Mark Jacob

Chicago

Freelance Writer and Editor, Local News Initiative at Freelance

Ex-editor at Chicago Tribune & Sun-Times. Co-author of 10 books. Subscribe to my free newsletter on politics & media at https://t.co/K4nW7WYdyZ

Articles

Defeat Trump by concentrating on consequences

5 days ago | stopthepresses.news | Mark Jacob

An Associated Press story published over the weekend carried a clear, direct headline:“Deep cuts erode the foundations of US public health system, end progress, threaten worse to come.”And the story delivered a sweeping overview of an immensely important issue. This is too rare in today’s news media. As the Trump regime tries to bum-rush our democracy with one outrageous move after another, the media scramble to cover them all.
What do you call a blatant lie? It’s a ‘Lutnick’

1 week ago | stopthepresses.news | Mark Jacob

Amid the avalanche of lies coming from the White House, I asked myself who was the most dishonest person in the building – other than the World’s Biggest Liar, who’s now the president, of course. I thought it might be Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, since she considers it her job to lie. But then I settled on Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who cheerfully and enthusiastically showers snake oil on our country.
MAGA is the ventriloquist, some media are the dummies

2 weeks ago | stopthepresses.news | Mark Jacob

Journalism is not the process of repeating whatever someone says. It’s trying to get at the truth, which often means listening to what people say and assessing how it fits with the facts. But too often, that “assessing” step gets skipped, and lying politicians know it. So they use news outlets as their ventriloquist dummies. After Robert F.
One of Trump’s few talents: media manipulation

3 weeks ago | stopthepresses.news | Mark Jacob

This past weekend was a festival of Trump playing the fiddle and many in the mainstream media dancing to it. One of Trump’s few talents is media manipulation. He knows the value of being the first to frame a news development. He knows that many in the media feel obligated to act like the president is telling the truth, even when the president is the most notorious liar of our time. And he knows how to change the subject.
News outlets over-rely on the phrase ‘critics say,’ this critic says

1 month ago | stopthepresses.news | Mark Jacob

A lot of today’s journalists are scared of facts. They don't like to state things as flat-out true. They’d rather play it safe and employ a cop-out phrase like “observers say” or “critics claim,” even when the facts are not in serious doubt.
WaPo should apologize for endorsing Pam Bondi

1 month ago | stopthepresses.news | Mark Jacob

In an editorial in January, the Washington Post gave a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down to each of Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks. Among those who got an endorsement was Pam Bondi for attorney general:But in Bondi’s first few months as AG, she has been the fascist enforcer that many of us thought she’d be. She’s working for a would-be dictator – certainly not for the American people or for due process in a democracy.
‘Division Street Revisited’: How Studs Terkel’s Legacy Lives On in a New Podcast

1 month ago | better.net | Mark Jacob

In the 1960s, Myra Alexander fought against racism. Bill Koza craved tolerance toward gay people. Della Reuther protested against war. Ben Bearskin preserved Native American culture. Mary Ward Wolkonsky promoted the civic role of women. Leon Beverly battled for union workers and neighbors. And Blanche Gates, a widowed mother of 15, kept her family strong.
5 ways major media can seek redemption

1 month ago | stopthepresses.news | Mark Jacob

The Trump regime is defying the courts. Federal agents are grabbing people off the streets and jailing them for exercising their 1st Amendment rights. Trump is extorting universities and law firms. It’s a dictatorship-in-progress. The mainstream news media have helped bring us to this disaster with both-sidesing, sane-washing, and cheap fascination with Trump’s supposed “entertainment” skills. They had a duty to warn, and they largely failed.
Karoline Leavitt is a professional liar

1 month ago | stopthepresses.news | Mark Jacob

Before Karoline Leavitt became White House press secretary, she made a video for the radical Project 2025. Advising future right-wing political appointees, she said: “Sometimes you’re going to have to ‘fake it till you make it’ a little bit.”But Leavitt is faking it more than a little bit.
20 ‘rude’ questions the media should ask

2 months ago | stopthepresses.news | Mark Jacob

Newsmakers know journalists have a short attention span. They know if they can stave off questions long enough, most reporters will move on to something else. And if the reporters keep asking tough questions, some politicians will deny them access. The journalists may even get in trouble with their own bosses if their questions come across as rude. That’s why newsmakers get away with a lot these days.