Latest news with #McChesney
LeMonde
7 days ago
- Business
- LeMonde
Trump, Fed chief Powell bicker during tense central bank visit
Donald Trump and US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell appeared together for a tense meeting Thursday as the president toured the central bank after ramping up his attacks on its management of the economy. Trump – who wants to oust Powell for refusing to lower interest rates but likely lacks the legal authority to do so – has threatened to fire the Fed chief over cost overruns for a renovation of its Washington headquarters. During a brief but painfully awkward exchange in front of reporters during a tour of the building, the pair bickered over the price tag for the makeover, which Trump said was $3.1 billion. The actual cost of the facelift has been put at $2.5 billion and Powell was quick to correct the president, telling him: "I haven't heard that from anybody." Trump apparently produced a sheet of paper listing construction costs and was told curtly that he was including work on the William McChesney Martin Jr. Building, which was not part of the project. "You're including the Martin renovation – you just added in a third building," Powell scolded. Trump stuck to his guns, saying it was part of the overall redevelopment. Powell shot back: "No, it was built five years ago. We finished Martin five years ago... It's not new." Trump moved on but the tense atmosphere between the pair was almost palpable, with the Republican leader unaccustomed to being contradicted live on air. The tour came with Trump desperate to shift the focus away from the crisis engulfing his administration over its decision to close the file on multi-millionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on trafficking charges. Attorney General Pam Bondi informed the president in the spring that his name appeared in the Epstein files, according to the Wall Street Journal. Epstein was accused of procuring underage girls for sex with his circle of wealthy, high-profile associates when he died by suicide in a New York jail cell. Trump has picked all manner of targets, including his Democratic predecessors and former chiefs of the security and intelligence services, as he tries to move Epstein out of the headlines. He berated Powell over interest rates on Wednesday and alluded to his annoyance over the cost of borrowing more than 10 times during Thursday's tour. "As good as we're doing, we'd do better if we had lower interest rates," he told reporters. 'Do the right thing' Presidential visits to the Federal Reserve are not unheard of – Franklin D. Roosevelt, Gerald Ford and George W. Bush all made the trip – but they are rare. Trump has criticized Powell for months over his insistence on keeping the short-term interest rate at 4.3 percent this year, after cutting it three times last year, when Joe Biden was in office. Partner service Learn French with Gymglish Thanks to a daily lesson, an original story and a personalized correction, in 15 minutes per day. Try for free Powell says he is monitoring the response of the economy to Trump's dizzying array of import tariffs, which he has warned could lead to a hike in inflation. But Trump has angrily accused Powell of holding back the economy, calling the man he nominated in his first term "stupid" and a "loser." The president struck a more conciliatory tone later Thursday, telling reporters they'd had a "productive talk" on the economy, with "no tension." "It may be a little too late, as the expression goes, but I believe he's going to do the right thing," Trump said. Soaring costs for the Fed's facelift of its 88-year-old Washington headquarters and a neighboring building – up by $600 million from an initial $1.9 billion estimate – have caught Trump's eye. A significant driver of the cost is security, including blast-resistant windows and measures to prevent the building from collapsing in the event of an explosion. The Federal Reserve, the world's most important central bank, makes independent monetary policy decisions and its board members typically serve under both Republican and Democratic presidents. Experts question whether Trump has the authority to fire Powell, especially since a Supreme Court opinion in May that allowed the president to remove other independent agency members but suggested that this did not apply to the Fed.
New Straits Times
7 days ago
- Business
- New Straits Times
Trump, Fed chief Powell bicker during tense central bank visit
WASHINGTON: Donald Trump and US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell appeared together for a tense meeting Thursday as the president toured the central bank after ramping up his attacks on its management of the economy. Trump, who wants to oust Powell for refusing to lower interest rates but likely lacks the legal authority to do so, has also threatened to fire the Fed chief over cost overruns for a renovation of its Washington headquarters. During a brief but painfully awkward exchange in front of reporters during a tour of the building, the pair bickered over the price tag for the makeover, which Trump said was $3.1 billion. The actual cost of the facelift has been put at $2.5 billion, and Powell was quick to correct the president, telling him: "I haven't heard that from anybody." Trump produced a sheet of paper apparently listing construction costs and was told curtly that he was including work on the William McChesney Martin Jr Building, which was not part of the project. "You're including the Martin renovation – you just added in a third building," Powell scolded. Trump stuck to his guns, saying it was part of the overall redevelopment. Powell shot back: "No, it was built five years ago. We finished Martin five years ago... It's not new." Trump moved on, but the tense atmosphere between the pair was almost palpable, with the Republican leader unaccustomed to being contradicted live on air. The tour came with Trump desperate to shift focus away from the crisis engulfing his administration over its decision to close the file on multi-millionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on trafficking charges. Attorney General Pam Bondi informed the president in the spring that his name appeared in the Epstein files, according to The Wall Street Journal. Epstein was accused of procuring underage girls for sex with his circle of wealthy, high-profile associates when he died by suicide in a New York jail cell. Trump has picked all manner of targets – including his Democratic predecessors and former chiefs of the security and intelligence services – as he tries to move Epstein out of the headlines. He berated Powell over interest rates on Wednesday and alluded to his annoyance over the cost of borrowing more than 10 times during Thursday's tour. "As good as we're doing, we'd do better if we had lower interest rates," he told reporters. Presidential visits to the Federal Reserve are not unheard of – Franklin D. Roosevelt, Gerald Ford and George W. Bush all made the trip – but they are rare. Trump has criticised Powell for months over his insistence on keeping the short-term interest rate at 4.3 percent this year, after cutting it three times last year, when Joe Biden was in office. Powell says he is monitoring the response of the economy to Trump's dizzying array of import tariffs, which he has warned could lead to a hike in inflation. But Trump has angrily accused Powell of holding back the economy, calling the man he nominated in his first term "stupid" and a "loser." The president struck a more conciliatory tone later Thursday, telling reporters they'd had a "productive talk" on the economy, with "no tension." "It may be a little too late, as the expression goes, but I believe he's going to do the right thing," Trump said. Soaring costs for the Fed's facelift of its 88-year-old Washington headquarters and a neighbouring building – up by $600 million from an initial $1.9 billion estimate – have caught Trump's eye. A significant driver of the cost is security, including blast-resistant windows and measures to prevent the building from collapsing in the event of an explosion. The Federal Reserve, the world's most important central bank, makes independent monetary policy decisions, and its board members typically serve under both Republican and Democratic presidents. Experts question whether Trump has the authority to fire Powell, especially since a Supreme Court opinion in May allowed the president to remove other independent agency members but suggested that this did not apply to the Fed. – AFP
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Civic Season makes civics fun and accessible for everyone
CHEYENNE — Calling all history buffs and civics connoisseurs. Get ready to engage in peaceful discussions, dive deep into America's democracy and learn the ways you can make a difference civically in your community with this year's Civic Season. In partnership with the Laramie County Library, Wyoming Women's History House, Braver Angels of Laramie County, Cheyenne League of Women Voters and Wyoming Humanities, the Wyoming State Museum is hosting six Civic Season events this year on various days from June 17 to July 2; one will be in Laramie, and five will be in Cheyenne. Civic Season is a national initiative started by Gen Z and cultural institutions as a way to celebrate and unite one of the nation's oldest federal holidays, Independence Day, with one of the newest, Juneteenth, creating a movement for everyone, especially younger generations, to understand their past and how to shape the future. The ultimate goal was to make civics fun and approachable, rather than something seen as dreadful. With an increase in younger generations feeling more pessimistic, disconnected and uninspired about American civics and democracy, Civic Season was seen as important to these institutions. That's also one of the many reasons the crew at the Wyoming State Museum and Melisa McChesney, their curator of community engagement, put on these Civic Season events. McChesney said she'd heard about the event at the national level and thought it was a cool thing to integrate into the community, especially with the Wyoming State Museum and state Capitol being right in the heart of downtown Cheyenne. This is the fourth year that Civic Season is happening in Cheyenne, and the first year the museum has been able to expand outside of the capital city. They want to keep growing the event, and were originally going to have an event in Casper, but couldn't due to scheduling conflicts. They want to eventually have events across the whole state, and with Gov. Mark Gordon signing a proclamation to make June 17th the start of Civic Season in Wyoming, that may be more likely than ever. 'We're coming up on (America's 250th birthday), and history organizations, especially, want to be able to kind of look back and celebrate that history, while also acknowledging our current times. They know that people are feeling disconnected from civics and overwhelmed or stressed in the current conditions. The goal is to get people involved in a way that feels good to them and helps them envision a future for the country that they can be excited about and proud of.' The programs offered According to McChesney, each event offered is 'quite different' from one another, but they all serve the same goal of being joyful and providing a space where the community can connect and grow. '(The Civic Season events) look at individuals' strengths and beliefs and give them pathways to be involved based on what they're interested in,' said McChesney. 'It's trying to push for those easy entry points and provide a wide range view of what civics looks like so that everybody can find their place in it.' The season kicks off with a Civic Chat event on Tuesday, June 17 titled 'Today's Superheroes Guiding Tomorrow's Changemakers.' It will take place at the Laramie County Library starting at 5:30 p.m. The program is shaped around the four civic superpowers: nurturing, amplifying, connecting and defending. The people speaking will be nurturer Melissa Martin, chair of the Laramie County Better Together Action Team; amplifier JoLynn Paulsen, content manager at Arts Cheyenne and marketing assistant at Cheyenne Civic Center; connector Milward Simpson, an arts and humanities advocate who builds partnerships, connects with local artists, and works alongside educators and historians; and defender Marguerite Herman, a legislative lobbyist with decades of experience engaging with state government and leaders. They will each have a 10-minute chat with a young community member, share their experiences, give advice and explore the way that their 'superpower' helps them civically in the community. McChesney explained that the goal was to have people in the audience learn from those in the community who are 'already doing good work' and possibly see themselves in them. The second event is titled 'A Slice of History: Unity in Action,' and will be at the Wyoming State Museum on Thursday, June 19, beginning at 6:30 p.m. The pizza party and educational event will begin with a quick round of trivia on civil rights, Juneteenth and Black history in Wyoming and around the country. Participants will also hear a quick presentation on the significance of Juneteenth and why Cheyenne is celebrating it as a part of Cheyenne's annual Civic Season programming. The Rev. Dr. Hilton McClendon and Jim Byrd will both speak at the event. Then, there will be a moderated, peaceful debate hosted by Braver Angels at the library on June 24. The event will have people speak on whether they feel the government should regulate social media or not. McChesney said that last year 50 people attended a similar debate-style event, with Braver Angels spearheading that, as well. There's also no winner; this is a time for people to open their minds to differing perspectives. On June 25 at the Wyoming Women's History House in Laramie, there'll be another Slice of History event focused on women's suffrage in Wyoming. The talk will be given by Kylie McCormick, a young historian who will be bringing people back to 1869, when Wyoming made history as the first U.S. territory to give women the right to vote, sparking the nation to follow the state's lead 51 years later. For the fifth event on June 26, they're offering 'Democracy Under Construction.' The event is essentially a game of Jenga, with different thought-provoking prompts about civics and democracy written on the blocks. The goal is to share perspectives on the topic with the other people at your table. This is a Wyoming Humanities program designed to help Wyomingites better understand the history and current issues impacting democracy in the U.S. while testing people's ability to think critically about social and political issues. To cap off the season, right before the Fourth of July is the Civic Season Festival on July 2. McCormick will speak again, as well as local students who were part of the We the People civics competition this year and the civic education program Girls State sharing their experiences and why the programs matter. Laramie County Clerk Debra Lee will speak later in the night about her overseas experience with free and fair elections, and state Rep. Lee Filer will discuss what inspired him to run for office. The festival will have live music from Laramie-based band Winston Creek, as well as food and beer vendors. At every event, people will be entered into an event raffle to possibly win a $50 Visa gift card. 'I think as soon as you enter the (civics) realm, people get a little defensive because they're afraid that you're going to try to convince them of something, and they want to be able to shape their own opinions and make their own choices,' said McChesney. 'I think people worry that we're going to be shoving some sort of belief or structure down their throat ... but people can come to our event knowing that we're not pushing a message. 'We just want them to feel like they have the skill set and the space to stand up for their own beliefs, and show them that it doesn't have to feel like work. ... Civics isn't as simple as voting or writing a letter to your legislators. There's all of these different ways we can be better parts of our community, whether it be volunteering at a food bank or offering to paint murals on walls because you want to see a more beautiful artistic community.'
Boston Globe
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Robert W. McChesney, who warned of corporate media control, dies at 72
His primary thesis, expressed in more than a dozen books and in scores of articles and interviews, was that corporate-owned news media was overly compliant with the political powers that be and that the owners restricted the views Americans were exposed to. He further argued that the promise of the internet -- of a Wild West market of opinions -- had been throttled by a few giant owners of online platforms. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up An early book, 'Rich Media, Poor Democracy' (1999), warned that consolidation in journalism would undermine democratic norms. In perhaps his best-known work, 'Digital Disconnect: How Capitalism Is Turning the Internet Against Democracy' (2013), he rejected the utopian view that the digital revolution would usher in an open frontier of information sources and invigorate democracy. Advertisement Instead, he showed how the internet was devastating the business model for newspapers, while supplanting civically minded coverage of local government with lowest-common-denominator fluff: celebrity gossip, cat videos, and personal navel gazing. Dr. McChesney blamed capitalism. 'The profit motive, commercialism, public relations, marketing, and advertising -- all defining features of contemporary corporate capitalism -- are foundational to any assessment of how the Internet has developed and is likely to develop,' he wrote. Advertisement An unapologetic socialist, Dr. McChesney argued that the government should give all Americans $200 vouchers to donate to nonprofit news outlets of their choice. He campaigned for Senator Bernie Sanders' presidential races. Sanders returned the favor by writing a forward to Dr. McChesney's book 'Dollarocracy: How the Money and Media Election Complex Is Destroying America' (2013), written with John Nichols. In an interview with Truthout, a nonprofit news site focused on social justice, Dr. McChesney attacked the mainstream media's coverage of Sanders in the 2016 presidential primary that he lost to Hillary Clinton. CNN and MSNBC, he said, were deeply biased in favor of 'centrist' candidates representing the status quo. 'One can only imagine how Sanders would have done if he had coverage from MSNBC similar to what Obama received in 2007-08,' Dr. McChesney said. Conservative writer David Horowitz put Dr. McChesney on a list of the '101 Most Dangerous Academics in America' in 2006, including him among 'tenured radicals' who were indoctrinating students. On the other hand, in 2008 Utne Reader named Dr. McChesney as one of the '50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World.' Dr. McChesney warned in 2016 that when corporate giants dominate online information -- at the time, those giants were Facebook and Google -- they hold too much power over what people know of the world. 'This is really antithetical to anything remotely close to a free press and a free society,' he said in an interview with the left-leaning news outlet 'Democracy Now!' Advertisement The way to deal with such monopolies was to nationalize them, he said. He suggested a government takeover that would make internet behemoths into a quasi-public service, like the Postal Service. Dr. McChesney was also one of the founders, in 2003, of a public interest group, Free Press, that opposed corporate consolidation in the news business and that led a national campaign for net neutrality, calling for equal access to the internet for all content producers, from giants like Netflix to individual bloggers. Robert Waterman McChesney was born Dec. 22, 1952, in Cleveland, one of two sons of Samuel P. McChesney Jr., an advertising executive, and Edna (McCorkle) McChesney. Robert grew up in the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights and attended Pomfret, a prep school in Connecticut. In 1977, he graduated with a bachelor's degree from Evergreen State College, in Washington, where he studied politics and economics. In 1979, after working as a sports stringer for UPI and an editor at The Seattle Sun, an alternative weekly, he became the publisher of The Rocket, which charted the emergence of the Seattle grunge-rock scene in the 1980s and '90s. Intellectually restless, he then enrolled in graduate school at the University of Washington, earning a doctorate in communications in 1989. For a decade, he taught in the journalism and mass communication department at the University of Wisconsin Madison. He and his wife, Stole, who also had a doctorate in communications, then moved to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His books also include 'Will the Last Reporter Please Turn Out the Lights?' (2011), with Victor Pickard, and 'Corporate Media and the Threat to Democracy' (1997). In addition to his wife, he leaves two daughters, Amy and Lucy McChesney; and a brother, Samuel. Advertisement In a late book, 'People Get Ready: The Fight Against a Jobless Economy and a Citizenless Democracy' (2016), written with Nichols, Dr. McChesney argued that artificial intelligence and the digital revolution would wipe out numerous categories of jobs. 'Capitalism as we know it is a very bad fit for the technological revolution we are beginning to experience,' he said in an interview about the book. 'Our argument is that we currently have a citizenless democracy. By that we mean a governing system where all the important decisions of government are made to suit the interests and values of the wealthiest and most powerful Americans, and the corporations they own.' This article originally appeared in
New York Times
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Robert W. McChesney, Who Warned of Corporate Media Control, Dies at 72
Robert W. McChesney, an influential left-leaning media critic who argued that corporate ownership was bad for American journalism and that Silicon Valley billionaires who dominated online information were a threat to democracy, died on March 25, at his home in Madison, Wis. He was 72. The cause was glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, his wife, Inger Stole, said. Professor McChesney was grounded both in academia — he had a Ph.D. in communications and taught at universities — and in ink-on-paper journalism: He was the founding publisher of The Rocket, a Seattle music magazine that reviewed Nirvana's first single. His primary thesis, expressed in more than a dozen books and in scores of articles and interviews, was that corporate-owned news media was overly compliant with the political powers that be and that it restricted the views Americans were exposed to. He further argued that the promise of the internet — of a Wild West market of opinions — had been throttled by a few giant owners of online platforms. An early book, 'Rich Media, Poor Democracy' (1999), warned that consolidation in journalism would undermine democratic norms. In perhaps his best-known work, 'Digital Disconnect: How Capitalism Is Turning the Internet Against Democracy' (2013), he rejected the utopian view that the digital revolution would usher in an open frontier of information sources and invigorate democracy. Instead, he showed how the internet was devastating the business model for newspapers, while supplanting civically minded coverage of local government with lowest-common-denominator fluff: celebrity gossip, cat videos and personal naval gazing. Professor McChesney blamed capitalism. 'The profit motive, commercialism, public relations, marketing, and advertising — all defining features of contemporary corporate capitalism — are foundational to any assessment of how the Internet has developed and is likely to develop,' he wrote. An unapologetic socialist, Professor McChesney argued that the government should give all Americans $200 vouchers to donate to nonprofit news outlets of their choice. He campaigned for Senator Bernie Sanders's presidential races. Mr. Sanders returned the favor by writing a forward to Professor McChesney's book 'Dollarocracy: How the Money and Media Election Complex Is Destroying America' (2013), written with John Nichols. In an interview with Truthout, a nonprofit news site focused on social justice, Professor McChesney attacked the mainstream media's coverage of Mr. Sanders in the 2016 presidential primary that he lost to Hillary Clinton. CNN and MSNBC, he said, were deeply biased in favor of 'centrist' candidates representing the status quo. 'One can only imagine how Sanders would have done if he had coverage from MSNBC similar to what Obama received in 2007-08,' Professor McChesney said. The conservative writer David Horowitz put Professor McChesney on a list of the '101 Most Dangerous Academics in America' in 2006, including him among 'tenured radicals' who were indoctrinating U.S. students. On the other hand, in 2008 Utne Reader named Professor McChesney as one of the '50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World.' Professor McChesney warned in 2016 that when corporate giants dominate online information — at the time, those giants were Facebook and Google — they hold too much power over what people know of the world. 'This is really antithetical to anything remotely close to a free press and a free society,' he said in an interview with the left-leaning news outlet 'Democracy Now!' The way to deal with such monopolies was to nationalize them, he said. He suggested a government takeover that would make internet behemoths into a quasi-public service, like the Post Office. Professor McChesney was also one of the founders, in 2003, of a public interest group, Free Press, that opposed corporate consolidation in the news business and that led a national campaign for net neutrality, calling for equal access to the internet for all content producers, from giants like Netflix to individual bloggers. Robert Waterman McChesney was born on Dec. 22, 1952, in Cleveland, one of two sons of Samuel P. McChesney Jr., an advertising executive at This Week, a syndicated magazine inserted in Sunday newspapers, and Edna (McCorkle) McChesney. He grew up in the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights and attended Pomfret, a prep school in Connecticut. In 1977, he graduated with a bachelor's degree from Evergreen State College, in Washington, where he studied politics and economics. In 1979, after working as a sports stringer for U.P.I. and an editor at The Seattle Sun, an alternative weekly, he became the publisher of The Rocket, which charted the emergence of the Seattle grunge-rock scene in the 1980s and '90s. Intellectually restless, he then enrolled in graduate school at the University of Washington, earning a Ph.D. in communications in 1989. For a decade, he taught in the journalism and mass communication department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He and his wife, Dr. Stole, who also had a Ph.D. in communications, then moved to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he was the Gutgsell Endowed Professor in the communications department. Professor McChesney's books also include 'Will the Last Reporter Please Turn Out the Lights?' (2011), with Victor Pickard, and 'Corporate Media and the Threat to Democracy' (1997). In addition to his wife, he is survived by their daughters, Amy and Lucy McChesney; and a brother, Samuel P. McChesney III. In a late book, 'People Get Ready: The Fight Against a Jobless Economy and a Citizenless Democracy' (2016), written with Mr. Nichols, Professor McChesney argued that artificial intelligence and the digital revolution would wipe out numerous categories of jobs. 'Capitalism as we know it is a very bad fit for the technological revolution we are beginning to experience,' he said in an interview about the book. 'Our argument is that we currently have a citizenless democracy,' he went on. 'By that we mean a governing system where all the important decisions of government are made to suit the interests and values of the wealthiest and most powerful Americans, and the corporations they own.'
