We have seen in the last four years how rage has replaced reason for many experts. Legal experts who long defended criminal defense rights have suddenly become advocates of the most sweeping interpretations of criminal or constitutional provisions while discarding basic due process and fairness concerns. Academics who teach journalism have called for an abandonment of neutrality and objectivity. The Democratic Party itself has become the champion of censorship. Even in this company, CNN’s media expert Brian Stelter is a standout. Stelter has been regularly criticized for alleged bias but this week Stelter offered an argument for limiting both free speech and the free press that would have kept George Orwell up at night. Stelter told his viewers that they really do not have to talk about censorship and simply should refer to reductions of free speech as “a harm reduction model.”
Stelter mocked those who have raised concerns over censorship and assured CNN’s viewers that there is nothing to fear from campaigns to censor and ban speakers. In addition, he appeared to defend campaigns to have Fox News dropped from cable carriers. (For the record, I recently joined Fox as a contributor).
Stelter explained “Reducing a liar’s reach is not the same as censoring freedom of speech. Freedom of speech is different than freedom of reach — and algorithmic reach is part of the problem.” He further explained that it is simply an effort toward “reducing information pollution” and should be referred to as a “harm reduction model.”
The distinction between freedom of speech and freedom of reach is an obvious effort to repackage anti-free speech efforts in a less offensive light. Indeed, it sounds like a media version of the “Green New Deal” to cut back on viewpoint “pollution.” It is like saying that you are not denying the freedom of travel, just the means of travel. It is all meant to assure viewers that they are not bad people for wanting to silence others. Indeed, it is commendable to limit free speech, which is now treated as nothing more than “pollution” when used by some on the right.
Stelter also brushed aside the facts on the recent campaign against Fox. He assured CNN viewers that “Most of the criticism of Fox News is not aimed at shutting it down, which will never happen anyway.It’s about making Fox better. Putting the news back in Fox News. They keep going the other way. If Fox is gonna keep transitioning into the ’24/7 Tucker Channel,’ then maybe it belongs next to SciFi on your channel lineup, not MSNBC.”
Stelter is just trying to “make Fox better” . . . and more like CNN.
In reality, there is an effort to pressure cable carriers to drop Fox. This includes New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof who insisted that “cable providers should be asked why they distribute channels that peddle lies.” Washington Post columnist and CNN analyst Max Boot also wrote that cable providers should “step in and kick Fox News off.” He added that it may be necessary to also block Newsmax and One America News Network.
The campaign is not surprising for those in the free speech movement. I have long opposed the calls for censorship under the pretense of creating “an honest Internet.” We have have been discussing how writers, editors, commentators, and academics have embraced rising calls for censorship and speech controls, including President-elect Joe Biden and his key advisers. The erosion of free speech has been radically accelerated by the Big Tech and social media companies. The level of censorship and viewpoint regulation has raised questions of a new type of state media where companies advance an ideological agenda with political allies.
It is a familiar pattern. It is not enough to control speech on many platforms if there remains an alternative source of information. If you want to control speech, you have to not only regulate viewpoints but eliminate alternative sources for viewpoints. For example, when Twitter blocked the Hunter Biden story before the election, it was only partially successful since viewers could turn to the New York Post or Fox for the story.
Ironically, Stelter may be correct that shutting down “the reach” of opposing viewpoints would reduce the harm of free speech for many like Stelter. Stelter has been repeatedly criticized for ignoring stories that were harmful to the Biden campaign or CNN itself. Such echo-chamber coverage works so long as no one leaves the echo chamber. For many on CNN and MSNBC, there is little danger. Viewers tune into some networks on the assurance that they will not be challenged outside of their political comfort zone. The Washington Post and other outlets have not corrected clearly false accounts and it is not even clear that readers want to see such corrections. It is the sad reality of siloed news in our new age of yellow journalism. While faith in the news is at an all-time low, the echo journalism preserves a loyal viewer or reader base. Experts assure them that Trump can be easily convicted or impeached. Constitutional scholars insist that long-standing questions are in fact absolutely clear and unambiguous. However, that system works best when there is not readily available alternatives for news.
There was a day when a journalist would be widely condemned for seeking to curtail access to other media outlets. I would be the first tpo object to such a campaign against CNN or MSNBC. Yet, Stelter’s comments are applauded as many in the media eagerly saw away at the limb upon which they are sitting.
MSM continually create hysteria with non-news to divert attention from Democrat lies
Hillary did this with Russian collusion narrative to divert from her email crimes. Brian Stelter is covering for Biden’s lies re $2000 COVID stimulus checks
@demswatchdog
MASHUP: $2,000 STIMULUS CHECKS.
Hillary’s net worth is largely defined by Russian contributions to the Clinton Foundation and Uranium 1. I think the dossier was created in anticipating that Trump would make her Russian wealth a campaign issue. She appears to have asked through assistants for those from 3rd world nations to have their governments make a contribution to the foundation in order to get a face to face meeting. This accusation was made by a Nigerian diplomat.
Censorship is ramping up. I recently had a book review that was very measured and factual but critical banned on Amazon. At the same time I discovered two old reviews from years ago had also recently been banned, though they were pretty apolitical. I simply reported what was in the book, one of the reviews had 530 helpful votes, 4 times those of the next most helpful review. I gave the book 5 stars in both of the older reviews banned.
Don’t buy books on Amazon. Problem solved
I use the publisher to support them and the author. Otherwise use Library Genesis like most people do
Why is Prof. Turley elevating Stelter? I saw the piece on CNN and all the examples Stelter gave as conspiracies/lies/disinformation are ones he associate with the right. In his mind, there is no fault on the left.
So by Stelters “logic” all those networks that covered Russian collusion should be shut down. It was a lie, bought and paid for, political mudslinging and nothing more.
I expect his integrity would draw his voluntary resignation. 😉
As child, I asked my father why, adults rarely allowed children opinions to be taken seriously and frequently we were punished for interjecting our opinions in conversations. This was in Cuba, where anyone under 12 was considered a child. His response: they seldom have anything to contribute to adult intellectually serious discussions and have a tremendous lack of profundity on just about any topic beyond “hide & seek” and similar games. Then I ask, why do we listen to what Mr. Stelter has to say?
Perhaps our leftist friends could obtain guidance from the EU and Canada on how to properly censor using hate speech laws. After all, it’s for our own good, right? We can’t have people just posting online whatever they want.
antonio
And yet, observe that in Continental Europe, where they lack our free speech, and where they have aggressive incitement and hate speech laws, there is a more thriving and successful populist political scene
Maybe free speech is just a useless safety valve. Cutting it off is perhaps a good thing, in the long run. Let the pressure in this locked down pot build as it boils. We do not need more teapot style whistling, we need something rather more dramatic
sal sar
sal sar, could it be that in Europe they have a thriving populist political scene because they know they are being deprived of their freedom of speech. Your conclusion surmises that because they can’t speak freely that their thriving populist political scene is born out of no complaints. Your not allowed to see their complaints so there must not be any. Under your conclusion it would be perfectly acceptable for your postings here to be prohibited. You cry out, “please take me down”. Better yet, “please beat me again master”. As long as sal sar walks right and he always says the politically correct thing he will never be condemned. Be careful sal sar. Be very careful. Watch every word you say.
sal sar says cutting of of free speech might be a good thing in the long run. It follows that the first thing he should do is voluntarily cut off his speech on this forum to set an example. His speech should apply. My preference is that he be allowed to post here to his little hearts content. He blares a warning to us all.
Yup. The original premise for the web and democratization be damned. Millennials in Silicon Valley misunderstood their forebears intentions so profoundly it is impossible to calculate. There is a reason Tim Berners Lee is pushing for creating a second web. It was never intended to be like this, and it’s despicable. Modern Silicone Valley is a mockery. The kids are NOT alright.
Helter stelter…Brian is a belter.
What’s a “belter”? That is someone who lives in the rust belt with be a felt head.
I usually ignore your nonsense, but you are correct: the average woke millennial or gen z today would fit nicely in with the Mansonites. Squeeky Fromm is probably throwing parties every day. It is all too ironic that this is pretty much exclusively coming from the left in the 21st century.
Look at Stelter and try not to think of the least liked kid in high school. Try not to think of the kid cozying up to a “cool” kid with obsequious pleas of friendship.
CHUBBY CNN HOST FELT ‘FAT SHAMED’ AFTER RECEIVING BOX OF DONUTS FROM TUCKER CARLSON
https://pluralist.com/brian-stelter-fat-shamed-donuts-tucker-carlson/
Turley has no standing – morally or legally – to discuss this topic. He’s a hired gun and shoots who he’s told to shoot and everyone knows it.
joe friday:
“Turley has no standing – morally or legally – to discuss this topic.”
*****************************
And yet you stay here like the unwanted house guest you are criticizing the host for all manner of harms both real and imagined. You really are a pathetic little man with no shame and less sense.
“You really are a pathetic little man with no shame and less sense,” mespo727272 says while looking in the mirror.
Who made you Pope Joe, to decide that the host of the web page you freely use, has no “moral or legal authority” to comment?
If he has none then perhaps none of us do. What is moral authority, in Pope Joe’s theology, may I ask?
Sal Sar
Waal Gainesville, we often don’t see ourselves as others do.
Then doesn’t it follow that you (and the entire Nitwit Brigade) have no reason to read his posts, and to do so reflects very poorly on your intellect, morality, and ability to reason? Aren’t you afraid of staining your morality by constant interaction with all the reprobate minds of those who do not reflexively disagree with nearly 100% of Mr. Turley’s posts?
If you’re not already, how long do you carry on a conversation with a team of Jehovah’s Witnesses in your living room? Or, do you fancy that your rhetoric abilities will be able to convince them to adopt your personal belief system??
Joefriday, I am so glad to read your post. You consistently warn us of the danger posed by the dreaded Turley. However, we would appreciate it if you would back up and give us your opinion on Stelters call for the elimination of news outlets because of speech that should be easily recognized as hateful. You have often let us know of your disdain for the Professor. Now we anxiously await your scholarly counter argument. This is your opportunity to represent yourself and your compatriots who post here. What is your position on how speech against “the people” should be controlled. You are considered a High Priest here. We anxiously long for your words of wisdom and what new laws you would propose.
You and your ‘peers’ are masterful astroturfers. Thankfully, at this point in time, that is really a losing game and most of us just ignore you.
Turley is a professional with more experience than you have in your little finger. you don’t have to agree, but if all you’ve got are invectives, rest assured we will continue to ignore you. You and your ilk are like salt in an ice cream sundae. If he pisses you off to this extent, go read something else. The rest of us are here to actually have dialogue and learn from one another. You are the antithesis of anything that makes a society good, and 3/4 of us just ignore you for the most part. The street corner for loonies may have moved online, where Valley companies can collect revenue from advertising, that doesn’t mean we are caring a whit anymore about what the loonies are vomiting up.
They are making speeches that damage the people and the nation declared comrade (Stelter) Stalin. If we can’t shut them up we will have a comfy Gulag in the comfy north Ukraine were they can retire in comfort. One stipulation. They can’t bring their boots because we have no polish. Who can we honor by naming a camp after them. Oh I know. The first camp will be named camp CNN.
https://notthebee.com/article/twitter-censors-focus-on-the-family-magazine-for-this-hateful-sentence
This is what Stetler wants brass tacks.
The playbook has long been known:
Rahm Emanuel: “Never let a crisis go to waste.”
Ben Rhodes: “The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old, and their only reporting experience consists of being around political campaigns . . . They literally know nothing . . . We created an echo chamber . . . They were saying things that validated what we had given them to say.”
It’s hard to recall that ca. 1984 CNN was regarded as the quality network.
He’s saying the quiet part out loud. This is who they are, this is how they think, this is what they want to do. You’ll notice one of our regulars has already attempted a look-squirrel diversion in response to this.
Addendum: you’ll notice another of our regulars has made an ad hominem attack on the moderator in response.
No one has attacked Darren here. You’re imagining things.
After years of alternating between being the Communist News Network and the Clinton News Network, CNN has finally settled on being the Communist News Network with a little Naziism thrown in for good measure.
“The Democratic Party itself has become the champion of censorship. ”
Which Party (and President) wanted to shut down Colin Kaepernick, fire players that supported him for silently taking a knee and fine teams that didn’t keep their players under control?
” (For the record, I recently joined Fox as a contributor).”
Where else could you go with your supposed criticism of both sides while you only rigorously go after Democrats? You give cover to their continuous lies while they ignore right-wing extremists who are destroying the country.
Which Party (and President) wanted to shut down Colin Kaepernick, fire players that supported him for silently taking a knee and fine teams that didn’t keep their players under control?
Citation needed.
Kaepernick insisted on making an exhibit of himself during ceremonies held during the course of his workday. This isn’t that difficult.
“Citation needed.”
I devoted 30 seconds to this effort, if you need more, you’re on your own.
https://www.newsweek.com/everything-donald-trump-said-nfl-anthem-protests-1509333
None of them are statements by ‘the Republican Party’ as a corporate body. They’re all Trump tweets, and nearly all of them are slams and criticisms of players or Goodell. There is one tweet that suggests Kaepernick’s boss can him. Kaepernick was a disciplinary problem while at work, so (depending on the terms of his contract) canning him is an exercise of permissible discretion.
The long suffering American people should rise up like the peasants against Doctor Frankenstein (billionaires) and their monster (mass media and financial and technological oligarchy) and attack them with pitchfork and flame
Only a fool takes the monster for something sympathetic, or the doctor for anything besides a madman. Not now. Look and see if there is anything but weaklings and fools left to oppose them. but don’t hold your breath.
sal sar
I spent thirty seconds to show what Trump did. Fox News which for all practical purposes is the Republican corporate public relations firm devoted months to the effort, drawing a false equivalency to attacking the flag instead of demanding the end to killing unarmed Black people. Your suggestion that there was no effort to silence him from multiple sources and multiple elected representatives of the Republican Party is ridiculous.
That goofy haired prima donna teamed up with Nike, corporate slave-masters today and not centuries ago
https://qz.com/1811305/nike-apple-linked-to-forced-uighur-labor-in-china-report-says/
Kaepernick is a very imperfect vessel to comment on the problems of black America. He was raised in a white family in a town with 2% black residents, went to an essentially all white school and lived while with the 9ers in an all white neighborhood. He has no solid insights into what its like to live in a ghetto.
Exactly. His opinion might matter if he were actually black and had to endure anything black people have suffered through. I can’t take a little twerp raised on happy meals and milkshakes and Xboxes making millions of dollars to be an insufferable idiot seriously. I am not alone. If this generation thinks they are accomplishing anything by pulling problems out of thin air to make their sad existences (which is their parent’s fault, not ours, or perhaps you are a deluded and crusty old hippie left over from the 60s that did way too many drugs to even comprehend stable reality any longer) meaningful, they are sadly mistaken. The majority of us still believe in *real* virtue. If you would like the spanking that your parents never gave you to straighten you out, line on up. I will oblige.
I spent thirty seconds to show what Trump did.
You insisted it was analogous to what Stetler recommends. It isn’t and that’s perfectly obvious.
Fox News which for all practical purposes is the Republican corporate public relations firm
Its commentary programs were no more skewed than what you see on PBS, just less subtle. As for it’s news programs, no. Their star anchors have been Shep Smith and Chris Wallace. In any case, it’s been under fire from people like me for what the Murdoch brothers have done to its news operation.
devoted months to the effort, drawing a false equivalency to attacking the flag instead of demanding the end to killing unarmed Black people.
Why should Fox News be pushing your causes? (While we’re at it, the ‘killing of unarmed black people’ is not a systematic problem).
Your suggestion that there was no effort to silence him from multiple sources and multiple elected representatives of the Republican Party is ridiculous.
You need help with your reading comprehension
(While we’re at it, the ‘killing of unarmed black people’ is not a systematic problem).
While we’re at it, maybe Enigma or someone could define and provide a solid example of what “systemic racism” actually looks like in practice within the federal government?
In other words, what do these EO’s of Joe Biden’s mean when he says crap like prioritizing racial “equity” and combatting “systemic racism” in the government and elsewhere? Please explain away.
The provision in the $1.9 trillion boondoggle excluding whites from a particular program? Systemic racism exists. It’s just that the victim race is the white race.
The demand to end the killing of unarmed black people was STUPID and RACIST. And the way the demand was made disrespected the flag, not that I have a problem with that.
There was no effort to silence him by anyone. A lot of people just wanted him to shut up in one very narrow context.
Where are all these “right-wing extremists who are destroying the country?” I see nothing but leftists that are doing everything to suppress free speech of those whom they don’t agree with, continue to take away the rights of people who want to work and children who want to go to public school, etc. All leftist moves to obtain and maintain absolute control over all aspects of our lives–that’s what’s destroying the country. Not Fox News or whatever Trump said about CK and others taking a knee.
I think the source of the problem is social-psychological and has to do with the emotional make-up of a certain type of bourgeois. People suffering personal distress should deal with it at home, not harass the rest of the public. Good luck persuading most liberals of that.
I think so too, and it really is that simple. We are being held hostage by the emotions of a privileged class. That’s it. Nothing else need enter the picture.
Kaepernick wore socks depicting cops as pigs. Trump’s position was that when you are being paid a LOT to play America’s game, for a professional team that is your private employer, you best keep your personal politics OFF THE FIELD and just play the game you are being paid to play. Protest on your own time.
And if you choose to not stand for the flag while in the uniform as part of your paying job, you can quit. It’s a free country. Don’t drag the entire country into your own political grandstanding. Which, btw, has paid off VERY well for Kappy.
Which is why the Fed Ex delivery person, for example, cannot choose to wear a Black Lives Matter tee shirt while delivery packages all day for the company which requires a uniform be worn as part of the job. Take it or leave it and find another “job.” Same thing with Kaepernick and the NFL “protestors.” Trump took a stand and much of the country agreed, contrary to what you may think.
All all you kids and young adults out there who have the courage to STAND for the flag while all the teammates around you are kneeling? Kudos to you and your parents. That takes freakin courage – to STAND for what is right and what YOU believe in the face of such severe social pressure, intimidation and retaliation. Way to go.
Better yet, the Fed Ex person surely can’t wear a MAGA hat or a pro-life tee shirt.
Sadly, in America, right now, you can expect to be physically assaulted just walking down the street while wearing a MAGA hat or Trump shirt and your car will be vandalized if you display a Trump bumper sticker. That’s what the little fascists on the left have done to what was once a free country.
Employers cannot compel political speech, which is what the national anthem singing before games is.
Compounding and further muddying this debate is that many of these stadiums are public property, at least partly paid for by taxpayers and not the exclusive property of the owners or the NFL.
They just have to stand there. OR they can stay in the locker room. Leave your personal political protests OFF THE FIELD. Protest on your own time. It’s not hard.
So you would agree that an employee cannot compel an employer to be a platform for the employee’s political message?
Employers cannot compel political speech, which is what the national anthem singing before games is.Employers cannot compel political speech, which is what the national anthem singing before games is.
In your addled head, that’s ‘political speech’.
That having been said, Kaepernick wasn’t being slammed for not singing. While we’re at it, HR functionaries running struggle sessions are attempting to compel political speech.
I’m worried my employer might require CRT training as a condition of employment. I want to be able to say NO on the basis that it is blatantly political, controversial, and not germane to my job performance. I want to be able to legally stare down HR if it comes to that (my career is topped anyway). What are my chances?
You can start the CRT protest movement….take a knee if they compel you to sit through the racist training/leftist indoctrination sessions. Then shout about your First Amendment rights, civil rights, religious rights, and whatever else you want to scream about. Make them uncomfortable. Threaten to sue if they retaliate or fire you. If you are a white male, tell them you “identify” as “they/them” and Asian Pacific or something.
😉
Krapperneck dumped certain friends and allies when he thought he made it big. He pitched this valiant struggle right around the time he figured out, cunningly, that it was a better long term racket than football. Oh how clever Krapperneck is, to have fooled so many people, and getting paid to do it too. So much easier than knocking heads.
So, that fellow is in no fear of being “censored.” He has sold his image to Nike and they project it ad nauseam. A paid for beech of the corporatocracy
Sal Sar
What a theory, except Kaepernick didn’t pitch a valiant struggle, he began his protest silently and went unnoticed for a few games before the attacks began. None of what you imagine to be true negates the attempts to silence him and negate his First Amendment rights which was the topic.
First Amendment “rights” don’t apply to his protest on company time.
Bench the NFL and its bogus false antitrust exemption. https://www.city-journal.org/html/bench-nfl-15465.html
The only good thing Krapperneck did was proving to the adoring fans what fools the management & owners of their blessed teams really are
Pretty much since the mid 80s, pro football has been boring. There is no comparison between what it is today with what it was so many decades ago. You have to be old enough to remember I guess, and have played a little football, to understand this. Amazingly, i recall that NPR used to have a sports essayist of some fame, frank something or other, if i recall, who made the point many times. I forget his name. One day he summed it all up and I quit watching it for good. Many many years ago. Strangely I still listen to NPR, though it makes me want to vomit. At least it is not as boring as the average NFL game broadcast on tv
Sal Sar
Back then, if someone ran a 4.5 forty yd dash they were regarded as fast and probably were a wideout. Now there’s a handful of linebackers that fast.
Elvis Bug
Kaepernick is a very gifted athlete. But he is clueless. One good incident that illustrated it is when he showed up at a press conference in Miami in a T-shirt with Fidel Castro on it. Then when criticized by Cuban Journalists he proceeded to defend Castro with a fairly ridiculous view of Cuban justice. He is apparently not aware that Fidel was quite prejudiced against those of African descent.
You are correct that i did not address your interests in my remarks about Krapperneck. I only shared my dislike for the odious charlatan. Which I already had in abundance, before he started in on the kneeling stuff. I could have cared less if he kneeled or not. In my mind it was foolish to attack him. He should have been cut for some other reason and they had plenty. But football teams are managed as stupidly as many other money making outfits. One wonders how they are so successful. Oh wait, now I remember, the billionaire owners have a cartel. A pox on the ownership and the self-absorbed frauds like him.
You can keep at your hero worship of him if you like, but there are many who deserve your esteem far more than him. And your time. I have wasted enough on it. Who cares about that lousy puke or the greedy owners. Or their boring version of a great game. Damn them all to hell.
Sal
You telling me what I think or who I worship is a deflection. I said he was an example of right-wing censorship which he was. Everything else you manufactured.
Kaepernick was never “censored.”
One of hundreds of examples.
https://www.engadget.com/2018-08-03-ea-apologizes-censoring-colin-kaepernick-madden-19.html
No party insisted on silencing him. The people that rejected him and his temper tantrum did so because he’s a spoiled millennial twit with the intelligence and real life experience of a turnip. Forgive me if I do not weep over the strife of his millions of dollars and perfectly comfortable life. Try again.
“Reducing a liar’s reach” is such a vague and ambiguous standard that it can not possibly be enforced with any consistency. My “liar’s reach” is definitely not the same as Stelter’s “liar’s reach” and I’m sure Stelter only wants his “liar’s reach” as the standard. That is why it is all speech or no speech, which includes even false speech. That’s okay, let CNN keep sawing away at that tree limb they sit on.
He is a little Tater. He has been one of the most divisive personalities out there. If anybody needs to shut up, it’s him. But I don’t agree with censoring or banning like the Fascist little lefty from CNN. I prefer to change the channel.
It’s a Bill of Rights, not suggestions. Leave them alone