Trump

Fasten your seat belt for one of the biggest propaganda campaigns of all time as Team Trump works to convince voters that up is down, black is white and reality is fake news.

Jay Rosen, media guru and New York University professor, expects the Trump campaign and its allies will do whatever it takes to keep Americans from understanding just how badly the Administration screwed up the response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The goal of the push is the re-election of the president.

"The Republican Party and the Trump campaign and the MAGA coalition are going to have to produce confusion and doubt on a scale that is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before," Rosen told Vox. "And that, of course, is going to be a huge challenge for the press."

Rosen said Team Trump would face many challenges in its bid to persuade Americans that it isn't responsible for the needless deaths of so many Americans because Trump's false claims and incompetence are on the record.

He expects Trump's propaganda salvo to strain the nation's information system.

“The key for the Trump campaign is to create confusion, not belief," he said. "And that’s what we’re going to see in the months ahead — is the massive effort to create doubt and confusion about things that are overwhelmingly clear from the public record.”

COVID-19 pandemic powers Procter and Gamble as organic revenues surged six percent during the first-quarter, the biggest gain in decades, as consumers stocked up on Tide, Charmin, Mr. Clean, Vicks and Bounty to ward off COVID-19.

CEO David Taylor said P&G's robust results quarter are a direct reflection of the integral role our products play in meeting the daily health, hygiene and cleaning needs of consumers around the world,”

P&G's North America and European groups sparked a 10 percent advance in organic growth, performance hindered by disruptions in the China market.

The company expects to thrive in the aftermath of the pandemic as consumers adjust to the "new normal" of keeping homes and clothing germ-free. “Consumption of our products is not likely to dissipate,” he said. “We will serve what will likely become a forever altered health, hygiene and cleaning focus for consumers.”

Google searches for good PR via its Journalism Emergency Relief Fund to support small media outlets that are struggling during the pandemic.

The Fund is restricted to outlets producing original news for local communities with an online presence of at least 12 months. Awards are limited to newsrooms with under 100 full-time journalists.

Applicants can be for-profit or nonprofit traditional news organizations, digital natives or radio/TV broadcasters.

Google did not disclose how much it has budgeted for the program. It did say grants would be in the low thousands of dollars/euros for small hyper-local newsrooms to low tens of thousands for larger newsrooms.

Hats off to Florida Congressman Charlie Crist for nominating Captain Brett Crozier for a "Profile in Courage" award from the JFK Presidential Library and Museum.

Established in 1989, the award recognizes a federal, state or local public official, whose actions demonstrate the qualities of politically courageous leadership in the spirit of "Profiles in Courage," President Kennedy's 1957 book

Crozier was relieved of his command of the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier after he faulted US Navy brass for their lack of support of his crew stricken with COVID-19 virus.

In his letter of recommendation, Crist noted there is no playbook for the current healthcare crisis.

He praised Crozier for standing up for his crew when others failed to act, "who put himself in harm's way to protect the men and women under his command, and who took the incredible courageous and unselfish act to reach out for the health and safety of his crew when others turned away."

After a nearly 30-year Navy career, Crozier knew his actions would likely be his last in uniform, noted Crist, but "he did so anyway because it was the right thing to do—example of leadership, a Profile in Courage."