#1206 The war on journalism, truth and democracy itself
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 31 August 2018
⏱️ 79 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Air Date: 8/31/2018
Today we take a look at some of the tactics and ramifications of Trump's all-out war with journalism which is his strategy to undermine the most potent force capable of opposing an administration of lies and propaganda
Be part of the show! Leave a message at 202-999-3991
Episode Sponsors: BetterHelp| Amazon USA| Amazon CA| Amazon UK
Support Best of the Left on Patreon!
SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: Trump's War on Journalism - Newsbeat - Air Date 3-1-18
Obama had his "War on Whistleblowers." Trump unflinchingly attacks the media. There have also been arrests of reporters. How "free" is the free press?
Ch. 2: Trump really does want to put journalists in prison - Bradcast from @TheBradBlog - Air Date 4-30-18
Memos written by former FBI Director James Comey after private meetings with President Donald Trump indicate Trump seemed obsessed with arresting and imprisoning journalists.
Take action! Click the title and/or scroll down for quick links and resources from this segment.
Ch. 4: Is Trump's chaos beating the media? - Trumpcast - Air Date 4-26-18
Jacob Weisberg is joined by the media critic, Jay Rosen, to talk about why he thinks Trump is winning and the press is losing.
Ch. 5: For the Sake of The People In This Room - On the Media - Air Date 8-3-18
CNN reporter Jim Acosta was verbally attacked by a crowd of Trump supporters at a Tampa rally. Brooke speaks with Greg Sargent, opinion writer at The Washington Post, about how and why the president incites his base toward anger and disbelief.
Ch. 6: Is Donald Trump Systematically Destroying Faith in The Media - @Thom_Hartmann - Air Date 8-1-18
The First requirement of every despot is to destroy people's faith in the free press.
Ch. 7: Trump Admin Launches Major Attack on Freedom of the Press - @davidpakmanshow - Air Date: 7-23-18
The Trump administration launches a concerted large-scale attack on the media with the goal of labelling it the enemy of the American people.
More and more mainstream corporate media folks are receiving death threats as well, leading one NYT columnist to warn, “we are approaching a day when blood on the newsroom floor will be blood on the President’s hands."
VOICEMAILS
Ch. 9: Explaining extra costs of private health insurance - Dave from Olympia, WA
Ch. 10: Final comments
THE MIDTERMS MINUTE:
*Reminder! Massachusetts on 9/4 & Delaware on 9/6*
Check on candidates endorsed by Justice Democrats | Brand New Congress | DSA | Latino Victory | Our Revolution
PHONE BANK with Justice Democrats “Justice Dialer” & Brand New Congress GOTV Dialer & Voter Circle
Check your state registration deadlines and voter ID laws with rockthevote.org
For an easy way to donate to candidates, check out DownTicket.com on your mobile browser.
“15 Ways to Help a Campaign Win Their Election” (Political Charge)
SEPT. 11TH - NEW HAMPSHIRE
NH Voter Info from Rock the Vote
1st district: Mindi Messemer
Governor: Molly Kellyvs. Steve Marchand (Further Reading: NHPR| Concord Monitor)
SEPT. 12TH - RHODE ISLAND
RI Voter Info from Rock the Vote
Governor: Matt Brown
Lt. Governor: Aaron Regunberg
Written by BOTL Communications Director Amanda Hoffman
MUSIC:
- Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr
- N/A
- Gondola Blue - Towboat (Blue Dot Sessions)
- Shift of Currents - Aeronaut (Blue Dot Sessions)
- Pelliu - Blue Dot Sessions (Blue Dot Sessions)
- Thannoid - Bodytonic (Blue Dot Sessions)
- Gusty Hollow - Migration (Blue Dot Sessions)
- A Path Unwinding - K4 (Blue Dot Sessions)
- Voicemail Music: Low Key Lost Feeling Electro by Alex Stinnent
- Closing Music: Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
Thanks for listening!
Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com
Support the show via Patreon
Listen on iTunes | Stitcher| Spotify| Alexa Devices| +more
Check out the BotL iOS/AndroidApp in the App Stores!
Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft
Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft
Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This program is made possible by the members and donors to the show to support the work |
| 0:06.4 | we do for as little as a buck a month or to sign up as a member and get commercial-free |
| 0:10.4 | versions of every episode, plus members only bonus content, sign up at patreon.com slash |
| 0:16.0 | best of left or visit the contribute tab at bestofleft.com. |
| 0:20.2 | Now welcome to this episode of the award-winning best of left podcast in which we shall learn |
| 0:24.6 | about Trump's ongoing war with journalism and the dangers it poses to journalists and |
| 0:29.6 | democracy itself. |
| 0:30.6 | Eclipse today come from newsbeat, the broadcast, the Trump cast, on the media, the Tom |
| 0:36.2 | Hartman program and the David Baton show. |
| 0:41.0 | Every administration of the last three administrations has in different ways undermined the press's |
| 0:56.2 | ability to do its business in very different ways. |
| 0:58.9 | The Bush administration was just very adept at manipulating, taking advantage of the inefficiencies |
| 1:05.5 | of the press to present an otherwise indefensible agenda and otherwise indefensible conduct. |
| 1:11.6 | Just failures that had they been not as well presented to the press, what a resultant |
| 1:16.9 | impeachment, you know, an extreme case. |
| 1:20.6 | Barack Obama was different in that he was someone who had a lot of goodwill going in |
| 1:25.4 | and just as always been the case in American politics where a Republican can do certain |
| 1:29.6 | things like Nixon can recognize China and Bill Clinton can pursue well for reform because |
| 1:35.2 | Nixon's a Republican, you don't expect your Republican to do that and Clinton's a Democrat |
| 1:39.1 | and so on. |
| 1:40.3 | That means that the Obama administration was actually well positioned to impinge upon |
| 1:46.0 | the deal to the press to its job because they did have that goodwill that helps to facilitate |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jay Tomlinson, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Jay Tomlinson and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.