WILL THE REAL NEWS PLEASE STAND UP?
COMPILATION AND COMMENTARY
BY LUCY WARNER
DECEMBER 14, 2017


https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/fake-news-trump-launches-real-news-series-n790241
POLITICS AUG 7 2017, 2:22 PM ET
Fake News? Trump Launches ‘Real News’ Series
by ALI VITALI

WASHINGTON — If you don't like what they're saying, change the conversation. Or, in the case of President Donald Trump's campaign, produce your own news series.

In the fight against what Trump has decried as "fake news" about him and his administration, his team has launched its own version of events: Taking the president's frequent laments about a lack of media focus on jobs, the stock market and the economy and turning it into a weekly video posted to Facebook focusing on just that.

"More great economic news on Friday," former pro-Trump cable news commentator Kayleigh McEnany says, seated in front of a blue Trump-Pence themed wall to give "the real news."

VIDEO -- Trump tries to battle fake news with new broadcast 7:31

McEnany rose to political prominence during the 2016 election for her fiery exchanges in defense of Trump on CNN. She left the network this weekend, a source with knowledge of the situation told NBC News, asking to leave in order to pursue another opportunity.

Her debut came shortly before she was named a Republican National Committee spokesperson on Monday.

"I’m eager to talk about Republican ideas and values and have important discussions about issues affecting Americans across this country," McEnany said in an RNC statement on Monday.

Her kickoff on what could be called "Trump TV" was shared with more than 22 million Facebook page followers and on Twitter. Trump's presidential campaign committee is listed as having paid for the news spot.

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment. The White House deferred to the campaign.

The news episodes that were created by the Trump campaign — complete with the details that network news broadcasts use, such as over-the-shoulder graphics — make no mention of the Russia investigation, and promise "nothing but the facts." The focus of the two episodes so far has been "jobs, jobs, jobs," the administration's crackdowns on criminal gangs like MS-13, and the president's donation of his salary.

"I bet you haven't heard about all the accomplishments the president had this week because there's so much fake news out there," said Lara Trump, the president's daughter-in-law, in the series' first video in late July.

Image: Kayleigh McEnany hosts "News of the Week."
Kayleigh McEnany hosts "News of the Week." Facebook

In the first episode, she proudly declared: "The economy is booming, ladies and gentlemen."

"This tactic isn’t new," RNC spokesman Ryan Mahoney said, referring to the Trump campaign's videos. "Campaigns use video to get their message out all the time."

Lawmakers also often employ the same tactics.

Former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, for example, has a talk show on Facebook Live.

Presidents who get their side of the story out there may not be new, but political experts worry about the practice.

"When a government starts reporting and phrasing things as real news, that's the time to worry that you're being lied to," said Robert Shapiro, a Columbia University government and politics professor. He pointed out that in this instance, the statistics and articles McEnany was presenting "were perfectly accurate and truthful."

"But it basically accentuates the positive," Shapiro added. "And to get a fuller picture, obviously which includes a lot of the negatives, you have to rely on free press for that."

The video also reminded some of something much darker.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul tweeted that the video felt like "state-owned channels."


Michael McFaul
✔
@McFaul
Wow. Feels eerily like so many state-owned channels I've watched in other countries https://twitter.com/yashar/status/894206226040590336 …

1:11 PM - Aug 6, 2017
1,382 1,382 Replies 7,738 7,738 Retweets 17,292 17,292 likes
Twitter Ads info and privacy

Shapiro noted the video series "smacks of the kind of thing that was done in Nazi Germany."

Trump's social media prowess has been a critical piece of his political rise, propelling news coverage of him throughout the 2016 campaign, and even now as president with his frequent early-morning tweet storms.

Image: Political commentator Kayleigh McEnany speaks during CPAC
Political commentator Kayleigh McEnany speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland in on Feb. 23, 2017. Alex Wong / Getty Images file

White House advisers flaunt the president's social media reach, calling it his way of reaching out directly to the American people —and his base, a group highly skeptical of mainstream media and reporting about Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

In a June briefing, a White House spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, told reporters that social media gives the president "the ability to speak directly to the people without the bias of the media filtering those types of communications," She reminded listeners of Trump's "over 100-plus million contacts through social media and all those platforms."

Many of his supporters appreciate that sense of a direct line to the president.

"I love his tweets. Guess what? We know exactly what he's thinking," Trump supporter Laura Lee Oenick said in June at a Trump event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

ALI VITALI



WHO IS THEREALNEWS.COM?
PAUL JAY - THE REAL NEWS NETWORK
HTTP://THEREALNEWS.COM/T2/COMPONENT/CONTENT/CATEGORY/39-PAUL

PAUL JAY, BIO

Paul Jay, is CEO and Senior Editor of The Real News Network. TRNN is independent of political parties, is viewer supported and not-for-profit. TRNN does not accept advertising, government or corporate funding. This funding model allows for uncompromising broadcast journalism. Now in start up phase, its mission is to be a daily video news service for a mass audience online and on television.

Prior to TRNN, Jay was for ten seasons the creator and executive producer of CBC Newsworld's flagship debate programs, counterSpin and FaceOff.

Jay has produced and directed more than 20 major documentary films including "Return to Kandahar", Lost in Las Vegas and Hitman Hart: wrestling with shadows, a feature length documentary, that was screened in 25 major festivals and won more than a dozen awards. It's been called "one of the most acclaimed Canadian films in years"(eye magazine), "A tale as bizarre as Kafka and as tragic as Shakespeare" (Ottawa Citizen) and "one of the best films of 1998"(Peter Plagens, art critic for Newsweek).

A past chair of the Documentary Organization of Canada, Jay is the founding chair of Hot Docs!, the Canadian international documentary film festival.


THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST ARTICLES I'VE EVER READ. READ AND PONDER IT.

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2996#pop1
Donald Trump: The Raw and Naked Face of a System That Showers Speculators with Obscene Riches
Paul Jay says the enablers of Trumpism are the leaders of both major parties and the corporate media

Donald Trump is not an aberration. He's the raw and naked face of an economic system that showers speculators with obscene riches and political power.

"I use emotion for the many and reserve reason for the few." That’s a quote attributed to Adolf Hitler. Donald Trump is not the only actor on the political stage who ascribes to such methods. The enablers of this surging far right “populism” are the leaders of both major political parties and the corporate media.

Whether it’s the charming smile of leading Democrats or the religious fervor and patriotic zeal of establishment Republicans, they both ensure super-profits for the super-rich.

According to an IPS report*, the Forbes list of the top 400 American billionaires hold more wealth than the bottom 61% of the nation combined. In the years of the Obama administration, the top 1% of the population captured 95% of the post-recession increase in income. This is the legacy Hillary Clinton promised to continue.

For most people living conditions are more insecure and for many desperate. No wonder some turn to a snake oil salesman. The growth of such inequality, managed by the Democratic and Republican Party leadership, has facilitated conditions for the election of this dangerous caricature.

Corporate media focuses on the horse race. A contest they need to feed their treasuries with the more than 6 billion dollars they reap in political advertising. They talk about Trump's temperament and showmanship as he surrounds himself with the dregs of the far political and religious right.

His VP and cabinet choices are war mongers and climate change deniers of the worst sort. He is poised to undo what's left of the New Deal, and in spite of his promises to American workers, he will intensify their exploitation.

The liberal media mostly ignores the complicity of their own political heroes. Instead they feast on a morbid fascination with Trump’s outrageous racism and xenophobia. They make a furor about the alleged role of Russia in the release of emails, yet the more important issue here are the revelations about Clinton and her campaign.

The corporate media hide the underlying truth. The rise of such a dangerous farce to the White House is a sign of the deep decay of the system itself.

Capitalism has lost its dynamism. Too few people own far too much. More profits are generated from parasitical speculation than productive investment. The elites who revel on the deck of the Titanic have next to no interest in the well-being of the majority of people.

Trump's major billionaire backer Robert Mercer made his fortune in high frequency stock trading, gaming the stock market using advanced algorithms and data analysis to create unprecedented profits.

Mercer's daughter Rebecca helps run the Trump transition team, and key Trump advisors Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon both worked for Mercer.

Another major backer is Sheldon Adelson, who made his billions owning Las Vegas casinos. Adelson, a close ally of Israeli PM Netanyahu, reportedly gave Trump twenty-five million dollars.

From climate disaster to the destructive orgy of unrestrained finance, the billionaire class and their political minions are not even capable of dealing with threats to the very system that made them so wealthy. It's the whole of humanity that will pay the price.

The ruling elites are dysfunctional. Their answer in times like these has always been war. They are not fit to rule.

A critical piece of this rotting politics is the corporate news media that makes the rule of billionaires seem so reasonable, civilized, and inevitable.

TV news, the gatekeeper of mass consciousness, is necessary to the elite’s ability to maintain control. If we are to transform this country, we have to break the corporate monopoly on daily video news.

We need to speak to the real concerns of working people and focus on what real effective solutions look like.

We must create a Global Climate Change Bureau.

We need a global platform to discuss and debate what to do next.

In 2016, the movements for the Sanders campaign, to defend black lives and fight to save the planet, have challenged the politics of the powerful at an unprecedented scale.

If a broad front is built that can contest the elites’ control of the political process, it could usher in a new phase of struggle of the American people. As this fight develops, TRNN will be there.

Please help us Make Real News by making a tax-deductible today.


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All original content on this site is copyright of The Real News Network.


IPS REPORT*

https://www.techopedia.com/definition/15998/intrusion-prevention-system-ips
IPS report

Definition - What does Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) mean?
An intrusion prevention system (IPS) is a system that monitors a network for malicious activities such as security threats or policy violations. The main function of an IPS is to identify suspicious activity, and then log information, attempt to block the activity, and then finally to report it.

Intrusion prevention systems are also known as intrusion detection prevention systems (IDPS).

Techopedia explains Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)
An IPS can be either implemented as a hardware device or software. Ideally (or theoretically) and IPS is based on a simple principle that dirty traffic goes in and clean traffic comes out.

Intrusion prevention systems are basically extensions of intrusion detection systems. The major difference lies in the fact that, unlike intrusion detection systems, intrusion prevention systems are installed are able to actively block or prevent intrusions that are detected. For example, an IPS can drop malicious packets, blocking the traffic an offending IP address, etc.



SO, WHAT HAPPENS WHEN MEMBERS OF A NEWS TEAM DO NOT OPERATE IN A FAIR AND UNBIASED MANNER? IN THIS CASE A MEMBER OF THE ABC NEWS STAFF GAVE EXIT POLL DATA TO THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION BEFORE THE 5:00 PM DEADLINE WHEN MOST POLLS AROUND THE NATION CLOSE, THUS GIVING THE TRUMP TEAM AN ABILITY TO PERHAPS CHANGE THEIR STRATEGY AT THE LAST MINUTE TO BETTER THEIR POSITION. THAT CONCERNED A SERIES OF BATTLEGROUND STATES WHICH WERE CRUCIAL IN THE TRUMP VICTORY, AND IT IS, BY ANY STANDARD, CHEATING.

THE PRESS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR BEING REPRESENTATIVES OF THE TRUTH AND THE PUBLIC’S RIGHT TO KNOW WHAT’S HAPPENING. I HOLD THEM TO THAT. IT’S AS MUCH ABOUT WHAT THEY DO AS IT IS ABOUT WHAT THEY THINK, OR SO OFTEN, THEIR WILLINGNESS TO BE COOPTED. IF THEY HAVE BEEN BRIBED OR THREATENED, IT’S STILL A PERSONAL DECISION WHICH COULD HAVE BEEN MADE IN ANOTHER DIRECTION. THAT’S WHAT CREATES HEROES. WANT TO BE A HERO? SUCH PEOPLE SAY THAT THEY WANT TO BE RICH, POWERFUL AND SAFE INSTEAD.

I OFTEN THINK OF ONE OF MY FATHER’S LONG, AND OFTEN SAD, NARRATIONS OF GREAT CLASSIC POEMS: “THE DEATHWATCH OF BENEDICT ARNOLD.” BENEDICT ARNOLD WAS A FAMOUS SPY AGAINST OUR FLEDGLING NATION DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. ON HIS DEATHBED HE REFLECTS ON HIS CHOICE TO SECRETLY ACT AGAINST THE AMERICAN CAUSE AND WORK FOR ENGLAND. NOWADAYS, MANY OF US WOULD SAY THAT HE HAD A LEGITIMATE RIGHT TO MAKE THAT DECISION, HOWEVER, IT IS INEVITABLE THAT HE WOULD BE SCORNED AND HATED FOR IT, AND PERHAPS TRUE THAT HE SHOULD BE IMPRISONED.

IN THIS CASE, IT’S HUMANITY THAT HAS BEEN ATTACKED. THOSE AIDING AND ABETTING ENEMIES OF INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM AND OPPORTUNITY – FOR PEOPLE INSTEAD OF CORPORATIONS – OUR HEALTH AND SAFETY, ARE THEMSELVES ENEMIES OF A FAIR AND EGALITARIAN GOVERNMENT IN MY VIEW, AND OF THE NEEDS OF PEOPLE TO CONTINUE TO LIVE THEIR EVERYDAY LIVES. BY THAT CODE OF HONOR, INTERVENING IN WHAT IS PROBABLY THAT MOST IMPORTANT PILLAR OF OUR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC’S ELECTION PROCESS, WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO BE SAFEGUARDED AGAINST SUCH DISHONEST DEALINGS BY EITHER SIDE IN THE ISSUE. WE RELY ON THE COURAGE AND COMMITMENT OF THE PRESS FOR THAT.

THIS IS A CASE OF A TRUSTED MAINSTREAM NEWS ORGANIZATION, ABC, DOING THE NAUGHTY – HELPING A FAR RIGHT POLITICAL CANDIDATE WITH LOTS OF DOUGH TO DISH OUT FOR FAVORS DONE. WHO CARES WHAT THE RESULT OF THAT IS, RIGHT? IT DISTURBS ME THAT THE ONLY THING ABC DID TO HIM WAS TO “REPRIMAND” HIM. WHAT ABOUT FIRING HIM?

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/06/abc-data-trump-campaign-reprimand-284327
ABC reprimands producer for giving data to Trump campaign
Chris Vlasto gave Trump adviser David Bossie proprietary exit polling on election night.
By MICHAEL CALDERONE 12/06/2017 06:27 PM EST

Trump’s presidential campaign proprietary exit polling data on election night 2016.

In their new book “Let Trump Be Trump,” campaign insiders Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie wrote that Chris Vlasto — then-executive producer of “Good Morning America” and now senior executive producer for investigative reporting — called Bossie, Trump’s deputy campaign manager, at 5:01 p.m. on election night with information being shared within a consortium of The Associated Press and the major TV networks.

“Vlasto had the early exit numbers that the consortium of news networks — the Associated Press, ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, and NBC News — had collected,” Lewandowski and Bossie wrote. “The consortium followed eleven battleground states, including Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania. Trump was down in eight of the eleven states by five to eight points. The news was devastating. A kill shot.”

Two sources familiar with the consortium process told POLITICO that Vlasto should not have been providing such detailed information to people outside the group, which spends millions of dollars on exit polling and shares the information on Election Day. Representatives from the AP and TV networks crunch the numbers under strict quarantine until 5 p.m. on election night, at which time they can share the data with other members of their own organizations involved in coverage. News organizations involved in the consortium typically warn staffers not to provide specific exit-poll numbers to outsiders, especially given that the polls are still open.

“When we found out about this, we asked him about it,” an ABC News spokesperson told POLITICO. “He admitted it and was reprimanded.”

The reprimand of Vlasto comes as ABC News’ investigative division is reeling from the suspension Saturday of chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross. On Friday, Ross erroneously reported that Trump, during the campaign, instructed Michael Flynn to make contact with the Russians. Vlasto shifted to become ABC News’ senior executive producer for investigative reporting in June 2017 and was tasked with "setting the priorities for our investigative reporting by combining the forces of our powerhouse teams" in Washington and New York, the latter of which is co-led by Ross.

Bossie had known Vlasto for decades, going back to when Bossie was a Republican House investigator in the 1990s and Vlasto was covering the Clinton Whitewater investigations, according to the book. Vlasto was considered for a senior communications position in the Trump White House in the weeks after the election before pulling himself out of consideration.

In the book, Lewandowski and Bossie describe Bossie’s exchange with Vlasto on the 5:01 p.m. phone call:

“Are you sitting down?” Vlasto asked.

“Oh boy,” Dave said. “This can’t be good.”

Brian Ross is pictured. | AP Photo
ABC News suspends Brian Ross over Trump-Flynn report error
By BRENT D. GRIFFITHS

“No, it’s not. You guys are in for a long night.”

Bossie, by his and Lewandowski’s account, wrote down the numbers provided by Vlasto and read them to Steve Bannon, Reince Priebus and Jared Kushner, the latter of whom called his father-in-law with the news. According to the book, Trump told his wife, Melania, that “Jared says we’re going to lose.”

Vlasto also sent an email to Bossie at 5:34 p.m. with exit poll data that Bossie had requested, according to the book. Bossie noted that some caveats to the consortium's results may have signaled the news wasn’t all bad for Trump, according to the book.

He then told Bannon, Kushner and Priebus that he believed the “numbers are bad.”