(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The AP is certainly often a fine news source, but Daily Kos should call it out when it's not [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-16 Looks like a kind-hearted watchdog “What editor approved these things?” A few months ago Daily Kos started posting AP articles. Markos pointed out that supplementing the front page with AP articles can give DK staff writers more time to cover their own beats. Of course, AP posts may sometimes lack depth in topics not covered by DK staff but of particular interest to DK readers. But as Markos often says, it’s a big Internet. Other sites may provide better coverage on some topics. For example, former DK staff writer Brandi Buchman has been providing very in-depth coverage of the Proud Boys seditious conspiracy trial at emptywheel.net. Markos attested that only quality AP stories — no “bullshit” articles — will be published here and that Daily Kos also maintains the right to edit out dubious parts from the AP articles it does choose to publish. Of course we do expect more from this website than simply not publishing mainstream media bullshit. We expect this website to call out the BS. Which is what Daily Kos scribe Mark Sumner did when he waxed apoplectic over “sickly sweet” passages in a Washington Post article about the Air National Guardsman implicated in disseminating secret, highly sensitive U.S. intelligence. But just a few hours after Mark posted another rant on the same subject, Daily Kos itself posted an AP article with the same sort of sanitized descriptions of the alleged leaker and his cohorts which Mark had been blasting: Investigators believe Teixeira was the leader of an online private chat group on Discord, a social media platform popular with people playing online games and where Teixeira is believed to have posted for years about guns, games and his favorite memes. ... Known as Thug Shaker Central, the group drew roughly two dozen enthusiasts who talked about their favorite types of guns and also shared memes and jokes. The group also held a running discussion on wars that included talk of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. ... The Justice Department has not alleged a particular motive. Accounts of those in the online private chat group where the documents were disclosed have depicted Teixeira as motivated more by bravado than ideology. His court appearance Friday was brief. He entered the room in tan jail clothes and sat at the defense table next to his lawyer. At the end, a man who appeared to be a family member in the front row told Teixeira he loved him and the defendant responded “I love you, too." His lawyer did not return a message seeking comment. No mention that the “memes and jokes” enjoyed by the lovable lad and his cohorts were reportedly racist and homophobic, that the defendant reportedly appears in a video yelling racist and anti-Semitic epithets as he plugs away on the shooting range, that he reportedly has expressed a very definite ideological bent against government and the intelligence community which might give him a motive besides “bravado” to commit this type of criminal dereliction of duty. Mark wrote: WTF, Washington Post? What editor approved these things? The only thing I can say is, you’re not alone. His “you’re not alone” reference was to a tweet he included about about an MS-NBC reporter who had remarked that there were no indications that the defendant had political motives. Well, just four hours after Mark posted that, Daily Kos chose to post that AP article which provided another glaring example of how the Washington Post is “not alone.” Daily Kos has from its very start served as a media watchdog, so let’s hope it will never be reticent to call out BS in the mainstream media, including AP stories, at the same time as being a staunch defender of the press. We all here recognize that mainstream news organs are both invaluable and imperfect. With regard to this extraordinary leak incident, since it’s a national security matter I suppose we may never learn the full story regarding why a low-rank enlistee in the Massachusetts Air National Guard would have access to such an astonishingly wide variety of highly sensitive information. It would seem to indicate something systemically awry in procedures and protocols, which this breach ought to serve as a wakeup call to review and revise. Daily Kos lets us all be watchdogs It’s to this website’s great credit that we in the Community have been afforded the tools to help out in the media watchdog role — we can post here our own stories (or "diaries" as many of us still call them). Here are examples of a couple such diaries I’ve posted: The AP’s “fact check” on Medicare for All savings is a case study in biased reporting Classic example of media spin that can divide us: twisting Obama’s words into attack on progressives Let’s always keep a sharp eye out for bullshit in the media — and yes, BS here on DK, too. (It happens!) Who watches the watchdogs? We do! [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/16/2164256/-The-AP-is-certainly-often-a-fine-news-source-but-Daily-Kos-should-call-it-out-when-it-s-not Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/