Eric Boehlert: The Washington Post owes Biden an apology

[babylonsister]

https://pressrun.media/p/the-washington-post-owes-biden-an

The Washington Post owes Biden an apology
Border hysteria

Eric Boehlert
1 hr ago



One month after falsely blaming the Biden administration for creating a crisis at the southern border, the Washington Post remains oddly reserved regarding good news about the plummeting number of migrant youths now held in U.S. detention centers. The Post for months led the media charge with nonstop, negative coverage about the surge; coverage that often mimics GOP talking points.

But now as conditions at the border improve, much of the media, including the Post, are suddenly less interested in the immigration story.

The good news came on Thursday when CNN published a scoop detailing how the number of unaccompanied children held by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, "dropped nearly 84% in the span of a month, according to a White House official, underscoring the significant progress made by the administration after reaching record high custody figures." The CNN report quoted an official who spoke anonymously.

snip//

If the Biden administration were to blame for the migrant crisis, if its missteps were the reason for the rising number of border detentions, as the Post insisted in March, doesn't it stand that the Biden administration deserves credit for the sweeping reduction at the border that’s now unfolding? Or does the Post only consider bad news for the White House to be real news? The Post literally ran a border detention story that included this quote in the headline: "No End in Sight." Now, according to the last figures, there is end is sight.

The paper has hardly been alone in echoing apocalyptic GOP rhetoric about the border this year. In a highly unusual move, ABC This Week in late March staged its entire Sunday program from the border in order to focus on the "emerging crisis for the Biden administration." During the president's inaugural press conference that month, he was peppered with questions about the border (a topic the GOP was pushing), and was not asked a single question about Covid-19 (a topic the GOP was not).

In terms of the amount of border news coverage this year, it's been eye-popping, as the press continues to take its cues from Republicans. During Biden's first nine weeks in office, immigration was the third most-common topic of new coverage, according to a new Pew study — and that coverage was overwhelmingly negative. That volume of immigration coverage is especially startling considering the topic didn't really gain traction until six weeks into Biden's presidency. Then the media avalanche arrived.

The press and the GOP helped create the border "crisis" this year. Now they need to acknowledge reality.

[msfiddlestix]

1. Astonishing one might say, but not really.

Referring to the Washington Post's silence on the question of "crises at the border" meme which they joined in the screeching chorus.

Between this "issue" and another story played up (which I can't for the life of me remember even though it was just a few days ago), I can't tune into cable news anymore. Or at least the few times I do, I quickly shut it off. Like i did this morning, in a space of time in less than 2 or 3 minutes, of just checking in, I had to turn the set off.

The media is doing the same damn thing they did to Obama, Hillary Clinton etc. in service to raising the platform for Trumpism which they have yet to take any responsibility for.

[elias7]

2. Yes, if the "crisis" was news, the marked improvement over a month is certainly news.

Yet, all the WP has is an opinion piece by Jennifer Rubin. It’s sad to think that the Washington post is being wagged by the Republican party.

[Deminpenn]

3. The media in general really does not know how to handle covering

competent governance. Things running smoothly, and so far scandal free is, in the word of Jo Anne Worley, "borrrrrring".

In 4 months, what have been the biggest news "scandals"? Major the dog nipping a couple of people and that press office guy who resigned after saying/tweeting something stupid.

[lark]

4. The (mostly) myth of liberal big media continues.

Media is big business and supports big business goals, aka the repug version of greedy oligarchs, so economically leans rights and promotes right wing memes. Where is the clamor for action against repug legislators who promoted the overturn of the government, totally missing is where. Big Media doesn't want accountability and true news, they skew to the right because that is where their investments and profits are. Where is the news about drumpf not letting covid tests be approved until the firm he was invested in got theirs approved and when it was bad, still refused to let others be licensed nationally for months. Where is the news about Herr Furor & Evil SIL personally profiteering off PPE and overcharging Dem states dramatically for the necessary life saving materials and equipment, and now the good news re Biden on immigration is missing as well. Sick.

[Mickju]

5. I have been disgusted by the Washington Post since Biden became President.

I just look at a few headlines and leave now without reading any articles.

[spooky3]

9. The reader comments are pretty good, though. They call out bad reporting.

The Post also has some awful editorial-opinion writers (not Rubin). Readers hammer them too.

[Mickju]

10. True

There are some very good comments.

[Cha]

24. Good to know.. Mahalo, Spooky!

[spooky3]

26. Hey, Cha, how are you?

[uponit7771]

12. IKR !? Putin's Whore called the enemy of the people DAILY you'd think they know their asses are ...

... on the chopping block if the kGQP gets back in power

[Lonestarblue]

6. The media is mostly critical to stir up readers.

Reporting competence generates no controversy. So when there’s no controversy, they try to create it. That is not good journalism, but we have very little of that these days. We have clickbait headlines, “conservative” opinion pieces that bear to relationship to truth or reality, and Republican talking points reported as if they were based on facts instead of lies.

Ross Douthat wrote in the NYT recently that crime is up significantly (a fact) but blamed it on two reasons only. The first was police being discouraged to do their jobs because of all the protests against them, not mentioning BLM protests but certainly inferring that they’re part of the blame for more crime because police are too upset to do their jobs. His second reason was the lockdowns because of the virus, which has an element of fact, but he left out that domestic abuse has seen an uptick from more time at home and from having easy access to guns to kill partners—no mention that it is Republicans who refused to renew the Violence Against Women Act or to do anything to keep guns out of the hands of known abusers. Nor did Douthat mention the crimes caused by Trump, from the insurrection to attacks on Asian Americans to the daily mass murders by angry men whipped up by Republican propaganda and easy gun access. We have very little truth in media these days.

[Lovie777]

7. Their ratings are down . ..

good news doesn't bring in the ratings they are looking for.

[Hekate]

8. To many in the MSM, the Republican Party is the default party, whether they are in or out of power

I find this incredibly irritating, but at least having recognized this nearly 15 years ago allowed me to adjust my expectations accordingly.

Having said that, I also think that WaPo and others need to be called on it every time they pull a stunt like this.

And CNN and whoever else needs to be given kudos when they get it right.

[gratuitous]

11. It wasn't just the Post and ABC

NBC had copious coverage, pointed questions to administration officials, demands to be allowed in to shelters and processing facilities, and lots of grainy night footage of refugees. Now? Well, let's see what the British Royal Family is doing!

[uponit7771]

13. +1, immigration is number 5 issue for voters not because things exploded out of control

... when Biden got elected its because it got raitings

[speak easy]

14. "The Post for months led the media charge". No. That is a lie.

FNC/Murdoch led the charge as everyone knows. And then there's the NY freaking Times.

Border at ‘Breaking Point’ as More Than 76,000 Unauthorized Migrants Cross in a Month
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/05/us/border-crossing-increase.html

Yep call out WaPo - they should have known better, but don't lie.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

15. Agreed

There is no border crisis

[central scrutinizer]

16. If it bleeds, it leads. Man bites dog.

Old maxims of the news biz. Normal is boring. Good news is boring.

[BobTheSubgenius]

17. That's the Liberal Media for you.

What can you expect?

[Wicked Blue]

18. They also bury news stories about the Jan. 6 insurrection in the local news section

when it is obviously news of national interest.

I think this is disgraceful.

[Mike Nelson]

19. Well...

... I did see FOX was the first to push the "Biden Border Crisis!" Looks, to me, like Biden is solving the Trump crisis. Media will look for more Biden crises... they would love to have Trump become the 2024 nominee, too... whatever brings home the bacon.

[BlueNProud]

20. WaPo and NYT both horrible. Boston Globe sucks too.

[redqueen]

21. "the press continues to take its cues from Republicans"

Yeah no shit. The corporate-toady media knows on which side their bread's buttered.

[rickyhall]

22. All that needed to be said.

[RVN VET71]

23. Real journalism always gets sacrificed to the corporate lust for money

That’s a big part of the problem: if you want to be journalist, where do you go? How many positions exist in this country for honest, skeptical journalism? Positions where a journalist can fashion a career without selling at least a piece of her soul?

[ladym55]

25. And a quick reminder!

Subscribe to Eric Boehlert's Press Run. He is my go-to for clear information.

Love him!!!

[peggysue2]

27. I'm sure the Republicans are disappointed

They thought they'd caught a wave they could ride right into 2022: BIDEN'S CONTINUING IMMIGRATION DEBACLE.

Oops. An 84% drop in children being held is . . . impressive considering all the other shit that Biden has dealt with in his first 100 days. And the right-wing journalists and pundits were having a grand old time punching at Kamala Harris, who they said should never been given the responsibility. Remember the horror story of her visiting a Chicago bakery when she should have been at the border taking care of business.

Oh dear. Back to Mr. Potato Head. Or denying Americans hamburgers. Or . . .

As for the press jumping on these bandwagons? They really miss Donald, the disaster a minute guy. Sells papers, produces clicks.

[JI7]

28. The lazy media always just runs with whatever bs the right wing spews out