NYT's Trump tax returns exposé explodes on social media
29 September 2020
Data: NewsWhip; Chart: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios
The New York Times' bombshell tax investigation has become one of the most viral investigative news stories on social media during the Trump era, according to data from NewsWhip.
Why it matters: The years-long anticipation of the release of President Trump's tax returns has hit a nerve among Americans, many of whom have been waiting to see whether the returns reinforce rumors of the president's flimsy financial record.
Driving the news: Social media interactions (likes, comments, shares) from within the first 24 hours of Sunday's tax returns article dwarfs the total for the other investigative pieces listed.
- Only the Times' previous piece about Trump's tax information eclipsed 1 million interactions.
- Social media interactions on news articles overall have spiked in 2020, according to NewsWhip.
Yes, but: Other story genres — particularly breaking news — routinely perform better on social media than investigations, which are often difficult to distill in a headline. The biggest article overall was news of Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death from NPR with 10.7 million interactions.
Bottom line: There have been so many groundbreaking investigations over the past few years that it's hard for any one storyline to stick, but the data from NewsWhip shows that no others have had the internet firepower as the tax bombshell.
What's next: The Times' investigation — which Trump has called "fake news" — comes ahead of the first debate between the president and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Tuesday.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.