245
votes
Accepted
Why is President Trump making such a big deal about fake news, and specifically targeting reputable organizations like The New York Times and CNN?
TL;DR I have been as bi-partisan as possible.
President Trump is attempting to discredit the media as they attempt to expose aspects of his administration they find worthy of journalism. Some may be ...
- 3,506
187
votes
Accepted
Why won't Donald Trump do something about "fake news"?
Because of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the ...
- 74.6k
184
votes
Why are Republicans (unlike Democrats) heavily criticized for their flip-flopping regarding the 2016/2020 US supreme court justice nominations?
The Democrats were in favour of appointing Garland in 2016, but now that the Republicans have set a precedent that Supreme Court Justices should not be appointed in an election year, the Republicans ...
- 2,581
162
votes
Why is Fox News the most viewed news channel in the US?
Because there is only one Fox News and there are multiple competitors. Overall, CNN and MSNBC together are watched more than Fox (source). But they split the liberal viewership. So if they get 34% ...
- 89.2k
131
votes
Why are Republicans (unlike Democrats) heavily criticized for their flip-flopping regarding the 2016/2020 US supreme court justice nominations?
Why are the Republicans being criticized? Because in 2016 they didn't simply say it was party politics as the reason to oppose Obama's choice, nor even that they disagreed with his choice.
They chose ...
- 7,554
110
votes
Accepted
Why shouldn't BBC have to register as a foreign agent?
The relevant US law is the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which covers agents who act "at the order, request, or under the direction or control" of a foreign power.
Therefore, institutional and ...
- 11.4k
110
votes
Why is Fox News the most viewed news channel in the US?
Fox news viewers are quite elderly, average age of 68 as of 2017. Older people consume news and media primarily through their TV and newspapers. Younger people more through their PC and smartphones (...
- 3,421
109
votes
Why is the fact that Ukraine President Zelenskyy publicly stated that Trump didn't pressure him whatsoever being ignored?
I wouldn't necessarily say that the mainstream media is ignoring Zelensky's statement. (NY Times, Washington Post analysis, Fox News). However, he made the statement at the end of September, and it'...
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100
votes
What is the meaning of "Cancel Culture"?
A new*, deliberately pejorative, term to describe an old phenomenon, that of pressuring individuals or companies through the media when you disagree with their views, often in the ethnic/sexual ...
88
votes
Accepted
Why is Reuters considered as an independent and unbiased political news source?
The Reuters organization a news agency, not a news media organization. That means their primary function is to collect news from across the globe and deliver it to newspapers, magazines, news shows, ...
- 65.2k
83
votes
Why does there seem to be a lack of conservative comedy and comedy-news compared to liberal?
A liberal/conservative divide happens between sparsely-populated rural areas and dense urban ones, with the rural settings more likely to be conservative, and the urban ones more likely to be liberal. ...
- 17k
81
votes
Why does the media continue to hide the identity of the Trump-Ukraine whistle blower when they have already been outed?
Mistaken identity
It's not clear that the person named by RealClearInvestigations is the actual whistleblower. According to mediabiasfactcheck.com, that website has mixed factual reporting and has ...
JJJ♦
- 38.7k
80
votes
Why is President Trump making such a big deal about fake news, and specifically targeting reputable organizations like The New York Times and CNN?
While the presumption is that most of the stories are disliked rather than false, note that some of the stories have been false.
The New York Times reported that there was a pattern of ...
- 89.2k
78
votes
Accepted
Why does Germany ban RT but not France24 or Voice of America?
First a little clarification: It's not the original English-language RT which is banned in Germany. The English version of RT is actually available via satellite and in some regions of Germany via ...
- 74.6k
71
votes
Accepted
Is the President of the United States obliged to answer questions in press conferences?
He is not obliged to hold them at all, much less answer questions, or any specific questions.
The only requirement of addressing anyone is the state of the union, and that is not required to be a ...
- 2,657
71
votes
In countries without free press, why don't newspapers simply move overseas?
A news company is mostly its employees. Who also have a personal life. Or who might be subject to travel restrictions. When you move your operation to a different country, then you will have to leave ...
- 74.6k
67
votes
Why won't Donald Trump do something about "fake news"?
Apart from the legality, your assumptions are wrong.
You assume that there is a thing that can objectively be called "fake news", and that it comprises of stories containing false facts which can be ...
- 34.9k
65
votes
Why is the fact that Ukraine President Zelenskyy publicly stated that Trump didn't pressure him whatsoever being ignored?
Given how Zelensky was willing to agree with everything that Trump was saying in that conversation, it shouldn't be too surprising that Zelenskiy agreeing with Trump in public too doesn't seem ...
- 134k
65
votes
Why are Republicans (unlike Democrats) heavily criticized for their flip-flopping regarding the 2016/2020 US supreme court justice nominations?
The main reason for this is down to one question: who won the argument in 2016?
Because the Republicans had a majority in the Senate in 2016, it was them who decided how Obama's nomination would be ...
- 27.8k
64
votes
Why there are no major political movements worried about asteroid/comet impact?
The scenario of an asteroid impact destroying life on Earth as we know it was actually a topic which got quite a lot of media attention in the late 90s. Disaster movies like Armageddon or Deep Impact ...
- 74.6k
58
votes
Why does the media continue to hide the identity of the Trump-Ukraine whistle blower when they have already been outed?
The origins of the "identifying" of the whistle-blower come not from any actual fact or confirmation, but from speculation from a right-wing agenda site that bases the speculation upon similar ...
- 20.8k
57
votes
Are "keep your powder dry" or "Stand back and standby" arguably examples of "dog whistles"?
The metaphor of a 'dog whistle' refers to literal dog whistles: whistles that produce tones too high for humans to hear, but which are perfectly audible to dogs and generally excite those dogs to bark ...
- 65.2k
54
votes
Why does there seem to be a lack of conservative comedy and comedy-news compared to liberal?
Dennis Miller is an openly conservative comedian. He had several television shows, although most have been short-lived since he came out as a conservative after 9/11. His radio show lasted until ...
- 89.2k
53
votes
Why should nations that stand to benefit from climate change have to contribute to the fight against it?
This quite a good question, considering that it is one often asked by detractors of climate change concerns.
Frame shift: Benefits? What benefits? From the POV of Canada, a cold country which is ...
52
votes
Accepted
How much of the US media referred to the COVID-19 as the "Wuhan Virus" until it received an official designation from the WHO?
Max Rissuto from DFRLab has analysed this in an article published on March 17th which tests the media bias claims made by Republican politicians including GOP House Leader Kevin McCarthy, who tweeted ...
CDJB♦
- 102k
51
votes
Why is the media concerned about the sharia and the treatment of women in Afghanistan, but not in Saudi Arabia?
It's a little disingenuous to say they're not concerned about it, as much as it is to use 'the media' to describe a highly textured and diverse industrial sector.
That said, the status of women in ...
- 16.4k
50
votes
Why does there seem to be a lack of conservative comedy and comedy-news compared to liberal?
A perspective from the United Kingdom.
Since 1990, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has regularly broadcast Have I Got News For You. They ridicule everybody, but as far as politicians are ...
- 47.4k
50
votes
Accepted
Why do politicians often say that they cannot comment on individual cases?
There is usually no legal reason why a politician can't comment, but there are a number of very logical reasons why it is going to be a bad idea:
The politician may not have been briefed on the ...
- 19.9k
49
votes
Accepted
Why can one still buy newspapers during lockdown?
At least in Italy, this appears to be in part a response to pressure from newspapers and their readers. On March 11th, the director of la Repubblica newspaper Carlo Verdelli published (in Italian) an ...
CDJB♦
- 102k
48
votes
Why is the fact that Ukraine President Zelenskyy publicly stated that Trump didn't pressure him whatsoever being ignored?
To me, it's like accusing someone of pressuring someone else and the person supposedly being pressured says they are not being pressured
You seem to be missing the whole point of pressuring someone: ...
- 25.9k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible