As millions of Americans were out protesting the administration, The Young Turk’s Michael Tracey managed to get into — according to him — a shoving match with 78 year old Maxine Waters. There is one problem with this supposed exchange. When Tracey put the video online, there was no shove or even a hard push. In fact, her hands never touched him. Instead her hand went up and she used her elbow, a bit like an individual trying to navigate a crowded club, to get out of a situation.
The video itself turned this exchange into a moment that caused even fellow TYT contributors to question the reason for Tracey doubling down on this claim.
Tracey backed up his claim with this video:
This came shortly after he gave this evaluation of a real assault on a reporter:
Here, we follow Raptavio’s rule — anything before the word “but” is BS.
While the ridicule Tracey is taking on Twitter is appropriate, we need to talk about the expectations we have for people we think are progressives that promote stories of the day. This is a problem that impacts far too much of the liberal blogosphere right now.
In state houses, city offices, school boards and US House meetings, policies are being made right now that will impact your life. But in the era of Trump, everyone who can write online seems to think the best way to make change in the world is to focus like a laser on one of two things, and often both: how to make themselves famous, and how to talk about big, national plots and conspiracies.
Left-leaning readers often fall into the same trap as right leaning readers. They want to believe the worst, and so conspiracy theories about others, or assaults on “the damn establishment” resonate and sell — they generate clicks and traffic.
For sites like Daily Kos, the community itself helps regulate topics that go into LaLa Land. A site like The Young Turks, where people are paid staff, has an ethical obligation to comply with basic journalistic standards which include peer review and a willingness to revise if you are wrong.
Why does this happen?
Great diaries are written here daily about complex subject matter, including local zoning tickets in major metros that impact the black community; the placement of polling places in North Carolina, or environmental and health policy. As I read writing by Kelly Macias or Doc Dawg or Charles Gabba, I know I’m hearing it from someone who puts in the legwork to get the story right without injecting themselves repeatedly.
If you check the numerous progressive websites around the country, though, you’ll find the most highly recommended stories are often sensationalized, with the writer using conjecture and guesswork while having little or no hands-on knowledge of the situation at hand.
As a community where we all write in editorial style, it is certainly our right to speak our opinion regarding any policy, at any level.
The situation with Michael Tracey, though, shows us that we have built a lopsided system in which stories that can shape our lives — local issues, as an example — aren’t sexy enough to get a lot of retweets or Facebook shares or praise for the author.
Every day, I see more and new liberal progressive writers online. They aren’t writing about their local community, activism in their states or even region. Instead, we are teaching members of our community these things matter far less than making a splash with national “hot takes” about policy, and injecting yourself into the story? Even better. When I see someone writing about their local issues, from a US House run in a red state to the role of their state house, I think this is someone who is writing something they actually know.
Taking serious and critical look at politicians, even Democratic ones, and evaluating their views is fine. But as media consumers, we favor hot-takes and sensational viewpoints and we reward them with our views and clicks.
My grumpy old man gripe
So, today, I’m appealing to you to do this. Before you go and read and reward content that matches your world view already, or sensational “hot takes”, read up on issues in your own state, county or city. Read some Denise Oliver Velez or any of the numerous writers who put in depth work into providing you useful background on issues.
Do you want to contribute? You are free to write about big issues of the day. Feel absolutely free. But if we want to really help represent the people we need to vote for our candidates and our issues, we need to start talking about issues people relate to and that actually impact them in a way that is truthful, relatable, and far less egocentric.
No one anywhere in the country knows your neighborhood, your town, your schools and your local government the way you probably do. Your insight into those things can be priceless. What you write might not be top of the rec list or a hot Facebook share, but over the next few months it will show up in Google and search engines when people look for information about your home town, your home state.
Finally, and I mean this seriously: STOP REWARDING FRAUDS. Stop encouraging frauds. Keep track of people who promote conspiracy theories and snap out of it. Even if it confirms what you want to believe, it is TERRIBLE for public discourse on all issues.