Henry Porter
@henryporter.bsky.social
Wrecking lot proprietor. ๐
Pinned
Henry Porter
@henryporter.bsky.social
ยท Dec 21
We need serious local news outlets, doing original reporting, subsidized by and aligned with the Democratic Party.
W was opposed to creation of DHS. Dems/public drove the issue.
January 17, 2026 at 5:13 PM
W was opposed to creation of DHS. Dems/public drove the issue.
I mean you can reason that way about literally everything 2021-24 but some was good and some was bad.
January 17, 2026 at 5:06 PM
I mean you can reason that way about literally everything 2021-24 but some was good and some was bad.
Subject matter expertise is often quoted in legacy outlets but it never informs its reporters doing access journalism.
A question media could pose to the Reichsministerium and Tricia McGoebbels is what kind of crowd control training do they get and where's the proof of it?
US federal forces blind two protesters shot in face with โless-lethalโ munitions www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
January 17, 2026 at 5:05 PM
Subject matter expertise is often quoted in legacy outlets but it never informs its reporters doing access journalism.
Reposted by Henry Porter
When reporters use "critics say..." I call it "generic attribution." Legacy political reporters do this constantly as part of their both-sidesing neutrality theater performances. I don't know how editors ever embraced it, because it's only a small step from just inventing sources.
Airbag Moments, ICE abolitionist ๐บ๐ธ๐บ๐ฆ๐ณ๏ธโ๐๐ช๐บ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฆ๐บ๐จ๐ฆ
@airbagmoments.bsky.social
ยท 24d
"Critics say..." means "You can stop reading this bullshit now and investigate other, better news options."
January 17, 2026 at 3:06 PM
When reporters use "critics say..." I call it "generic attribution." Legacy political reporters do this constantly as part of their both-sidesing neutrality theater performances. I don't know how editors ever embraced it, because it's only a small step from just inventing sources.
Nah. That was actually pretty important that they *did* do that. You donโt preserve democracy by advertising you violated the rules of democracy.
January 17, 2026 at 4:58 PM
Nah. That was actually pretty important that they *did* do that. You donโt preserve democracy by advertising you violated the rules of democracy.
Reposted by Henry Porter
This was @henryporter.bsky.social's thesis from a few years back
I totally agree.
The way that today's journalism has constructed its ethical norms allows journalists only to destroy things. They are taught they can never take a side, which means they always end up siding w/ the oppressor.
It means they can help destroy institutions but never build them up. 1/
The way that today's journalism has constructed its ethical norms allows journalists only to destroy things. They are taught they can never take a side, which means they always end up siding w/ the oppressor.
It means they can help destroy institutions but never build them up. 1/
As far as I can tell none of the people bylined on this trash have connections to the institutional right, so this probably isnโt even ideological in the conventional sense. Itโs just another sign that the ethical norms of establishment journalism are rotten to the core.
January 14, 2026 at 4:34 AM
This was @henryporter.bsky.social's thesis from a few years back
Back on Bluesky because this is where the law professors are: if you arenโt laying the intellectual groundwork to narrow the pardon power what are you even doing with your life?
January 17, 2026 at 4:39 PM
Back on Bluesky because this is where the law professors are: if you arenโt laying the intellectual groundwork to narrow the pardon power what are you even doing with your life?
Reposted by Henry Porter
CBS employee inventing fake democrats to be mad at instead of the actual villains, totally on brand
Instead of impeachment house dems are going to do a retroactive vote supporting trump unanimously and then impeach mamdani
โฆ Speaker Jeffries statement:
January 3, 2026 at 5:58 PM
CBS employee inventing fake democrats to be mad at instead of the actual villains, totally on brand
We need to replace physics with evolution as the paradigmatic science up and down our pedagogy. โIs MAGA โfascism?โโ is precisely the same sort of question as โare dogs the same species as wolves?โ Itโs nothing at all like categorical lines in classical mechanics.
๐งต Fascism is an ideology. The government is fascist. But it's an unconsolidated competitive authoritarian regime, not a totalitarian one.
@justinscasey.bsky.social and I discuss this, and the heterogeneity of interwar fascism, here ๐
@justinscasey.bsky.social and I discuss this, and the heterogeneity of interwar fascism, here ๐
October 5, 2025 at 3:13 PM
We need to replace physics with evolution as the paradigmatic science up and down our pedagogy. โIs MAGA โfascism?โโ is precisely the same sort of question as โare dogs the same species as wolves?โ Itโs nothing at all like categorical lines in classical mechanics.
Why is educational attainment so predictive of partisan alignment? Weโve been moving that direction for a while. What happens at college has something to do with resentments of non-college voters. Thread on The Hard Hat Riotsโฆ
Between 1962-1972, Harvard and MIT graduated 21,593 students. 14 (1 in 1542) died in Vietnam.
In the same decade in South Boston, 1 in 80 draft-age boys died in Vietnam.
In the same decade in South Boston, 1 in 80 draft-age boys died in Vietnam.
October 5, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Why is educational attainment so predictive of partisan alignment? Weโve been moving that direction for a while. What happens at college has something to do with resentments of non-college voters. Thread on The Hard Hat Riotsโฆ
I missed that. Thank you!
October 5, 2025 at 2:59 PM
I missed that. Thank you!
We need serious local news outlets, doing original reporting, subsidized by and aligned with the Democratic Party. Hyperlocal with lots of youth sports and WeRateDogs-type content.
Wrote about Democrats, the media environment, culture, and authenticity for the @nytimes.com
Our problem is bigger than an election: it's that we lack the tools to communicate the vast majority of the electorate who get their information through culture.
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/28/o...
Our problem is bigger than an election: it's that we lack the tools to communicate the vast majority of the electorate who get their information through culture.
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/28/o...
Opinion | If Youโre a Voter Reading This, This Essay Is Not About You
Opt-out voters donโt buy what weโre selling โ and even if they did, weโd have a hard time reaching them.
www.nytimes.com
August 6, 2025 at 2:17 PM
We need serious local news outlets, doing original reporting, subsidized by and aligned with the Democratic Party. Hyperlocal with lots of youth sports and WeRateDogs-type content.
Whatever happens, never ask the question โWhat if the issue driving education polarization is education, specifically the way we organize education after high school?โ
August 4, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Whatever happens, never ask the question โWhat if the issue driving education polarization is education, specifically the way we organize education after high school?โ
Is that the real scandal?
August 4, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Is that the real scandal?
Reposted by Henry Porter
Cโmon, man,
A. Parties arenโt โbrandsโ
B. Itโs not โdestroyingโ anything
Scammy emails are a problem, but Mothership has been blocked from most Dem clients, & what theyโre doing appears to not be easy to shut down. I want Dems to bleed them dry, but itโs not the party, itโs feeding off the partyโฆ
A. Parties arenโt โbrandsโ
B. Itโs not โdestroyingโ anything
Scammy emails are a problem, but Mothership has been blocked from most Dem clients, & what theyโre doing appears to not be easy to shut down. I want Dems to bleed them dry, but itโs not the party, itโs feeding off the partyโฆ
The annoying spam texts destroying the Democratic brand:
$678M raised through those spam tactics
$282M to one consulting firm: Mothership Strategies.
$11M to actual campaigns (1.6%)
The party isnโt just treating donors like marksโitโs being fleeced itself yet continues to back Mothership.
$678M raised through those spam tactics
$282M to one consulting firm: Mothership Strategies.
$11M to actual campaigns (1.6%)
The party isnโt just treating donors like marksโitโs being fleeced itself yet continues to back Mothership.
The Mothership Vortex: An Investigation Into the Firm at the Heart of the Democratic Spam Machine
How a single consulting firm extracted $282 million from a network of spam PACs while delivering just $11 million to actual campaigns.
open.substack.com
August 4, 2025 at 3:10 AM
Cโmon, man,
A. Parties arenโt โbrandsโ
B. Itโs not โdestroyingโ anything
Scammy emails are a problem, but Mothership has been blocked from most Dem clients, & what theyโre doing appears to not be easy to shut down. I want Dems to bleed them dry, but itโs not the party, itโs feeding off the partyโฆ
A. Parties arenโt โbrandsโ
B. Itโs not โdestroyingโ anything
Scammy emails are a problem, but Mothership has been blocked from most Dem clients, & what theyโre doing appears to not be easy to shut down. I want Dems to bleed them dry, but itโs not the party, itโs feeding off the partyโฆ
Reposted by Henry Porter
You all see how these news companies and TV channels are bowing to Trump? What can be done? Well, hereโs a message more Democrats need to get into their heads.
Spread the word ๐
Spread the word ๐
We need serious local news outlets, doing original reporting, subsidized by and aligned with the Democratic Party. Hyperlocal with lots of youth sports and WeRateDogs-type content.
August 4, 2025 at 3:47 PM
You all see how these news companies and TV channels are bowing to Trump? What can be done? Well, hereโs a message more Democrats need to get into their heads.
Spread the word ๐
Spread the word ๐
The story is certainly more complex. Having newspapers aligned with the parties that served their readers mattered tremendously in the lead up, see Hearstโs platform in running for governor. But universal public education seems to be a baseline ingredient for big positive sum politics.
August 4, 2025 at 12:05 PM
The story is certainly more complex. Having newspapers aligned with the parties that served their readers mattered tremendously in the lead up, see Hearstโs platform in running for governor. But universal public education seems to be a baseline ingredient for big positive sum politics.
The Cult of SCOTUS is created by law professors and journalists who gain status along with the Court. After WW2 the media became non-partisan and needed non-partisan protagonists. At the same time law schools and law faculty exploded.
FFS. #BrokenTimes questions historians filing amicus briefs to the courts. What's the trouble? "What they are hearing is a generally liberal message."
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/u...
August 4, 2025 at 12:03 PM
The Cult of SCOTUS is created by law professors and journalists who gain status along with the Court. After WW2 the media became non-partisan and needed non-partisan protagonists. At the same time law schools and law faculty exploded.
The New Deal coalition was possible with an all white electorate and universal public education sufficient to be a prosperous good citizen. Universities are a successful treatment for racism and training after high school is now needed by all but they failed to keep up with these needs.
August 4, 2025 at 11:59 AM
The New Deal coalition was possible with an all white electorate and universal public education sufficient to be a prosperous good citizen. Universities are a successful treatment for racism and training after high school is now needed by all but they failed to keep up with these needs.
The op-ed page wasnโt invented until the 1970s. People like Will Rogers, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Mike Royko had columns in the news section.
August 2, 2025 at 12:47 PM
The op-ed page wasnโt invented until the 1970s. People like Will Rogers, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Mike Royko had columns in the news section.
This kind of thing will never hit home with voters as long as humanities professors throw a public shit fit when the Secretary of Education says parents expect college to prepare their children for a career.
โAmerican Academy of Arts&Sciences reports 96.3% of humanities grads age 23-32 fully employed. Earnings in humanitiess comparable to social/life sciences, job satisfaction levels too. A serious mismatch bw actual employment for hum grads +general perception."
www.mellon.org/voices/human...
www.mellon.org/voices/human...
Mellon Foundation
The Mellon Foundation makes grants to actively unlock the power in the arts and humanities that helps connect us all.
www.mellon.org
August 2, 2025 at 12:42 PM
This kind of thing will never hit home with voters as long as humanities professors throw a public shit fit when the Secretary of Education says parents expect college to prepare their children for a career.
We need serious local news outlets, doing original reporting, subsidized by and aligned with the Democratic Party. Hyperlocal with lots of youth sports and WeRateDogs-type content.
August 1, 2025 at 7:54 PM
We need serious local news outlets, doing original reporting, subsidized by and aligned with the Democratic Party. Hyperlocal with lots of youth sports and WeRateDogs-type content.
The White House is way too small and it's impossible for Dems to do anything about it without getting trashed in the media so this is good.
July 31, 2025 at 10:15 PM
The White House is way too small and it's impossible for Dems to do anything about it without getting trashed in the media so this is good.