{"articles":[{"reaction_config":[{"icon":"happy","color":"#3AB093","stance":"happy"},{"icon":"apathetic","color":"#EDB723","stance":"apathetic"},{"icon":"sad","color":"#5ACDED","stance":"sad"}],"id":33821,"title":"Trump Allies Want to Raise $2 Million to Target Reporters at Top Outlets Ahead of 2020","html_content":"

by Axios | 9.3.19

President Trump's political allies are trying to raise at least $2 million to investigate reporters and editors of The New York Times, The Washington Post and other outlets, according to a three-page fundraising pitch reviewed by Axios.

Why it matters: Trump’s war on the media is expanding. This group will target reporters and editors, while other GOP 2020 entities go after the social media platforms, alleging bias, officials tell us.

The group claims it will slip damaging information about reporters and editors to \"friendly media outlets,\" such as Breitbart, and traditional media, if possible.
People involved in raising the funds include GOP consultant Arthur Schwartz and the \"loose network\" that the N.Y. Times reported last week is targeting journalists. The operations are to be run by undisclosed others.
The prospectus for the new project says it's \"targeting the people producing the news.\"

The irony: The New York Times exposed an extremely improvisational effort that had outed a Times editor for past anti-Semitic tweets. This new group is now using the exposure to try to formalize and fund the operation.

Organizers joke that their slogan should be: \"Brought to you by The New York Times.\"

Under \"Primary Targets,\" the pitch lists:

\"CNN, MSNBC, all broadcast networks, NY Times, Washington Post, BuzzFeed, Huffington Post, and all others that routinely incorporate bias and misinformation in to their coverage. We will also track the reporters and editors of these organizations.\"

This isn't an entirely new concept. The liberal group Media Matters monitors journalists and publications, and goes public with complaints of bias. But being this blatant and specific about trying to discredit individual reporters is new.

Go deeper: Trump allies plot new war on social media

","image_urls":{"small":"https://ul.countable.us/ul/v1567505405/axios-rss/w3smt4v69xk4fnlgl0jj.jpg","medium":"https://ul.countable.us/ul/v1567505405/axios-rss/w3smt4v69xk4fnlgl0jj.jpg","large":"https://ul.countable.us/ul/v1567505405/axios-rss/w3smt4v69xk4fnlgl0jj.jpg","thumb":"https://ul.countable.us/ul/v1567505405/axios-rss/w3smt4v69xk4fnlgl0jj.jpg","xsmall":"https://ul.countable.us/ul/v1567505405/axios-rss/w3smt4v69xk4fnlgl0jj.jpg"},"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/articles/33821-trump-allies-want-raise-2-million-target-reporters-top-outlets-ahead-2020","article_comments":"https://www.causes.com/api/articles/33821-trump-allies-want-raise-2-million-target-reporters-top-outlets-ahead-2020/comments"},"comment_count":318,"action_count":2052,"cta_prompt":"How do you feel about Trump allies' plan to investigate reporters?","cta_type":"reactions","share_count":22,"published_at":"2019-09-03T10:10:07.997Z","is_countable_article":false,"allow_advocacy":true,"profile_id":55,"signed":false,"signatures_count":null,"signatures_goal":100,"signable_progress":0,"video_url":null,"video_dimensions":null,"video_aspect_ratio":null}],"users":[{"name":"Eric","vote_count":239,"photos":{"large":"https://graph.facebook.com/10153576449117609/picture?width=150&height=150","small":"https://graph.facebook.com/10153576449117609/picture?width=75&height=75","tiny":"https://graph.facebook.com/10153576449117609/picture?width=20&height=20","facebook":"https://graph.facebook.com/10153576449117609/picture"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/aW57wYbm/following","followers":"/api/users/aW57wYbm/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":14,"is_following":null,"influence_score":620,"influence_level":30,"follower_count":16,"following_count":5,"position_count":162,"id":"aW57wYbm","partner_id":null},{"name":"jimK","vote_count":543,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/9odrQBnb/large_9odrqbnb-1557000969.jpg","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/9odrQBnb/small_9odrqbnb-1557000969.jpg","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/9odrQBnb/tiny_9odrqbnb-1557000969.jpg"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/9odrQBnb/following","followers":"/api/users/9odrQBnb/followers"},"about_me":"Retired, Politically Independent. Won’t listen to slogans, chanted mantras or generally any kind of marketing spin or “rebranding” crap. I firmly believe that everyone else is entitled to their erroneous opinions. Citizen vigilance and due diligence is price we must pay to live in a thriving, functional democracy.\nI fear that our citizens are too easily swayed by politician’s pablum about “babies”, “jobs” and now, in particular, perceived “enemies”. I fear that a citizenry focused on the “here-and-now” is easily tricked by short term benefits that have negative long-term consequences. I fear that our legislators are more concerned about buffing their constituents than looking out for the long-term welfare of our country- and are way too eager to provide those short-term benefits to the “here-and-now” crowd.\nI fear that honor is generally being sacrificed/replaced by expediency. I hear politicians eloquently argue for one side of an issue and later, when it’s to their benefit, just as eloquently argue for the opposite side. OK, so they are good at arguing- but what is that they actually believe? What is it that they actually stand for? An honorable person has values that persist even when it is not convenient or expedient. An honorable person has a moral compass that stops them from doing something wrong even if it is not illegal. A foul is a foul- even if the referee doesn’t catch you.\nI fear that each of our federal governmental branches have devised or discovered shortcuts which tend to protect them from the checks and balances our founders intended.","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"jimk","issue_count":4,"is_following":null,"influence_score":44400,"influence_level":40,"follower_count":1512,"following_count":81,"position_count":538,"id":"9odrQBnb","partner_id":null}],"article_comment":{"flagged":false,"id":1019048,"body":"Will they investigate all reporters on every network? I’m guessing no. Since the people behind this are trump supporters the deep hypocrisy of investing people for wrongdoing is pretty hypocritical in itself. Tell your boss to come clean in all ways first.","parent_type":"Article","parent_id":33821,"created_at":"2019-09-03T17:51:26.264Z","liked":false,"like_count":1,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/comments/1019048","likers":"https://www.causes.com/api/v1/likers?likeable_id=1019048&likeable_type=Comment"},"article_id":33821,"shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/comments/1019048.png","note":{"icon":"sad","color":"#5ACDED","stance":"sad"},"note_text":"Sad","note_color":"#5ACDED","user_id":"aW57wYbm","liker_ids":["9odrQBnb"]}}

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