Media Watch | Messaging Matters

Businesses blaring Fox News

Wisconsin pro-union protest

In many areas of the U.S., as has been reported anecdotally, stores, restaurants and other commercial establishments are airing Fox News at all times from a single TV. We’re not talking about an office building that airs multiple TV news networks from different TVs, or a sports bar that may have 50 TVs, including one tuned to Fox News. This is a conscious decision by the business owners to air only this point of view. It is thus impossible for a customer to avoid hearing and/or seeing the Fox News broadcast at these locations. What should you do when you walk into such a business and are not a fan of the divisive, false Fox propaganda channel?

There are several possible options for the non-Fox consumer in this situation:

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Tags: Democrats, Facebook, Fox News, Instagram, Republicans, social media, TV, Twitter

More Americans talking Trump impeachment

Written on August 30, 2018 by Messaging Matters in Democratic Messaging, Media Watch, Republican Messaging

Trump Impeachment sign at 2018 Women’s March

Discussions about the possibility of impeaching Donald Trump are gaining popularity in numerous circles. First, Trump himself is talking about his potential impeachment, warning that “the market would crash” if he were impeached. Apparently, Republicans must continually instill fear in their supporters to get them to the polls. Likewise, Republicans such as House Speaker Paul Ryan warned supporters that, if the Democrats win back the majority in the House of Representatives this November, “you’ll have gridlock, you’ll have subpoenas.” In response to reports of Ryan warning that Democrats would hold Trump accountable, Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi tweeted:

Yes Paul, we will. https://t.co/R5bWMnggr4

— Nancy Pelosi (@TeamPelosi) August 23, 2018

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Tags: 2018 midterm elections, Congress, Democrats, Donald Trump, House of Representatives, impeachment, Nancy Pelosi, Paul Ryan, Republicans, Twitter

PoliticusUSA gets it right on Maxine Waters avoiding Trump’s distractions

Written on June 27, 2018 by Messaging Matters in Democratic Messaging, Media Watch

Congresswoman Maxine Waters of California

The mainstream media are so invested in shiny object distractions surrounding Donald Trump that they can’t help but highlight and fan each new controversy of the day. The latest case in point was the controversy regarding Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters of California, as she advised supporters who were protesting Trump’s immigration policies to tell Trump Cabinet officials “they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.” After Republicans then falsely accused Waters of advocating “violence,” the media turned this into an exercise in “bothsiderism” over the phony issue of “civility,” when that train had left the Republican station long ago. However, pro-Democratic website PoliticusUSA has gotten it right with their coverage of this issue, by pointing out that it is a distraction that does not deserve our major focus.

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Tags: civility, CNN, Donald Trump, Maxine Waters, PoliticusUSA, Republicans, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Twitter

Trump’s unsustainable family separation policy

Written on June 20, 2018 by Messaging Matters in Democratic Messaging, Democratic vs. Republican Presidents, Media Watch

Trump’s child separation policy

2018 is turning into the Year of the Children. Unfortunately, however, Republicans keep ending up on the wrong side of heartrending, visceral issues regarding child safety. First and foremost this week is the barbaric Trump administration policy of separating immigrant children from their parents at the border, and then detaining the children in “cages.” This follows the school shooting tragedy in Parkland, Florida last Valentine’s Day, and the subsequent protest movement in favor of greater safety from gun violence in our schools and elsewhere.

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Tags: border, child separation, children, Democrats, Donald Trump, family, family separation, GOP, immigration, Jeb Bush, Laura Bush, Republicans, Twitter, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Sean Hannity’s giant conflict of interest

Written on April 17, 2018 by Messaging Matters in Fox "News" Watch, Media Watch, Republican Messaging

Fox News, completely removed from “news”

Yesterday, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Michael Cohen‘s attorney was forced to reveal that Cohen has three clients: Donald Trump, former Republican National Committee Deputy Finance Chairman and donor Elliott Broidy, and Sean Hannity of Fox News. The reveal of Hannity as Cohen’s heretofore mystery third client raises some serious questions:

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Tags: Donald Trump, Elliott Broidy, Fox News, Michael Cohen, Republicans, Robert Mueller, Russia, Sean Hannity, Stormy Daniels, Trump Russia

Effective phrases to use instead of ‘gun control’

Written on April 2, 2018 by Messaging Matters in Democratic Messaging, Media Watch

March For Our Lives protester, Washington, D.C., March 24, 2018

Recently, in the wake of the Parkland, Florida school shootings, we called upon advocates of universal gun background checks, a renewed Assault Weapons Ban and other such steps to apply a powerful label to their efforts. We pointed out that the traditional label “gun control” is outdated and inaccurate, because, for example, steps like universal background checks don’t literally “control” guns, and in any case, “gun control” sounds like a Big Government Nanny State that many people don’t like. We like to use the phrase “gun violence” to point out the problem America faces, and to include it in descriptions of the measures needed to solve it, such as “gun violence legislation.” However, there are plenty of other good terms to use. The following is an evergreen list of effective-sounding replacement phrases for “gun control” that are being used in the current debate, including our sources of such phrases where known. We will be adding new terms to the list as they come up, and we encourage commenters to provide suggestions:

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Tags: Assault Weapons Ban, gun conrol, gun safety, gun violence, guns, Parkland, school shootings, Second Amendment, Senator Dianne Feinstein, universal background checks

Rallying at Ground Zero in Parkland

Written on March 24, 2018 by Messaging Matters in Democratic Messaging, Media Watch

Protesters carrying signs at March For Our Lives rally in Parkland, FL

Today, Parkland, Florida was once again Ground Zero in the fight against gun violence. While the March For Our Lives protests took place around the country and, indeed, around the world, and the event in Washington, D.C. was the largest, Parkland (specifically, the February 14, 2018 mass shooting at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School) is the reason why the marches happened. Moreover, Parkland is Ground Zero today because Donald Trump is hiding out at his Mar-a-Lago private club a mere 40 miles away in Palm Beach.

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Tags: AR-15, Assault Weapons Ban, gun control, gun violence, guns, Mar-a-Lago, Nikolas Cruz, Parkland, universal background checks

What’s in a politician’s nickname?

Written on March 8, 2018 by Messaging Matters in Media Watch, Republican Messaging

U.S. Senator Raphael Edward “Ted” Cruz

There’s some big name news this week on the Republican side, involving both Donald Trump (and his alleged side woman, porn star Stormy Daniels), as well as Senator Rafael Edward “Ted” Cruz. The news brings to mind some of the nicknames politicians use, and why.

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Tags: Beto O'Rourke, CNN, David Dennison, Donald Trump, Peggy Peterson, Rafael Edward Cruz, Richard Nixon, Stephanie Clifford, Stormy Daniels, Ted Cruz

Using language as a weapon to oppose the NRA

Written on February 27, 2018 by Messaging Matters in Democratic Messaging, Media Watch, Republican Messaging

High school students march against gun violence in Minneapolis, MN.

The mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida has led to a renewed movement against the “guns everywhere” policy pushed by the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the Republican Party members who receive so much NRA funding. Led initially by surviving students from Douglas High School, but now joined by many other individuals and groups, there are marches, protests, school walkouts, phone calls, emails, campaigns on social media such as Facebook and Twitter, and other efforts taking place to safeguard America’s children and adults. The momentum appears to be building and the tide may be turning in favor of steps such as Universal Background Checks for all firearm purchases, a renewed Assault Weapons Ban, and more. But as with all movements, the goals of this movement need to be articulated in a simple and powerful way in order to win over hearts and minds. So the question becomes, what is the best way to describe what this movement is fighting for?

What Omarosa says about Donald Trump is relevant

Written on February 12, 2018 by Messaging Matters in Democratic vs. Republican Presidents, Media Watch

Reality TV star and ex-Trump White House official Omarosa

Let’s first stipulate that things are strange when the discussion of the White House involves one reality TV show contestant talking about a reality TV show host. Nevertheless, that is the world we now live, where Donald Trump hired Omarosa Manigault-Newman to work in the White House Communications department, and then fired her one year later. Post-firing, Omarosa (now famous enough for first name only), known as a reality TV “villain” from Trump’s “The Apprentice” and “Celebrity Apprentice” shows as well as other TV programs, quickly landed on the new season of CBS reality TV show “Celebrity Big Brother.” There, she has already made waves for her ominous comments about Donald Trump. While many people dismiss Omarosa as just a media attention “whore,” she has twice been in a unique position to judge Trump, thus her comments about the danger of Trump’s presidency are relevant.

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Tags: Big Brother, Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Omarosa, Ross Matthews, The Apprentice, Twitter, White House

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