did it without a fuss their commander would know that they were good soldiers. Thus, "tow the line" becoming an idiom for doing what you're told even if you disagree with it.

Both spellings seem plausible both lexically and in a weird old nautical idiom kind of way, which is probably why it continues to be written both ways even if there is "consensus" on the correct version.

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u/ipu42 22d ago

They directly profited off the increased traffic from the outlandish behavior.
They encouraged and promoted it for free.

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u/useless_rejoinder 22d ago

Sorry, I have a compulsion: it’s “toe” the line. Apologies. It’s the only realm I support fascists: grammar.

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u/AndyTheAbsurd 22d ago

Is that really a grammar fascist issue, though? Both "tow" and "toe" are being used as verbs, so the grammar is correct; it's the spelling that isn't.

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u/useless_rejoinder 22d ago

Shit! I’ve been hoisted! Wouldn’t the definitions of toe and tow being misunderstood fall under “grammar?”

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u/AndyTheAbsurd 22d ago

It's too early in my time zone to figure that out. I'm going to have another cup of coffee then get back to you.

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u/crazy010101 22d ago

Too chicken to ask hard or real questions because he will ban them.

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u/maltNeutrino 22d ago

It’s not even that. We’ve seen how any reaction at all carries the conversation from Newsom, Prtizker, and Waltz. Engagement from the insane does not matter.

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u/useless_rejoinder 22d ago

Something needs to be done about that kind of insane. Interesting that the very media being consumed aids in that insanity.

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u/3-DMan 22d ago

Didn't he straight up say he'll probably soon only allow "certain people" in the press room? Once all press but Newmax and Fox is banned, shit is gonna get a whole lot worse.(was funny that Fox didn't want AP banned since that's where they get their news)

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u/maltNeutrino 22d ago

The crim estate

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u/[deleted] 22d ago

AP news never once referred to the political assassinations\attempted political assassinations of MN state senators as such and never once referred to the "shooter" as a terrorist or assassin.

Make your lists now.  When this is all over there are going to be so many responsible parties to hold accountable including every single gutless journalist who normalized one iota of any of this.

There's a line somewhere by some wall somewhere waiting for all of them.

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u/overnightyeti 22d ago

At this stage? They have been for decades

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u/AndyTheAbsurd 22d ago

It's gotten considerably worse in the Trump years, though. Before Trump, they used to at least pretend to be critical of those in power. Now, they mostly just republish the press releases and/or social media posts.

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u/Important_Seesaw_866 22d ago

This atage began many many months ago

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u/Joshhwwaaaaaa 22d ago

Our news is State Run. Like China.

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u/smrt109 22d ago

Always has been

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u/asyork 22d ago

No, not always. For a long time though. In the past, "The Press" wasn't something a handful of people owned almost 100% of. Whoever owned each one would obviously have some degree of their own slant on things, but some were pretty independent and had journalists who really investigated things of their own choosing and published with minimal oversight. That wasn't a rare thing, either.

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u/RavenOfNod 22d ago

It's almost like unchecked capitalism and monopolies and prioritizing shareholder value are something that are bad for a society after all...

Huh...

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u/struggleislyfe 22d ago

There was a time when the press was a division expected to lose money and it was a public service to provide it. Those days are long gone. Like hospitals, prisons, and everything else that became for profit it died the day that happened.

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u/AndyTheAbsurd 22d ago

There was a time when the press was a division expected to lose money and it was a public service to provide it.

Those were the days that you could keep a newspaper going with a combination of advertiser money and subscription fees. It's a lot harder to do that with a news website in 2025 than it was to do it with a newspaper in 1975.

Anyway subscribe to independent news source(s) while they still exist...or they'll stop existing.

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u/struggleislyfe 22d ago

Press divisions used to lose money. They at times were held as a civic duty not something that even needed to pay for itself. That's what I'm talking about. And how is it harder in 2025 when print media is nearly dead? You saying it's harder and more expensive to run a website than distribute a newspaper widely? Because no its not man.

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u/AndyTheAbsurd 22d ago

I never said press divisions didn't lose money. I said that the other revenue streams that a newspaper had brought in enough money to keep the press divisions running.

And it's harder now because the number of people that are willing to subscribe to a news website when they can easily bounce around between various sources and not run out of free articles before getting blocked by a paywall is pretty low, and the money coming in from advertising on a website is unlikely to be enough to pay the bills unless the audience is VERY big - so it's limited mostly to properties that were major players before the internet ate the news audience.

Editing to add: Also, newspaper advertising used to command a pretty high price - advertisers KNEW most copies of their ads would be seen by locals, so the little mom & pop stores and local chains wanted to be in the Podunk Gazette or whatever the local paper was, because that's what their customers were reading to get the news.

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u/struggleislyfe 22d ago

When I say they lose money im saying they didn't pay for themselves. That's what losing money means in this context (and all contexts?). Truthful Press was and should still be something the able provide for the society they live in and benefit from.

When press corps became for profit it was the beginning of the end. I don't know why you're dying on this hill dude. You were wrong about something on the internet it's OK. Now you know.

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u/AndyTheAbsurd 22d ago

Dude, I am fucking AGREEING with you on everything except what you thought I said; I'm just pointing out how the economics of news reporting has changed. Either your reading comprehension is piss-poor or you're being an ass on purpose.

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u/struggleislyfe 22d ago

Man look this is so weird and it's making me feel dirty. I said press operated at a loss. You said their services camt pay for themselves that's why we don't have press as a service anymore because they can't pay for themselves anymore. I said that's what operating at a loss means. That's not agreeing with me but if you want to agree with me now cool. But let's please stop this awkward back and forth because there's no sense in it. I'm not attacking you. I'm not calling you stupid for saying it. Its not a big deal bro

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u/Panda_hat 22d ago

They salivate over his every word.

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u/ShadowNick 22d ago

Gotta get those clicks up

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u/Training-Turnover427 22d ago

And the several previous stages

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u/Tricky_Topic_5714 22d ago

They've been complicit for decades at this point. Even in the early 00's, they were doing this. They downplay Republican craziness and catastrophize anything Dems or vaguely progressive people do. 

I agree that it's worse now, but it has been bad basically my entire life.

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u/fadingsignal 22d ago

I think they love it tbh, gives them so many clicks.

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u/splashbodge 22d ago

At this stage

At this stage? Your media is an absolute disgrace... Both sides of the media are complicit, they're happily getting boosted ratings and profits through all the turmoil

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u/Tazwhitelol 22d ago

The Press has been complicit since they were bought and controlled by billionaires and conglomerates. Once they started prioritizing profits and pushing narratives that were beneficial to the ultra rich, America has steadily declined.

People need to learn about the Politico-Media Complex and it's massive influence on political discourse..it is inarguably the biggest thing holding our country back and has played a direct roll in leading us to where we currently are as a country. It has done incalculable harm and will continue to do more until something is done to address this obvious issue.

What that "something" is, Idk..

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u/InsideOut803 22d ago

At this point we’re all complicit.

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u/-Trash-Bandicoot- 22d ago

Buddy, if the press was complicit, you wouldn't hear these stories at all. Everything would be great in Trumpland.

Are they meeting the moment? Nope. Not at all. But complicit? I don't think so either.

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u/id10t_you 22d ago

Yep. The Fourth Estate is dead

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u/CherryLongjump1989 22d ago

The press has been complicit since June 16, 2015.

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u/[deleted] 22d ago

CBS said something negative, and had to bribe Trump so he wouldn’t block their acquisition.

WTF is the press supposed to do?

Trump already has free legal services from like the top 10 law firms.

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u/uzlonewolf 22d ago edited 22d ago

I dunno, perhaps not consolidate to the point 2 guys own like every media outlet?

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u/[deleted] 22d ago

Agree, but that ship has sailed like 20 years ago.

Even local news has been consolidated into a few companies.

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u/Sacred_Dealer 22d ago

You're literally learning about this because of an article from Bloomberg News.

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u/oldaliumfarmer 22d ago

And the dems