Last night, Janice Dean did a hell of a number on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo following explosive new reports about Cuomo’s culpability in thousands of nursing home residents’ deaths from COVID19.
But no demand for accountability would be complete without examining the media’s role in all this.
And who better to do that than Thread King Drew Holden?
Thread. Drew has receipts. https://t.co/OuqKFOgVmw
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) February 12, 2021
You’re damn right, he has receipts.
The most important thread that you'll read about Andrew Cuomo, the nursing home scandal, and the media.
Retweet it. https://t.co/fX2FloqGvk
— Dr. Max Nordau (@MaxNordau) February 12, 2021
This one should go viral, so to speak.
?THREAD?
The walls are closing in on @NYGovCuomo. Last night, news broke that his office hid 9000 Covid patients sent back to nursing homes.
Why’d it take so long to come out? I’ve got a theory: The media wasn’t interested in accountability.
Don’t believe me? Take a look?
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
Take a good, long look:
Some context. @AP scooped that @NYGovCuomo & his admin had hidden the number of Covid patients his rules had returned to nursing homes – spreading the pandemic among the most vulnerable – to avoid DOJ scrutiny.
Nursing homes account for 1/3rd of ALL US deaths in the pandemic. pic.twitter.com/JAW269gQkD
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
But you would have no idea that Cuomo was anything less than perfect if you spent your time watching @CNN.
It’s really hard to overstate not just the frequency of the coverage but it’s abject lack of anything that could be called honest journalism.
I mean. Look. pic.twitter.com/cCFQa5TMSO
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
The outlet got their key voices involved in pushing the idea that Cuomo was an antidote to Trump.
The way that @brianstelter talked about @NYGovCuomo mirrors how Pravda writes about Putin. pic.twitter.com/ra1wdfjxp9
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
I unfairly took a swing at @ChrisCillizza yesterday. That was out of line.
But on this one. Well. I think it’s a different story. Not sure these takes aged quite perfectly. pic.twitter.com/bYc7OnaGIK
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
I couldn’t possibly do this thread without including his brother, @ChrisCuomo.
Brotherly affection is one thing. But the fact that @CNN used this is a front would’ve been journalistic malpractice if (Governor) Cuomo were in the right.
Safe to say, he wasn’t. pic.twitter.com/sPrOnqVBQP
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
But it’s an understatement to say that they weren’t alone here. @MSNBC may have actually been even more egregious with their fawning coverage.
That includes their covering for him about the nursing home policy (check out the second screenshot). pic.twitter.com/NaIZuXsild
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
I keep going through these trying to decide who within the media was the worst, most uncritical booster.
I have a hard time thinking it could be anyone other than @JoyAnnReid pic.twitter.com/aIqBXNxld4
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
I have such limited space in this thread – there are so many people who helped build this deliberately misleading narrative – but I can’t help but give @JoyAnnReid two entries because what she had to say was just that bad. pic.twitter.com/pwyT0OJvzi
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
But the real problem wasn’t just MSNBC or CNN, it was that EVERY outlet was singing @NYGovCuomo’s praises without raising a critical question or objection.
Here’s @ABC with a few takes they’d probably like to have back. pic.twitter.com/xNpmlxbZwA
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
And it wasn’t just broadcast journalism. Print outlets got into the act, too.
This first one, billed as straight reporting from @washingtonpost, can only rightly be called propaganda. pic.twitter.com/FiJqOJwQLm
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
Also, @washingtonpost, what the hell was this? pic.twitter.com/yQsPv4IPQJ
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
I simply don’t have the space (or mental stamina) to get to everyone in media. But these two – from @NPR and @maddow – seem to sum up the sentiment well.
And @intelligencer and @therecount, too. pic.twitter.com/jijtEH2I8T
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
Plenty of outlets like @CNBC simply gave Cuomo the space to say whatever he wanted and look like some sort of tough guy hero.
Perhaps, in retrospect, it would’ve been valuable to ask whether Cuomo’s own behavior was “irresponsible” or “reckless”? pic.twitter.com/ve7cB1DhMx
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
You may be wondering where @nytimes is in all this. And the truth is, their reporting on Cuomo has been really solid across the board.
Now, some of their opinion pieces on the other hand…less so. @maureendowd and @JenSeniorNY included. pic.twitter.com/cdaqH4il5f
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
Some of the, well, less rigorous outlets were far worse. Check out @BuzzFeed.
I had to see this, so now you have to, too. pic.twitter.com/WmZjwOTC30
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
The same holds true for @HuffPost. pic.twitter.com/10jhfe96jH
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
And the blue checks. Ohhh boy. The blue checks.
There were a lot of bad takes, and a lot of really unforgivable flattery, but @ananavarro might just have led the pack. The second one is real rich, particularly in retrospect. pic.twitter.com/9KyRw2xbG0
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
And thread favorite @CheriJacobus gets bonus points for keeping it weird I suppose? pic.twitter.com/lmjIjRhSw3
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
But the worst of the Cuomo sycophants had to be @JRubinBlogger.
I just. I can’t even. I don’t know what to say about all this. Heaven help anyone who takes Rubin seriously as one who offers criticism. pic.twitter.com/oj6Sq0topn
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
This really hit all of the usual suspects. But of all of them, and from behind the block, @amy_siskind was the worst. I could’ve given her a thread all of her own. Here are just my favorites. pic.twitter.com/cmJauCj6bs
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
Holden does note some important exceptions to the rule, however:
It’s important to call out that not everyone got this wrong. I mentioned NYTimes earlier, but there was also some really strong reporting from @propublica and @NewYorker.
As I hope is clear by now, that coverage was the minority. pic.twitter.com/AxKw12MuSq
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
Have heard from some folks that this commentary unfairly leaves out local news, who dogged Cuomo. And that’s a fair criticism. The problem was very much with national media.
On the flip side, @ABC7NY did an excellent job. Here’s a couple examples. pic.twitter.com/QgfK52fkTN
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
@NY1 was dogged, particularly on the nursing home front. Here are just a few examples. pic.twitter.com/9b5InP0r5T
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
And these two weren’t alone. @CNYCentral, @The_Citizen and @siadvance did an excellent job too.
Both their attention and their reporting were things I overlooked, but shouldn’t have. That’s on me. Local news consistently does great and thankless work, this was a highlight of it. pic.twitter.com/g40QUkRZ1M
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
But coverage like that has been far overshadowed by the media’s fawning hagiographies of Andrew Cuomo.
The early days of the pandemic were difficult to say the least. No one had much of an idea what was going on or how best to address it.
But that should lead to more questions, not fewer, from the media. Instead we got puff pieces and endless praise, all while New Yorkers died.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
The media serves an enormously important role in providing accountability. They failed when it comes to @NYGovCuomo’s handling of the coronavirus.
Who knows what mistakes could’ve been avoided, and how many lives could’ve been saved, if changes had come sooner?
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021
I wish there was a good or happy way to button this all up. But there isn’t. All we can hope for now is that there’s accountability – from the DOJ or otherwise – into the decisions made.
And some real soul searching about what good, honest journalism is supposed to mean.
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) February 12, 2021