Discussion
The New York Times is a precision information warfare weapon. This is not hyperbole. They target specific stories and blow them out of proportion to assert maximum influence at critical moments.
This is only possible because of trust. Their ammunition is public trust. They build trust over time and then fire it in targeted attacks like the current Alaska ballot campaign.
Whenever you see something creditable from the NYT recognize they are simply rearming their trust stockpile.
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@mastodonmigration That's a Bond villain level of analysis, I'm impressed!
@frumble Particularly check out FediThing's analogy to a tactic the allies used against the Nazis in 1944. It is really ingenious.
@mastodonmigration Best recent example of this that I've seen is a recent article by Jamison Foser:
"The New York Times invents a Democratic scandal while ignoring a new Trump rape allegation"
A truly minor, and not even illegal, source of confusion (such as the Repubs have been doing for years) vs (another) revolting crime. A proportionate juxtaposition of the two in a headline, which is not in NYT of course.
@quixote The Jamison Foser article is great and everyone should read it to understand precisely how the New York Times information warfare operation works.
See also the linked article by @FediThing in the thread about how effectively this methodology was employed against the Nazi's in 1944.
@mastodonmigration
Sorry, trust once gone, rarely comes back without some extensive demonstration of trustworthy actions. A few stories are insufficient.
@Dougfir Agreed. Once people recognize how they are being manipulated, the trust is never regained. That is why it is important that they do.
The mountain of bias and indoctrination that buries the liberals who read the NYT religiously is there for a reason.
The New York Time is just Fox News for people who can read.
@mastodonmigration very well stated—thank you!
@mastodonmigration I really don't understand people who maintain a reverence for the NYT. It seems rooted in Pentagon Papers era thinking, not the many decades of bullshit since.
When the Allies began liberating Europe in 1944, they did something really clever: they quietly set up supposedly pro-Nazi radio stations but every so often inserted propaganda that harmed the Nazi war effort.
It meant that ordinary Germans actively listened to the stations, dropped their psychological guard and then believed various deliberate lies designed to confuse and demoralise them.
(This approach was a lot more effective than the Nazi propaganda stations, which were so obviously propaganda that people didn't believe a word of it.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldatensender_Calais
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_1212
@mastodonmigration @FediThing Thanks for the warning.
The other tactic employed by the New York Times is to give scant coverage to issues they want to suppress. For instance at the same time they are flogging the Alaska ballot story, they are studiously ignoring the new revelations concerning Trump rape, Epstein money, and Kushner payoffs.
The net effect is to normalize extreme issues to protect allied perpetrators and incite action against those they target.
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the NYT has too much power. no outlet should be able to set the agenda to the degree they do. if their influence was distributed and media was more decentralized (if reading and video worked more like podcasts) and everybody was on fedi, the public could decide what news was of high quality and deserved attention. that's how this should work.
@mastodonmigration I used to trust the NYT and WaPost as sources of liberal wisdom until in the era of Trump, it became obvious they were not or no longer. In WaPost’s case my impression it had something to do with being bought by a stink’n $B.
@mastodonmigration Overall and with some exceptions, the NYT has done and is doing a great job covering the Trump administration. If your conspiracy theory were true, their Editorial Board would not publish this: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/opinion/editorials/inflation-war-corruption-trump-editorial.html?unlocked_article_code=1.NlE.NXrq.-gNCkbZvYF8a&smid=url-share
Perfect example. Like a double agent, the reason they are able to so effectively manipulate the public is because they build trust in ways that don't matter much and burn it to maximal effect.
This editorial is a great example of how they operate to build trust with people so that they have credibility when they fire their disinformation attacks and normalize through scant coverage.
See FediThing's post about how the allies did the same thing against the Nazi's in 1944.
RE: https://social.chinwag.org/@FediThing/117536363597584282
@christianschwaegerl This analogy is the best way to understand how the New York Time disinformation operation works:
https://mastodon.online/@FediThing@chinwag.org/117536363726559997
@mastodonmigration Another, which exists across all right wing propaganda, is to capture the energy of a nascent populist movement and channel it in an impotent direction. In response to chaos, I expect to see NYT pushing for peace and calm instead of justice.
@CassandraVert Great point. 'People want solutions, not vengeance...'
@mastodonmigration @CassandraVert
The NYT is also infamous for its calls for civility, deference, and courtesy even when the GOP does something as viciously cruel as what Vivek did.
I've never seen them have opinon pieces making similar suggrstions to the billionaires behind the GOP.
Or the absolute sewer of vile racism and misogyny that comes out of Trump's mouth every night. None of it gets a mention.
You are right this selective tone policing is another way the New York Times defends the right, while kneecapping the left.
So for the New York Times information warfare tactics we've got:
1) Front page carpet bombing
2) Scant coverage
3) Bothsidesing
4) Selective tone policing
Anything else?
@mastodonmigration Exactly. Thank you. Egregious efforts by the GOP to confuse voters are not getting any attention from The New York Times at the same time that they magnify what took place in Alaska.
The NYT is making a mountain over a routine campaign tactic in Alaska while ignoring the same strategy being pursued by the GOP in Nevada. The owners and editors over there only care about advancing their Zionist agendas.
@joeinwynnewood @mastodonmigration
They know Republicans are bankrupting the nation and thrashing the empire, making the nation poorer and less powerful, Dash's priorities clearly lay elsewhere.
@mastodonmigration
The Times is an institution, owned by billionaires, millionaires and other vested interests in maintaining the inequality, graft and favor system that keeps New York and beyond outside the American Dream for most Americans and immigrants. And yes, an institution is a tool.