After Donald J. Trump entered the White House in 2017, The Washington Post adopted a slogan that underscored the newspaper’s traditional role as a government watchdog: “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” This week, as Mr. Trump prepares to re-enter the White House, the newspaper debuted a mission statement that evokes a more expansive view of The Post’s journalism, without death or darkness: “Riveting Storytelling for All of America.”
The new slogan is terrible. The old slogan was also terrible, but at least it was ridiculous. "Riveting Storytelling for All of America" is just really dumb — a dumb slogan expressing the opinion that America is dumb, but what are you going to do?
Posts
77 comments:
Well, they got the "storytelling" part right.
I don't want "storytelling" from a newspaper. I want news.
How tone deaf can you be?
‘stories’ is a synonym for ‘lies’
good for them for recognizing their propaganda needs to reach everywhere, not just the places college-educated-white women frequent… (the dash makes it an adjective)
We do need more riveting in America - construction, manufacturing, infrastructure, etc.
JSM
That cute little phrase was always a specimen of comical self-importance and hypocrisy when applied to the Old Media drama-queens who specialized in keeping the public in the dark about the machinations of its collectivist/globalist enemies in government and outside it.
It was, and still is, far more pertinent to the ongoing efforts of self-appointed censors to police the free speech of individual Americans on social media.
Many of these totalitarian scum were public employees who drew a salary from the citizens while working hard to silence their voices with all the power their government offices could muster. They must be among those who are most severely punished by the new Trump regime. I hope we see some lengthy prison terms for conspiracy against civil rights and official oppression under color of law.
Even better if we can get qualified immunity totally abolished. I put my good name and liberty and everything I own on the line every time I sign a report at work. There is no reason that the government scum should be held to any lower standards when they attempt to enslave and oppress us. Let's imprison them and strip them of their homes, pensions, and everything else they own, down to their toothbrushes.
Save the ink, we know what it'll be: "Resistance!"
I humbly suggest an honest mission statement:
Sorry everybody. We're going to try to unfuck ourselves.
Seems about right
The Washed up Post already did plenty of "storytelling" on Nick Sandmann and Johnny Depp.
How much did it cost them in legal fees again?
Seems about right
The Washed up Post already did plenty of "storytelling" on Nick Sandmann and Johnny Depp.
How much did it cost them in legal fees again?
"What are you going to do?" Be riveted? The Post is all about telling stories to sundry folks and their kin.
There is fiction in the space between
The lines on your page of memories
Write it down but it doesn't mean
You're not just telling stories
There is fiction in the space between
You and reality
You will do and say anything
To make your everyday life seem less mundane
There is fiction in the space between
You and me
Professor? there was a typo in your post (NOT your typo)
The line:
"adopted a slogan that underscored the newspaper’s traditional role as a government watchdog.."
clearly meant to read:
"adopted a slogan that underscored the newspaper’s traditional role as a government lapdog.."
again; Not YOUR typo, but a typo non the less
There's a science fiction in the space between
You and me
A fabrication of a grand scheme
Where I am the scary monster
I eat the city and as I leave the scene
In my spaceship I am laughing
In your remembrance of your bad dream
There's no one but you standing
Leave the pity and the blame
For the ones who do not speak
You write the words to get respect and compassion
And for posterity
You write the words and make believe
There is truth in the space between
There is fiction in the space between
You and everybody
Give us all what we need
Give us one more sad sordid story
But in the fiction of the space between
Sometimes a lie is the best thing
Sometimes a lie is the best thing
Oh the best thing
Is the best thing
"storytelling"
LOL. yep.
don't forget Jeans! (which would be manufacturing, but need to be IN America again!)
Stand back.... we are getting so very riveted!
As a romance author, I already write stories for all of America. Is the Washington Post now competing with my fiction? (I know they've always printed fiction; now it sounds like they are openly announcing it.)
Does the younger generation, who I assume are responsible for the new motto, not understand the negative connotation of "storytelling"? Or maybe they're just being honest.
Democracy Dies in Darkness" - is still up.
I always thought that was perfect for them.
Meanwhile, CNN: Convicted Defamers. Punitive damages award still to come...................
LLR-democratical Rich hardest hit.
Rosie the Riveting Storyteller, queen of the NeoWapo, will hold the backward bumpkins in her thrall.
As a backward bumpkin, I can't wait.
The current owners and stakeholders (read reporters) of the media companies that once owned very expensive (and therefore rare and valuable) assets - these folks are still struggling, even after a decade and more - are still struggling to come to terms with the fact that they are now nothing special and are in fact dead weight.
Think about the phrase above "expensive and therefore rare and valuable assets:
-Large, highspeed German printing presses? Don't need them. We now have millions of servers that deliver HTML, and HTML translating software and screens in our pockets.
-TV Cameras? Don't need them. Almost every adult in the world now has a camera in their pocket.
-Reporting and broadcast networks? Don't need them. Almost everyone in the world has access a global network right at their fingertips.
-Knowledgeable and thoughtful people with opinions? Access to knowledgebases and expertise has never been easier. And it turns out that everyone in the world has an opinion.
Yet CNN, WaPo, and other media companies keep trying the sell us on the fact that they are special. Just think of horse and buggy suppliers arguing that they are still highly relevant, long after the advent of the automobile.
And unsurprisingly, they are taking the change in value poorly.
It was cement yesterday, rivets today. Mike Rowe, call your office.....
Here's a slogan: We're going to try to tell the truth for a while. I know, it's not catchy.
Why does a newspaper need a motto or a mission statement anyhow? Or if it's truly a mission statement, not a slogan, why not be more expansive?
That, the popular idea of what journalism ought to be is a patchwork of tired old marketing slogans and clichés: "All the news that's fit to print," "without fear or favor," "afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted," etc. I don't know how a modern slogan is supposed to improve on that.
Honestly, in the time it took to type up this comment I already forgot the Post's new motto.
If everyone lit one little candle
What a bright world it would be
So, after %90 of their subscribers left...
I'm once again imagining WaPoo reporters in pith helmets and bush jackets making long arduous treks into the wild spaces outside DC, hoping to observe MAGA voters in their natural habitat.
Here is a proposed slogan: "Selling you to advertisers, for as long as you keep looking."
If Bezos wants to keep WaPo operating at anything close to a net prfit he needs to start by being brutally honest about himself, his paper, and the monsters he pays to fill the column inches with excrement. Therefore, I propose a motto that reflects reality.
"Democracy. Yeah, We Tried to Kill It, But We're Past That Now and We're Okay. Right? ... Right?"
"Storytelling" = Progressive lies.
Handmade tales narrated in synchrony.
Demos-cracy aborted at the twilight fringe.
Christopher B writes, "I'm once again imagining WaPoo reporters in pith helmets and bush jackets making long arduous treks into the wild spaces outside DC, hoping to observe MAGA voters in their natural habitat."
Accompanied by Don Lemon wearing only a loincloth saying, "Juju, bawana, juju!"
Slogan suggestion:
“Nothing succeeds like mediocrity because everyone understands it so well.”
Slogan Suggestion:
"Stoking your pride and fears to keep you coming back"
Stories don't require fact-checkers. Cheaper to produce, easier to adhere to editorial talking points, digestible for their progressive-liberal DC readership.
When you having lying corrupt Senators on the floor crying about what Trump went through in his first term, dismissing what actually happened during the last 4 years, trying to gotcha Kristie Noem....and WAPO won't even write about it, or they will spin it in a whole different way...you just have to laugh at their storytelling. That is all they are good for.
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL: "Will you help me reunite children with their parents who were separated by Trump's family separation policy?"
KRISTI NOEM: "What I'm alarmed by is the over 300,000 children that went missing during the Biden administration."
BLUMENTHAL: "Let's put aside the labels and what happened in the past. There are still 1,000 children who were separated and waiting to be reunited. I'd like your commitment to continuing the effort to reunite them with their parents."
NOEM: "Well, I can't put aside 300,000 children. Keeping families together is critically important to me and to this country. I'm concerned about Laken Riley's family and that they no longer have her... We will uphold our laws and make sure we are doing everything we can to keep children safe from the trafficking and drug epidemics."
Howzabout: "Even a swamp has to dump its garbage somewhere"
All this "riveting" and "cementing" activity in DC! Who says blue collar work in the USA is dead? These journalists and executive branch honchos are rolling up their sleeves. And when the day's work is done, come and set by the fire to hear some great storytelling. Uncle Bezos can regale us with his travels out west in the wilds of Aspen with the slightly soiled (not to say dirty) Sanchez.
Wash and Portray (WaPo)
"Democracy Dies in Darkness" always struck me as a hysterical lie and so far from the truth, I couldn't understand why they said it. Were they that out-of-touch and crazy? Or was it all an act, designed to mobilize their emotional readers and leftists dumbos?
Its like that with a lot of stuff the MSM/Liberal/left says. You wonder are they that hysterical and stupid? Or is it just their propaganda isn't aimed at me, but at the gullible rubes and leftwing robots?
It'd be nice if the WaPo slogan was "Objective news and based in truth". But that would be too much of lie, even for them.
The Coach company used to supply leather products to the carriage trade. By carriage trade, I mean such things as bridles and harnesses. When carriage trade became a metaphor rather than a conveyance, they switched to high end leather goods like handbags and belts. They're still in business. Perhaps the Washington Post, should narrow rather broaden its focus. They should aim for a print run of about a hundred thousand people in DC. Their readership should be high income Democrats. They should write riveting articles about Trump's weight gain or Hegseth's ex-girlfriends. They should raise the subscription rate substantially.. It's not fair to ask Bezos to shoulder so much of the financial burden of reporting on such drivel.
How about, "Just the facts Ma'am?"
It is a spectacularly bad slogan. Did they not run it by anyone who could tell them that? So strange.
Democracy dies in discourteousness
Once its dwindling die-hard readers realize how badly they are being screwed, they will bolt.
Should be Rosy Riveting Storytelling for What’s Left of the WaPo Readership.
I like it.
A veteran WaPo reporter, telling stories to the younger naïfs around the office…
“And then… and then camo dude reached into his lifted 4x4 and pulled out an AR-15!!!”
Better WaPo Motto: "Cementing a Riveting Narrative thru Storytelling"
The old and new mottos are both terrible, each in its own unique way. "Storytelling" is not what a newspaper is supposed to be doing.
How about "Pursuing the truth wherever it takes us." And then, I don't know, maybe tell the truth.
Democracy Dies in Darkness" - is still up.
I always thought that was perfect for them.
Me too - when it first debuted, I thought, "Why are they telegraphing the punch?"
Unless they're nuts.
WaP00 dies in Cluelessness
too obvious, but the new slogan should be. ' we will try to lie better, not just to our base of elite out of touch fools, but to all the garbage people who inhabit far off mythical places like the Carolinian area, somewhere south of us. or west. '
The LA Times has a new owner, who actually expects government employees to be competent. what a concept.
"Based on a true story."
Instead of "telling stories," maybe just report facts.
“Riveting Storytelling for All of America”
In order to tell a story, you need to tie together all the related facts known in a way that makes logical sense. Now, suppose you come across a fact that would invalidate the story you've developed- both can't exist side by side, so what do you do? Which gets disappeared- the fact or the story- and how do you decide?
I've got a pretty good idea how the WaPo would choose to proceed.
Was it just me or did anyone else flash on Rosie the Riveter rolling up her sleeves and saying, "We can do it!" Of course, the WaPoo can't do it...
"Philip Rucker, The Washington Post's high-profile national editor, has indicated to people that he is exiting the newspaper, according to people familiar with the matter."
It's getting crowded on the off-ramp.
Where I come from, Rosie is giving the Italian Salute, or the bras d'honneur.
This “storytelling” slogan will be Exhibit A in the next defamation suit filed against the WAPO.
Storytelling? As in fairy tales and other fantasies?
"Joe Biden- Sharp as a Tack" and "Donald Trump- 21st Century Hitler", no doubt.
Democracy Dies in Darkness
it's a cookbook!
it's an instruction manual!
it's a PROMISE!
As I recall, the NYT used to have a slogan that they had "All The News That's Fit To Print". In 1964, while I was in college, I "had access" to the NYT. The Johnson v. Goldwater election tested that motto. What I found then was that all the headlined stories in the NYT were filled with anti-Goldwater stuff, as were the editorials and op-eds, based on what he supposedly said. But if you went to the trouble to dig down a bit, you could find in the NYT what Goldwater ACTUALLY said in context (not that this would change the mind of a typical NYT reader, but still it was there).
There's nothing like that in ANY newspaper today, I honestly don't know why ANYONE reads a newspaper today (I read the comics), but it certainly isn't to learn the facts about important political actions and events.
Yeah..."storytelling"...that's the ticket!
I've seen this act before--check out Jon Lovitz as Tommy Flanagan, the pathological liar.
Well...face it, America is dumb, fucking dumb(at least as demonstrated by their choices of elected officials throughout the land and in the highest echelons).
"I humbly suggest an honest mission statement:
Sorry everybody. We're going to try to unfuck ourselves."
Hahaha! We've just compounded on the fucking ourselves!
Just the facts, Jack!
The only sensible new mottos or credos or tag lines would be along the lines of: "The facts and only the facts. Unadorned: Who/What/Why/When/Where"
Of course, the "Why" is not always available or discernible, at least not at first, if ever. Oh, the opinion wielders can still ply their opinions, in carefully identified and separate "Opinon" and "Op/Ed" sections, a slim part of the news organizations' news organs.
Aww, I liked "Democracy Dies in Darkness". Especially because I always said it in Emperor Palpatine's voice in my head.
" The old slogan was also terrible, but at least it was ridiculous." - perfect :)
The death of democracy dies in darkness.
A dark palindrome and handmade tale from NYT?
Watch your six.
see the video in the post below this - for a prime example of "dumb."
Post a Comment