1. The Bezos/National Enquirer business is a reminder that there has been a longstanding affinity between authoritarian politics and gossip mongering tabloids, going back at least a century to William Randolph Hearst.
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7. Beyond Hearst, we see this fusion of tabloids with the right again and again: think of Page 6 & the New York Post or the broader journalistic practices of our latest William Randolph Hearst: Rupert Murdoch.
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8. Conversely: has there ever been a left-wing tabloid or gossip columnist? I suppose Winchell had a New Deal period but he turned hard right. Maybe Drew Pearson? Maybe Gawker? Some examples, but not a lot.
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9. Trump himself was a pure product of this fusion of right-wing politics with tabloid culture. Much of his early fame came from his ability to dominate the headlines of the New York papers & the mentorship of Roy Cohn taught him the value of chits & compromising info.
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10. I have a longer think piece here about the connections between weaponized gossip, Trumpism, and right-wing politics:https://newrepublic.com/article/143688/donald-trump-weaponization-gossip …
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yes jeet, that is exactly what’s happening here. poor, defenseless, pure jeff bezos
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Murdoch is clearly as interested in journalism as a means of trading favors and accumulating chits as for pushing a political agenda.
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this is the premise of SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS
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I once wrote about how Gawker weaponized gossip *against* the powerful: https://nowtoronto.com/news/think-free-blog/the-value-of-gawking/ …
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Okay but Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post and is also William Randolph Hearst.
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