{"id":350296,"date":"2018-03-01T06:41:18","date_gmt":"2018-03-01T05:41:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/media-parroting-1000-bonus-stories-helped-give-trumps-tax-cuts-majority-support\/"},"modified":"2018-03-01T06:41:18","modified_gmt":"2018-03-01T05:41:18","slug":"media-parroting-1000-bonus-stories-helped-give-trumps-tax-cuts-majority-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/media-parroting-1000-bonus-stories-helped-give-trumps-tax-cuts-majority-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Media Parroting \u2018$1000 Bonus!\u2019 Stories Helped Give Trump\u2019s Tax Cuts Majority Support"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_8916342\" style=\"max-width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8916342 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Screen-Shot-2018-02-27-at-4.15.43-PM-300x288.png\" alt=\"WaPo: AT&amp;T, Comcast Say GOP Tax Bill Will Mean $1,000 Bonuses for Employees\" width=\"300\" height=\"288\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em><strong>Washington Post<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/the-switch\/wp\/2017\/12\/20\/att-says-gop-tax-bill-will-mean-1000-bonuses-for-200000-employees\/?utm_term=.1ed4a61ee264\">12\/20\/17<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>A <b>New York Times\/Survey Monkey<\/b> poll last week revealed that, for the first time, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/02\/19\/business\/economy\/tax-overhaul-survey.html\">a slim majority<\/a> of Americans support last December&#8217;s Republican tax cuts\u2014cuts that disproportionately benefit the rich, redistributing money from the poor to the wealthiest Americans.<\/p>\n<p>How was the impressive feat of reality-inversion achieved? How did a tax cut that, once it\u2019s all said and done, mainly benefits a small group of top earners become broadly popular? One reason is the nonstop deluge of stories over the past two months, cheerleading alleged \u201ctax cut bonuses\u201d from large corporations.<\/p>\n<p>Democratic-leaning cable network <b>MSNBC<\/b> and its colleagues <b>NBC<\/b>, it should be noted, have mostly been the exception, avoiding the talking point for the most part. \u00a0But <b>Fox News<\/b>, <b>CNBC<\/b>, <b>Fox Business<\/b>, <b>CNN<\/b> and dozens of local media outlets joined the messaging charge, singing the bill\u2019s money-saving praises. Here is just a small sample:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">AT&amp;T, Comcast Say GOP Tax Bill Will Mean $1,000 Bonuses for Employees (<b>Washington Post, <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/the-switch\/wp\/2017\/12\/20\/att-says-gop-tax-bill-will-mean-1000-bonuses-for-200000-employees\/?utm_term=.1ed4a61ee264\">12\/20\/17<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">AT&amp;T to Pay $1,000 Bonus Due to Tax Cuts (<b>BBC<\/b>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/business-42434538\">12\/20\/17<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">AT&amp;T Giving $1,000 Bonus to Every Employee in the US When Trump Signs Tax Bill Into Law (<b>Dallas Morning News<\/b>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/business\/att\/2017\/12\/20\/att-giving-1000-bonus-every-employee-us-thanks-trump-tax-plan-passage\">12\/20\/17)<\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">AT&amp;T Is Handing Out $1,000 Bonuses to Its Employees After Tax Bill Passes (<b>Forbes<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/laurengensler\/2017\/12\/20\/att-gives-1000-bonuses-us-employees-tax-reform\/#78991a0d7d61\">12\/20\/17<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Best Way to Use a Tax Bill Bonus (<\/span><b>CNBC<\/b>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2017\/12\/22\/the-best-way-to-use-those-1000-tax-bill-bonuses.html\">12\/22\/17<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bank of America Is Giving Some Employees a $1,000 Bonus, Citing Tax Bill (<b>CNBC<\/b>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2017\/12\/22\/bank-of-america-is-giving-some-employees-a-1000-bonus-citing-tax-bill.html\">12\/22\/17<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">American Airlines to Give Employees $1,000 Bonus to Share Tax Reform Benefit (<b>Dallas Morning News<\/b>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/business\/airlines\/2018\/01\/02\/american-airlines-give-employees-1000-bonus-share-tax-reform-benefit\">1\/2\/18<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">American and Southwest Airlines Promise &#8216;Tax Bill Bonus&#8217; for Employees (<b>Fortune<\/b>, <a href=\"http:\/\/fortune.com\/2018\/01\/02\/american-southwest-airlines-tax-bill-bonus\/\">1\/3\/18<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alaska Air Employees Will Get $1,000 Bonus Due to Tax Overhaul (<b>Seattle Times<\/b>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seattletimes.com\/business\/boeing-aerospace\/alaska-air-employees-will-get-1000-bonus-due-to-tax-overhaul\/\">1\/5\/18<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">List of Companies That Paid Bonuses or Boosted Pay Since Tax Bill Passed (<b>USA Today<\/b>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/money\/2018\/01\/11\/list-companies-paid-bonuses-boosted-pay-since-tax-bill-passed\/1023848001\/\">1\/11\/18<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">Some of the Companies Giving Out Raises and Bonuses Because of Tax Reform (<b>CNN<\/b>, <a href=\"http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2018\/01\/11\/news\/economy\/tax-law-raises-bonuses\/index.html\">1\/11\/18<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">Home Depot to Give Hourly Workers One-Time Bonus of Up to $1,000 in Cash (<b>AP<\/b>, <a href=\"http:\/\/abc13.com\/business\/home-depot-to-give-one-time-cash-bonus-of-up-to-$1000-\/2987655\/\">1\/25\/18<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lowe&#8217;s to Pay US Staff $1,000 Bonus Following Tax Reform (<b>Reuters<\/b>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/markets\/lowes-to-pay-us-staff-1000-bonus-following-tax-reform\">2\/1\/18<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The degree to which congressional Republicans and business leaders coordinated on this messaging\u2014either directly or through trade organizations like the Chamber of Commerce\u2014is unknown. But every element of the rollout reeks of public relations: exact same figure, exact same messaging, staggered announcements to keep the drumbeat going and the \u201c$1000 Bonus!\u201d headlines in the news. ($1,000 is such a nice, round, pseudo-large number, isn\u2019t it?)<\/p>\n<p>As FAIR noted in regards to high-profile ISIS \u201cplots\u201d that are actually FBI-contrived Potemkin productions (<b>Extra!<\/b>, <a href=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/home\/media-now-offering-isis-plots-that-are-100-isis-free\/\">5\/15<\/a>), only 40 percent of readers actually read past the headline. The substance of these high-profile \u201cbonuses,\u201d sometimes spelled out in the articles, is irrelevant to their net propaganda effect. This is compounded by the problem of local and cable news\u2014media genres that are effectively just headlines being yelled at people\u2014which ran nonstop stories on these alleged $1,000 bonuses:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8916338 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/wmart.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"624\" height=\"255\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The fine print that in many cases the bonus only \u201cwent up\u201d to $1,000 for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/walmart-cash-bonus-payout-rules-2018-1\">those that had worked at the firm in question for 20 years<\/a>, as in the case of Walmart and Home Depot, or that <b>Disney<\/b> \u00a0used its ostensible $1,000 bonus as<a href=\"https:\/\/www.salon.com\/2018\/02\/21\/disney-uses-its-promised-1000-employee-bonus-as-leverage-over-union-negotiations\/\"> leverage during union negotiations<\/a>, is rarely mentioned, especially above the fold.<\/p>\n<p>As Bess Levin noted at<b> Vanity Fair <\/b>(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/news\/2017\/12\/corporate-americas-big-tax-bonus-giveaway-is-a-giant-scam\">12\/21\/17<\/a>), to the extent the bonuses are real, they are a small PR cost for a broader ideological, long-term win\u2014as are the minor wage increases and charitable donations that other corporations announced. &#8220;Goldman Sachs has estimated that the GOP tax bill will increase Wells Fargo\u2019s profits by <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">$3.7 billion<\/span><\/i> next year, so $400 million to charity is \u2018basically tithing,\u2019\u201d Levin wrote, quoting the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BCAppelbaum\/status\/943601246849720320\">tweet<\/a> of the <b>New York Times<\/b>&#8216; Binyamin Appelbaum:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wells Fargo currently pays a minimum of $13.50 an hour. They had about 25,000 workers at that level last year. So raising the minimum to $15\/hour costs them about $80 million a year, assuming those workers are full time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Put differently: Wells Fargo just announced that it will use 2 percent of its tax-cut windfall to pay higher wages.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>While there has been some pushback on the impact of these bonuses\u2014in outlets ranging from the \u00a0<b>New York Times<\/b> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/02\/02\/business\/bonus-tax.html\">2\/2\/18<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/02\/10\/business\/economy\/bonus-pay.html\">2\/10\/18<\/a>), <b>Huffington Post <\/b>(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/entry\/companies-trump-tax-bill_us_5a6f56b5e4b01fbbefb48a1e\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">1\/20\/18<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/entry\/congratulations-on-your-1000-tax-reform-bonus_us_5a7362fbe4b06ee97af0acd2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2\/1\/18<\/span><\/a>),<b> Vanity Fair <\/b>(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/news\/2017\/12\/corporate-americas-big-tax-bonus-giveaway-is-a-giant-scam\">12\/21\/17<\/a>) and<b> Think Progress<\/b> (<a href=\"https:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/att-praises-tax-bill-c4bab31e1067\/\">12\/20\/17)<\/a> to <b>The Verge<\/b> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2017\/12\/20\/16803608\/comcast-fcc-employee-bonus-net-neutrality-dead\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2\/20\/17<\/span><\/a>)\u2014the overall torrent of headlines has had their intended net effect. In a media culture that\u2019s atomized and paranoid about anything that approaches \u201cconspiracy theory,\u201d calling these bonus announcements what they are\u2014a cynical (likely coordinated) public relations effort by Republicans and large corporations\u2014is frowned upon. Instead, we\u2019re supposed to see dozens of congressional Republicans, right-wing media and large corporate PR teams singing the same tune, and assume it\u2019s a totally organic series of occurrences, each deserving its own press release, without connecting any of the dots.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"et_bloom_bottom_trigger\"><\/span><script async src=\"http:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\nThis piece was reprinted by <a href=\"http:\/\/rinf.com\">RINF Alternative News<\/a> with permission from <a href=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/home\/media-parroting-1000-bonus-stories-helped-give-trumps-tax-cuts-majority-support\/\">FAIR<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington Post (12\/20\/17) A New York Times\/Survey Monkey poll last week revealed that, for the first time, a slim majority of Americans support last December&#8217;s Republican tax cuts\u2014cuts that disproportionately benefit the rich, redistributing money from the poor to the wealthiest Americans. How was the impressive feat of reality-inversion achieved? How did a tax cut [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2521,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[519],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-350296","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-newswire"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350296\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}