A leading progressive publication has a warning for the zealous liberals and Democrats who attacked The New York Times for running a headline that was actually fair-minded toward President Trump, noting that he was urging “national unity” over racism during a difficult week amid a contentious campaign.

“Progressives should still subscribe to the newspaper of record. Just don’t expect it to save us from Trump,” advised Jeet Heer, national affairs correspondent for The Nation.

The outcry from offended Times readers was noisy. They canceled subscriptions and took to social media; the events made national news. Their complaints worked, however. The Times altered the headline to something more caustic — suggesting Mr. Trump was “assailing hate but not guns.”

As a news media moment, this could be an example of unprecedented reader influence. The Nation suggests Times readers have better things to do.

“Rage against the Times is often justified, but it also springs from readers’ wanting too much from the paper. With the story line of ‘All the President’s Men’ playing in the back of their heads, many Times readers seemed to hope that the paper would take on the mantle of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, bringing down a corrupt president. This was always a misunderstanding of the role of journalism,” wrote Mr. Heer.

“The push for mass subscription cancellations is misguided. Progressive Times readers would do better to read the paper with a critical eye, aware of its establishment bias. More importantly, we have to realize that the Times won’t save us — from Trump or anything else. The only solution to a racist president and the mass movement he leads is political activism,” he continued.

“The New York Times is no giant killer, merely a tool a giant killer might want to pick up. It’s up to the public to be the David that brings this Goliath down,” he concluded.

WOES, PART TWO

“The New York Times is having a week from hell, and it’s only Wednesday. After the publisher drew flak for a poorly worded headline earlier this week and suffered a legal setback against Sarah Palin on Tuesday, it warned that advertising revenue would decline sharply this quarter,” notes a Bloomberg analysis published Wednesday.

“The outlook sent New York Times Co. shares down 20% Wednesday — their worst intraday plunge in almost seven years — and cast a shadow on what had been an upbeat year for the Gray Lady,” Bloomberg said.

THE BLAME GAME

Who is to blame for mass shootings in the United States? A USAToday/Ipsos poll asked that question to find that three-fourths of Americans blame the “Mental health system” — an idea that had backing of both Republicans and Democrats. The influence of “racism and nationalism” was in second place, followed by “loose gun laws,” gun manufacturers and violent video games.

President Trump was cited in sixth place, closely followed by Republicans in Congress and Democrats in Congress. Interesting.

See all the numbers in a longer-than-usual Poll du Jour at column’s end — which finds that there is, in reality, very little bipartisan agreement on this topic.

HOLA, AMERICA

Many conservatives analyst have suggested that Democrats are relying heavily on the Hispanic vote in 2020, which in turn influences their approval of open borders and asylum, among other things. Here comes another factor. There is now a pronounced liberal tilt in Hispanic media, according to a Media Research Center analysis.

“Five years ago, MRC Latino analyzed every evening news story on Univision and Telemundo during a four-month period, and found their coverage of U.S. politics was heavily slanted to the left. This year, our analysts reviewed those broadcasts for an identical period, and found that their bias has become far more extreme,” write Alexander Reyes and Rich Noyes, who led the study for the conservative press watchdog.

This time, they examined close to 1,000 stories centered on U.S. politics and policy that aired on each network’s flagship 30-minute weekday newscast from Nov. 1 to Feb. 28. They found that 70% were slanted in a liberal direction,

“In four months, our analysts found only two stories which conveyed a pro-conservative spin,” the two analysts said

“America’s top Spanish-language news networks are failing to fully live up to their journalistic vocation,” they wrote. “Just like the rest of America’s news consumers, viewers of U.S. Spanish-language networks deserve news coverage that is comprehensive, fair and accurate, adhering to the highest standards of journalistic integrity.

THE OBAMAS IN HOLLYWOOD

“Obamas settling into new role as Netflix producers,” proclaims The Hollywood Reporter, — referring of course to former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, who formed a Los Angeles production company 15 months ago called Higher Ground — and are now readying their first release, titled “American Factory,” and set to debut on Netflix before 139 million subscribers on Aug. 21.

“Netflix staffers describe the surreal experience of an office visit from the president, who reportedly enters the building via an underground tunnel connected to the parking garage. Some have found themselves in a spontaneous conversation with Obama about a project, while others are delighted when he remembers their name from a previous meeting. According to agents, meetings with Obama proceed surprisingly normally, because he makes small talk,” the industry publication advises.

POLL DU JOUR

• 73% of Americans blame the “mental health system” for mass shootings in the U.S.; 77% of Republicans, 59% of independents and 74% of Democrats agree.

• 69% overall blame “racism and white nationalism”; 57% of Republicans, 54% of independents and 84% of Democrats agree.

• 67% overall blame “loose gun laws”; 51% of Republicans, 59% of independents and 83% of Democrats agree.

• 55% blame “gun manufacturers and the NRA”; 37% of Republicans, 54% of independents and 72% of Democrats agree.

• 51% blame “violent video games”; 60% of Republicans, 41% of independents and 47% of Democrats agree.

• 50% blame President Trump; 23% of Republicans, 41% of independents and 74% of Democrats agree.

• 47% blame Republicans in Congress; 29% of Republicans, 36% of independents and 66% of Democrats agree.

• 40% blame Democrats in Congress; 51% of Republicans, 37% of independents and 34% of Democrats agree.

Source: A USA Today/IPSOS poll of 1,004 U.S. adults conducted Aug. 5-6.

• Kindly follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.

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