Media Capitulation Index
A new tool from Free Press that you should know about
OK, I know I said I wasn’t doing a newsletter this week, but Free Press launched its Media Capitulation Index and I had to write about it!
The Media Capitulation Index is a tracker that rates media conglomerates “on a scale from ‘independent’ to ‘vulnerable’ to ‘compromising’ to ‘capitulating’ to ‘obeying’ to ‘propaganda.’” Free Press has also released a companion report: A More Perfect Media, with deeper analysis.
From the press release:
In evaluating the 35 companies, Free Press found that media owners capitulated to the current White House in four principal ways:
1. through payments to Trump in the form of legal settlements, production contracts, campaign contributions, and other donations;
2. by rolling back prior commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion practices in hiring and community outreach;
3. through editorial manipulation and censorship: pressuring their newsrooms to soften criticism of the administration, firing staff and even pulling content that might anger the president; and
4. by attempting to curry favor with the president during inaugural ceremonies, private dinners at Mar-a-Lago and meetings in the White House.
Trackers like the Media Capitulation Index are so valuable in our current political and media environment, which is why I put together this running list of trackers a few months back. The scale of the Trump Regime’s authoritarian takeover is difficult to quantify, and information overload is inevitable. Trackers create institutional memory, help us identify patterns, and for advocates, they’re a crucial tool for speaking truth to power and holding those who’ve caved to the Trump Regime to account.
It’s also essential for citizens to understand the agenda of those running companies whose media we consume for news and entertainment. This is an area where I think civil society has gotten it wrong for some time. So often, the focus has been on what political bias a media outlet has rather than the agenda of who owns it. And of course, media outlets that do call out corporate ownership and how it impacts media tend to get labeled as having a left-wing bias.
I believe the partisan binary in electoral politics isn’t especially useful anymore, and that we need to evaluate voters and coalitions by tolerance for the Trump Regime and its agenda. The same is true for media. It’s vital to understand if and how media conglomerates are caving to the Trump Regime’s demands and evaluate coverage using that rubric. I get so many questions and concerns from folks who are worried about consuming too much media with one bias or the other, and don’t think about ownership or values beyond a partisan frame.
Finally, as consumers, we have economic power. Trackers like this one help us use it. We can choose what media companies we support with our wallets and with our eyeballs. This could manifest in organized boycotts or simply through our personal spending choices. The Media Capitulation Index helps us make informed decisions and craft stronger campaigns to hold media capitulators accountable.
ICYMI
What a DHS Post Says About White Womanhood and the American Empire Today (The 19th News)
“The image of “American Progress” has been trending ever since it appeared across DHS’ social channels on July 23 with the caption: “A Heritage to be proud of, a Homeland worth Defending.” The painting is a deviation from the recent content on the official DHS Instagram page, which since Trump’s inauguration has become a collection of memes, vintage-inspired propaganda posters and highly produced hype videos of law enforcement officers.”
The future of MAGA after Trump (Garbage Day)
“The MAGA coalition that’s been building for a decade is clearly fracturing, or, at the very least, morphing into something new. The apparently uneasy alliance between the manosphere, QAnon, Project 2025, reactionary Silicon Valley, and our country’s various white nationalist groups that President Donald Trump rode to victory on last year is pulling apart. And before I get to what I think will happen next, I want to break down where we’re currently at.”
Substack’s “Nazi Problem” Won’t Go Away After Push Notification Apology (Ars Technica)
“Substack has long faced backlash for allowing users to share their "extreme views" on the platform, previously claiming that "censorship (including through demonetizing publications)" doesn't make "the problem go away—in fact, it makes it worse," Lorenz noted. But critics who have slammed Substack's rationale revived their concerns this week, with some accusing Substack of promoting extreme content through features like their push alerts and "rising" lists, which flag popular newsletters and currently also include Nazi blogs.”
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Blatant Self-Promotion
I had so much fun talking to my friend Joe Sudbay on SiriusXM's Michelangelo Signorile Show this week. We talked Epstein, Paramount, and WTF is happening in the MAGA Cinematic Universe right now. You can listen to our conversation here.
No newsletter next week as I’ll be attending Netroots Nation. If you’re also in New Orleans for the conference, be sure to say hello and check out the two panels I’m speaking on.
I’ll be back Sunday, August 17!
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Important analysis. Thanks so much.
This is awesome, thank you!!