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Eric Blair

Observer of lies and how and why they’re used, today and in the past. Expertise: how our information environment shapes our thoughts. Probably would benefit from an editor. "Optimism is an e

Female looks thoughtfully straight ahead

Responding to your MAGA relatives this Thanksgiving

Talk about media, and how rightwing billionaires harm average Americans. It works! Nov 22, 2022 A visit with family and friends is in the cards for many of us this weekend. Sometimes, tough conversations come out during those visits. Political issues in America are taking on more and more import

Use our brains, not polls

Overreliance on polling is sinking American democracy

Democratic leaders: be bold and strategic, instead of making every decision based on data Boosters for COVID-19 have become a high-stakes issue. This summer, Americans thought COVID would fade, and we would be looking at a more-normal fall. But then new variants arrived. The story of boosters highlights a critical

Clarity on the failure of NYT Politics in the Trump era

Clarity on the failure of NYT Politics in the Trump era

The day after the final debate, NYT coverage omits the truth. It’s October 23rd, 2020. Over three years into the Trump presidency, the NYT Politics desk is still failing its readership. It’s failing to convey what’s happening; it’s failing to convey the truth. (Disclaimer up front:

Media bothsidesism hasn't improved since 2016. Aargh!

Media bothsidesism hasn't improved since 2016. Aargh!

How has the media not yet figured out how to deal with bad-faith liars?? In 2016, after the election, to reassure myself things might not be that terrible, I leaned on the expectation this president would draw attention to some major problems in our public information sphere. I thought that

Affirmative action for conservatives: the elephant in the room

Affirmative action for conservatives: the elephant in the room

Mediocrities willing to espouse conservative views benefit from powerful affirmative action Conservative op-ed writers at the New York Times have always been targets of criticism, and not infrequently we can see in hindsight that NYT conservative op-ed writers were completely incorrect. But this year, in 2019, we have seen unusually

How the Trump base was cultivated by lies about "line cutting" – from Reagan, through Fox

How the Trump base was cultivated by lies about "line cutting" – from Reagan, through Fox

I was inspired by Seth Cotlar’s take on how modern conservatism got to where they are at today, but there’s one aspect he didn’t cover. From a red area, I watched Republican media, and Republican elites, cultivate the GOP base to want someone like Trump. Republicans have