The media’s focus on profits and clickbait is making politics worse.

 

Courier

John,

Marjorie Taylor Greene went viral again, this time for telling Representative Jasmine Crockett she had “fake eyelashes” during a committee hearing.

You’ll be happy to hear the mainstream media totally didn’t take the bait and is covering the incident with restraint.

Just kidding…

We’ll explain why this kind of coverage is so damaging in just a moment, but if you want to change the media for the better, chip in $15 now to fund our substantive local news coverage today!

In the age of clickbait news headlines and social media algorithms, far-right politicians like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Donald Trump are king. 

MAGA politicians know that when they say something controversial, the media won’t be able to resist. The ensuing wall-to-wall coverage gets them the attention they crave, bringing millions of dollars into their campaign coffers.

That dynamic keeps MTG searching for (and finding) her next viral moment.

So, instead of coverage of climate change, reproductive rights, or the fight to protect democracy from far-right authoritarianism, we get more Trump and MTG buffoonery, and our democracy is worse for it.  

Here at COURIER, we’re working to change that dynamic by focusing on the issues that matter most in our communities. While the legacy media chases after MTG and the clicks she brings to their content, our battleground state newsrooms are doing something completely different:

Climate change, maternal health, and threats to our democracy – these are the issues of our time. We’re committed to making this kind of substantive, rigorous journalism freely available in the communities that need it most. We will never compromise our values or push clickbait just for a quick buck. 

But we need your help. We don’t rely on paywalls and subscriptions to keep our newsrooms open, so we need supporters like you to keep providing this essential service. Can you chip in $15 today?

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Thank you,
COURIER