If Yahoo users’ knowledge of the world, or at least the U.S. political and social scene, were limited to what they see on Yahoo, they would conclude that America is a pretty liberal place.
Whenever Internet users turn on their computers and go to the Internet, and use Yahoo for their e-mail, they are treated to a daily dose of articles slanted against conservatives, Christians, Republicans, and above all, President Donald Trump. Of course, this is not to say that the majority of individuals who make use of Yahoo to access their e-mail actually read these daily left-wing diatribes, but it is very difficult to miss the headlines.
The headlines are almost always from more liberal websites, such as the Huffington Post, and are written in such a way as to convey a certain message — a liberal or progressive message. It goes without saying that conservative-leaning news website articles rarely appear on Yahoo. I have never seen an article used from The New American, but then again, I may have missed it.
On Wednesday, Halloween day, a review of those headlines reveals what a reader will see on a typical day.
President Trump’s announcement that he intends to get rid of “birthright citizenship” predictably produced several articles, with the common theme that Trump cannot legally do what he wants to do. Although there are many articles out there that make the case that the 14th Amendment does not grant automatic citizenship to a person simply because he happens to born on the soil of the United States, you will not find them on Yahoo.
What you do find are articles with these headlines:
“Grassley, Ryan: You Cannot End Birthright Citizenship by Executive Order.”
“Trump Wants to Revoke Birthright Citizenship. Here’s What to Know About Why that Right Exists.”
In other words, a casual user of Yahoo can see two articles with the message that the 14th Amendment did grant birthright citizenship, and that there is nothing Trump can do about it.
Trump is, of course, the subject of several negative headlines on a daily basis from Yahoo, which evidently makes sure that all the more liberal news sites get their articles made available through Yahoo. Wednesday’s offerings are no different. President Trump’s visit to Pittsburgh in the aftermath of the greatest mass-murder of Jews in U.S. history received the following treatment via Yahoo:
“Protesters Jeer Trump in Pittsburgh.”
“Trump Pittsburgh Visit: ‘Hundreds’ protest as president and first lady visit Tree of Life synagogue.”
“Lawrence [O’Donnell] on Trump and the massacre at Tree of Life.”
While the last headline would not tell the reader anything specifically about the Trump visit to Pittsburgh, it certainly ties Trump to the massacre. The subhead does inform the reader who O’Donnell, a strong left-winger, believes was really responsible for the killings: “Lawrence remembers the victims of the Tree of Life massacre, and explains why “the invasion of a synagogue by a mass murderer on Saturday was a reaction to the lies that Donald Trump, Fox News and Republicans have been telling.”
Of course, Trump is not the only Republican or conservative targeted by this daily dose of slanted news headlines. The following gives us a taste of what Yahoo evidently believes their readers need to see:
“Democrats Are Going Bland to Defeat Scott Walker.”
“I Voted for Republicans until They Voted Against My Son.”
“Midterms 2018: Steve Bannon attracts crowd of ‘about 25 people’ to election rally in Kansas.”
“Pressure Building to Expel Steve King from Congress.”
“Democrats Are Fired Up and Ready to Go.”
“Why it Matters: Parkland Shooting survivors on what’s driving them to Vote.”
But, of course, generic anti-Trump articles are typical fare for Yahoo, on a daily basis. If they can get a “Republican” such as Paul Ryan to trash Trump, that is even better, as seen with the arrows from Governor John Kasich: “Kasich: It Seems Trump wants to win election, sow fear.”
Some of the headlines seem to be really stretching to be able to publish an anti-Trump article, as in the case of “Ben & Jerry’s Launches Anti-Trump Ice Cream Flavor to Support Equality.” Other headlines promote the idea that Trump was responsible for recent violent actions, as with “Jimmy Kimmel Pounds Trump for Response to Last Week’s Historic Vision.” Similar sentiments are expressed in the headline, “[Steve] Schmidt: Trump is ‘stoking and inciting’ worst among us.”
This does not exhaust the list for Wednesday headlines on Yahoo that can be fairly described as intended to be anti-Trump, anti-Republican, or anti-conservative.
One suspects that if Yahoo ran just one article per day from The New American, and other similar news sites, it would be considered too many for the folks who run Yahoo — whoever they are.
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