When I’m interviewed about liberal tilt in the media‚ I’m usually pretty confident. But I can still be rattled for a moment when someone breaks out the silly old Eric Alterman argument – his book in 2003 was titled “What Liberal Media?” When I appeared on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal‚” host Kimberly Adams read a passage to me from Eric Levitz at Vox.com. It hummed with that addled Alterman vibe: “Trump has a much better apparatus for maintaining the approval and enthusiasm of his party’s voters‚ and for seeding politically favorable narratives‚ than Biden does.” The subhead plainly claimed: “The US media landscape is tilted against Biden.” In this alternative universe‚ “Fox News is more consistently propagandistic than MSNBC and boasts a 42 percent larger viewership. Right-wing talk radio dwarfs the influence of progressive alternatives.” The idea that Fox is more “propagandistic” than MSNBC is mere opinion. But the idea that Trump has a larger messaging machine ignores the overwhelming power of the “legacy media‚” the big brands. The evening newscasts of ABC‚ CBS‚ and NBC far outnumber Fox. In one weekly ratings period in January‚ ABC had 8.77 million viewers‚ NBC 7.34 million‚ and CBS 5.44 million. That’s about 21.5 million combined. The average primetime ratings number for Fox is 1.8 million. Their last Trump town-hall program with Sean Hannity gathered 3.2 million viewers. As for the idea that conservative talk radio “dwarfs the influence of progressive alternatives‚” that completely ignores National Public Radio‚ whose programming is distributed to more than 1‚000 public radio stations across America. Their marketing website proclaims they have the number-one and number-two “drive time news/talk radio programs in America.” They claim a weekly audience of 44 million‚ and argue “84 percent of NPR listeners take action in response to something heard on NPR.” But C-SPAN viewers didn’t hear the most hilarious Eric Levitz passages. He insists “there is a fundamental asymmetry in the media diets of Democrats and Republicans. The former tend to trust‚ and seek out information from‚ formally independent and nonpartisan news outlets‚ while the latter almost exclusively trust conservative opinion journalism such as that produced by Fox News and right-wing talk radio.” This is the lamest dodge imaginable. “Our” outlets are “formally independent and nonpartisan‚” which is about as persuasive as “Bill Clinton was formally monogamous.” Anyone who thinks MSNBC viewers want “formally independent TV” hasn’t noticed how they bellyache on social media when they let Republicans appear‚ or a host like Andrea Mitchell is deemed as insufficiently hyperpartisan. Then there’s this gem: “And although the [New York] Times and [Washington] Post might subject Trump to withering scrutiny‚ they feel no obligation to boost Democrats’ political fortunes.” Stop‚ we all need to breathe between laughing fits! Anyone who’s recently become familiar with the argumentation of Eric Levitz might start with his unintentionally humorous discourse on how people may have found headless babies after Hamas terrorists rampaged through Israel last October 7‚ but “the report established that babies were found headless‚ a fact that lends plausibility to claims of beheading‚ but which does not prove them.” The “progressives” at Vox may envy Fox‚ and they may try to blame Biden’s cratering approval ratings on insufficient levels of propaganda from the “nonpartisan” media outlets they prefer. But it’s ridiculous to argue Donald Trump is receiving more positive and promotional press treatment than Biden in 2024.

If there's one thing I've secretly always wanted‚ it's a samurai Warframe. In a game renowned for fast-paced action and cutting-edge style (pun entirely intended)‚ the samurai archetype fits like a glove - especially because the game's poster child‚ Excalibur‚ is indeed a sword user. However‚ it looks like a Japanese-inspired Warframe isn't in the works at the moment‚ but a few others are. Continue reading Warframe isn’t getting a samurai frame‚ yet MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Warframe on Steam Deck‚ Warframe builds‚ Warframe system requirements

It's looking like we could soon be getting a lower-spec variant of the RTX 3050‚ with a new Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 6GB version having appeared briefly on an Austrian online retailer. With slightly reduced specs across the board‚ the card will offer even lower performance than the current 8GB model but also comes with a 46% lower TDP of just 70W. The new Nvidia contender for a best-budget place on our best graphics card list has been rumored for a few months‚ with us first reporting on it three months ago then again fresh rumors appeared a month ago. However‚ this is the first time we've seen suggestions the card is out in the wild‚ imminently ready for sale. Continue reading New Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 variant appears with 46% less power usage MORE FROM PCGAMESN: GeForce RTX 4070 Super review‚ DLSS explained‚ Best graphics cards

Following confirmation of the MSI Claw prices and launch model specs‚ we now know it will beat the Steam Deck in one crucial area. All Steam Deck models can currently connect to an external VRR (variable refresh rate) display‚ but the native display does not feature it. Thanks to confirmation from MSI‚ we know that all Claw A1M models will feature VRR. The Steam Deck OLED may be the best handheld gaming PC‚ but that doesn't mean it's perfect. Only the ROG Ally currently has a VRR display amongst the big three handhelds‚ as the Legion Go doesn't include it. The MSI Claw‚ though‚ is set to launch with the feature‚ although that date is still unknown. Continue reading MSI Claw to beat the Steam Deck in one crucial area MORE FROM PCGAMESN: MSI Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC review‚ MSI GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X Trio review‚ Best gaming motherboard

Faster Than Light is the game that made stress‚ pressure‚ and the imminence of total annihilation feel like fun. Before Bethesda’s space opera Starfield‚ or beloved roguelikes such as Hades and Dead Cells‚ FTL propelled us into the deepest recesses of the cosmos and left us to fend for ourselves. Engines malfunctioned. Airlocks were breached. Entire crews were unceremoniously ejected into the vacuum of the universe. But after enough playthroughs and some hard-learned lessons‚ Faster Than Light transcended its sharp learning curve to become one of the richest and most rewarding games of 2012. Now more than a decade old‚ FTL remains one of the best in the roguelike genre‚ and it’s got a gigantic unofficial expansion - enough to fill a fan-made sequel - available right now. Continue reading 12 years later‚ classic roguelike FTL has a huge unofficial expansion MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best roguelikes‚ Best space games‚ Best strategy games

Following a datamine that hinted that the currently unobtainable Kor'Kron War Wolf had been assigned Trader's Tender‚ in turn meaning it could be added to a future World of Warcraft Trading Post‚ Blizzard has confirmed that all high-tier mounts and rewards will not be added to the rotating store. Continue reading Worrying WoW mount rumor finally addressed by Blizzard MORE FROM PCGAMESN: WoW Dragonflight tier list‚ The best WoW addons‚ WoW Dragonflight review

Ryan Murphy's new mini-series dramatizes the "In Cold Blood" author's betrayal of an insular group of Manhattan socialites

Equal justice under the law — remember that?

The decision won’t help the environment‚ but it will weaken the U.S. and its allies.

Their proposed reforms would allow them to say they’ve done something about the problem without actually doing anything.