The media is sorry . . . sort of. After the shocking appearance of President Joe Biden in the presidential debate, the public has turned its attention to the press which has, again, buried a major scandal for years. According to CNN, the reporters at the White House are really, really sorry but explained that it was the “right-wing media” that prompted them to avoid the story. It is a telling admission that, yet again, reporters chose not to report on a story because they wanted to frame the news for political purposes. It is precisely the pattern that I discuss in my new book The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage where the media now rejects objectivity and neutrality as core values in journalism.
For years, there have been questions about President Joe Biden’s mental and physical decline. Those concerns reached their apex when Special Counsel Robert Hur issued his report. While finding that Biden had unlawfully retained and mishandled classified material for decades, he concluded that prosecution would be difficult because a jury would be swayed by the appearance of an elderly man with declining memory.
The media pounced and attacked Hur while media figures attested to the President’s acuity and ability. Then, as videos repeatedly surfaced showing the President confused and fragile, the media declared them “cheap fakes” and attacked Fox News and other outlets for airing them even though Fox noted that the clips were unedited. (For full disclosure, I am a Fox News analyst). Virtually every news outlet aired the attack with politicians, pundits, and celebrities attesting that the President was sharp and engaged.
On MSNBC, Joe Scarborough stated
“start your tape right now because I’m about to tell you the truth. And F— you if you can’t handle the truth. This version of Biden intellectually, analytically, is the best Biden ever. Not a close second. And I have known him for years…If it weren’t the truth I wouldn’t say it.”
Then the presidential debate happened and, after years of being protected by staff, tens of millions of people watched the president struggle to stay focused and responsive.
So, as an embarrassed press struggled to explain the most recent belated disclosure, the reason is the “right-wing press” and the need to counter their narratives.
While saying that reporters “are now expressing regret,” CNN explains that “some members of the White House press corps who have regular exposure to President Biden are now admitting they were “turned off” from exposing his mental decline before last week’s debate in part because of the attention it has got from ‘right-wing media.'”
It was just part of shaping the news, which is now the priority in journalism.
A recent series of interviews with over 75 media leaders by Leonard Downie Jr., former Washington Post executive editor, and Andrew Heyward, former CBS News president, reaffirmed this shift. As Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, editor-in-chief at the San Francisco Chronicle, stated: “Objectivity has got to go.”
But that objectivity seems to depend heavily upon what ideology you are advocating.
We have been discussing the rise of advocacy journalism and the rejection of objectivity in journalism schools. Writers, editors, commentators, and academics have embraced rising calls for censorship and speech controls, including President-elect Joe Biden and his key advisers. This movement includes academics rejecting the very concept of objectivity in journalism in favor of open advocacy.
In an interview with The Stanford Daily, Stanford journalism professor, Ted Glasser, insisted that journalism needed to “free itself from this notion of objectivity to develop a sense of social justice.” He rejected the notion that journalism is based on objectivity and said that he views “journalists as activists because journalism at its best — and indeed history at its best — is all about morality.” Thus, “Journalists need to be overt and candid advocates for social justice, and it’s hard to do that under the constraints of objectivity.”
Lauren Wolfe, the fired freelance editor for the New York Times, has not only gone public to defend her pro-Biden tweet but published a piece titled “I’m a Biased Journalist and I’m Okay With That.”
Former New York Times writer (and now Howard University Journalism Professor) Nikole Hannah-Jones is a leading voice for advocacy journalism.
Indeed, Hannah-Jones has declared “all journalism is activism.”
The problem comes with these little embarrassing moments when the public suddenly sees that prior coverage was false. Whether it is the Russian collusion story (for which reporters received Pulitzer Prizes) or the Hunter Biden laptop or the Lafayette Park photo shoot or the migrant whipping controversy, there is an inescapable pattern of omission and misdirection. This is why media outlets are collapsing as the public seeks other sources for information.
As I previously wrote, the mantra “Let’s Go Brandon!” was embraced by millions as a criticism as much of the media as President Biden. It derives from an Oct. 2 interview with race-car driver Brandon Brown after he won his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race. During the interview, NBC reporter Kelli Stavast’s questions were drowned out by loud-and-clear chants of “F*** Joe Biden.” Stavast quickly and inexplicably declared, “You can hear the chants from the crowd, ‘Let’s go, Brandon!’”
So, in expressing guilt for not pursuing the President’s mental and physical decline, the media is left with explaining that they are just doing what they are trained to do in the new J Schools. They were countering conservatives and framing the news.
This is why Washington Post publisher and CEO William Lewis is under attack for dropping a truth bomb on the staff of the Post when he told them:
“We are going to turn this thing around, but let’s not sugarcoat it. It needs turning around,” Lewis said. “We are losing large amounts of money. Your audience has halved in recent years. People are not reading your stuff. Right. I can’t sugarcoat it anymore.”
Staff is now trying to get him fired.
The Fox news clips were edited to make Biden look bad.
Not true. There is absolutely no need to edit a clip to make Biden look bad. If the debate didn’t inform you of Biden’s cognitive struggles, nothing will. Examine why you delude yourself.
Edited how? These are accurate clips of Joe Biden that illustrate severe cognitive decline. It’s gone way past the occasional forgetfulness. Stop the gaslighting.
FLOTUS has to lead Joe Biden off the state because he will either be so confused as to just turn in circles, not knowing where to go, or he’ll fall. This is a sight for a nursing home or memory care facility, not the White House.
Left wing media are criminals.
LOTS going to prison.
Something I missed. Judge Merchan says that he is moving Donald Trumps sentencing to September 18 “IF NECESSARY!” Well if Trump has been convicted of thirty four counts why wouldn’t a sentencing be not only necessary but mandatory? The judge must have met Joe Biden at the waffle house after the debate. Would you like sour raspberries on your waffle judge or would sour grapes be better. How do you like Dem apples.
Not to worry, Dems. As I write this (Thursday morning), Jolting Joe is as we speak memorizing the five answers to the questions George Stephanopolus is going to ask Joe on Good Morning Mickey Mouse Friday morning.
Not to worry, Dems, there’ll be a teleprompter behind Mickey where Joe can see it and read the answers he can’t remember.
Not to worry Dems. No matter what Mickey asks him, Biden’s answer is “Trump sucks!”
Joe will say. “ Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.”
Being “an elderly man with declining memory” should not have precluded the prosecution of Joe Biden. During the decades he unlawfully retained and mishandled classified material, he was not a dote. He deserved to be prosecuted for what he did when he did it. That a D.C. jury might likely have nullified the law(s) related to the case because of Biden’s now openly recognized cognitive impairment does not excuse hearing the facts of the case. It still is as is the rallying cry so much in vogue right now: No one is above the law.
Ron: “No one is above the law.”
+++
Turns out quite a few people are above the law if they are Democrats.
Good point. It would be interesting to find reliable data on decisions not to prosecute, in various kinds of cases, federal and state, with no “political” overlay, where the decision was based on the accused’s advanced age and declining memory. These would need to be cases where the decision was purely a matter of prosecutorial discretion, without a formal finding nor prosecution agreement that the accused was incompetent to stand trial, a long-standing criminal law precept. By contrast, there were cases, largely in the 80s and 90s (defendants or potential defendants would now be at least in their 90s, if any are still living) where age and health were irrelevant; DOJ created a special section to pursue them, with a determination rivalling that of Victor Hugo’s Inspector Javert.
How Sharp Is Trump?
CEO’s Unimpressed
CEOs who met privately with Donald Trump tell CNBC they walked away unimpressed by the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. “I was surprised,” said CNBC’s Andrew Sorkin. “I talked to enough CEOs who walked into the meeting being Trump supporter-ish,” only to leave with doubts about the former president.
“CEOs said that he was remarkably meandering, could not keep a straight thought, was all over the map,” said Sorkin said on Squawk Box Friday morning. “They walked out of the room less predisposed to him.”
According to a post by CNBC’s Brian Schwartz, executives who heard Trump’s pitch say many of his ideas lacked detail and a person close to one CEO left the meeting saying Trump “doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/markjoyella/2024/06/14/ceos-tell-cnbc-trump-was-meandering-could-not-keep-a-straight-thought/
Are you certain that they were not talking about any prog/left candidate – perhaps, newsome, harris or whitmer?
..another attempt by paid Troll ‘Anonymous’ from the Darkside to spin negative against DT by bringing us a story about ANONYMOUS CEO’s who allegedly met with DT.. a double crock.
CNBC? Quite the reliable source.
Trump?
CEO’s Unimpressed
Strangely, these same CEO’s didn’t express any misgivings after watching the corrupt bag of rotting skin filled with pus and vitriol called The BigGuy for nearly four years.
So the article was from BEFORE the debate. They asked about their opinion concerning The Big Guy AFTERWARDS?
Soviet Democrats and their Anonymous cowards – so predictable.
When They All Sound Alike..
Puppet Watch Is Listening.
*****
On This Independence Day, Puppet Watch wishes to congratulate Professor Johnathan Turley for the release of his new book, “The Indispensable Right”.
Puppet Watch believes that only free speech exposes malicious trolls.
A California-based non-profit
PUPPET WATCH
Thursday, July 4, Midday Edition
Who keeps loading the thread with spools of ancient text??
Clues can be found on the comment thread for Thursday, June 27 at the column, “Want To Defeat Biden– At 7:40 pm, Estovir loads the entire Book of Revelations. Then at 9:21 pm, Floyd posts an ancient Welsh poem “The Battle Of The Trees”. Floyd and Estovir are both the same troll.
This Thursday, July 4th we’ve seen the return of ancient texts on a somewhat staggered basis. Just enough to be annoying but not a total shutdown. But as soon as this report is posted, a barrage of ancient texts is certainly expected.
With regards to puppet activity this morning, we’re seeing a continuation in the pattern of dispersion. That is, a wide variety of names with no single puppet taking the lead.
Interestingly, Estovir and Waters are absent so far. Waters, in fact, has tailed off dramatically since his meltdown last weekend when he sounded exactly like Floyd. Floyd himself posted just once this morning.
We’re also seeing less today of usually ubiquitous puppets Hullbobby, James, Thinkthrough, GEB, Upstate Farmer and Lin. Though the absent Waters’ sidekick, Traveler, has posted 4 comments so far.
The Morning Greek Chorus Bots are abundant today. They include James Grant Stout, SD, Show Me, DEI Is My Name, J G Gordon, zzclancy, JimboCA, Robert Vanbuhler, Wiglet, and waltrthompson.
Puppet Watch would like to thank these real commenters for showing up: Steve Witherspoon, Alan S Meyer, Cindy Bragg, John Say and David Benson. It’s nice to see a few live individuals.
As noted above, PUPPET WATCH EXPECTS A BARRAGE OF ANCIENT TEXTS TO CHOKE THESE THREADS AS SOON AS THIS REPORT IS POSTED.
THAT WILL BE PROOF that Puppet Watch is ‘not’ responsible. We wouldn’t ckoke-off our own report
“According to CNN, the reporters at the White House are really, really sorry but explained that it was the “right-wing media” that prompted them to avoid the story.” – Is there a link to this story?
Like most everything that is Democratic Leftist Woke (DLW) the accepted terminology for a word has been changed to suit the DLW meaning. Journalist is a prime example where not 20 years ago a journalist would mostly write of facts; whereas today as DLW leader once said “We choose truth over facts” becoming their entire mantra, or said more profanely, damn the facts, the truth is what our illustrious DLW leader has spoken (Print our Truth as Fact) and of course (I’m not a numskull)! I would suspect that greater majority of media are from the DLW, slating as much as they can get away with about the DLW and its leader. They: this subgroup of DLW that has a pulpit to speak visually or written could remind one of horses that have to use blinders to limit what they see peripherally. The turpitude of the DLW and those that blindly follow their mantra truth before fact must be ejected from the public discourse.
God help us ALL!
For objectivity’s sake I will state I am not a Biden fan. I also did not think he was entirely competent when he conducted the Justice Thomas hearing in 1991. However in 1991 I think that was more just his inherent stupidity and lack of a backbone or moral anchor. Now 30+ years later we can see what happens when someone has all those deficiencies and also develops progressive dementia, now going on 4-5 years
Beowulf Bot. How clever.
WaPo’s Lewis: “We are losing large amounts of money.”
Journalism is in a sorry state that is so far removed from its ideal that it is unrecognizable. Without a neutral and objective media can a constitutional republic survive? A somber thought on July 4th.
There is a means of emasculating the activist media and the Supreme Court has it in their hands. OVERTURN Sullivan and leave every citizen in the country equal before the laws of libel and slander instead of giving an activist media a free ride. As soon as the Sullivan went into effect the media had its conscience removed and they could say virtually anything about any PUBLIC FIGURE and not really have to worry about repercussions in the vast majority of their attacks.
Well maybe the rules need to change and they should start to think about repercussions. You already see Universities and some faculty starting to get sued for libelous conduct as well as suppression of views and lack of due process. Fox had to pay big time for its unsubstantiated claims. I see no reason why the other side should not be equally culpable and liable. That could bring some conversations like “yes that’s a good take but is it true and what is the evidence for and against it being true”. Imagine that in a more perfect world.
How about the 51 intelligence individuals who never even looked at Hunter’s laptop and said it was likely Russian disinformation. Maybe that should be a conspiracy to defraud the people of the United States. I think that is presently being bandied about in the Federal Court cases.
Lastly, the WH physician.
The doctor patient relationship is not absolute. You can alert authorities if someone is threatening violence and is a clear and present danger to others. You can call a Motor Vehicle License Branch and report a person who is having seizures that are not controlled or who has quit their seizure medication. When you do Certifications for Truck drivers or Pilots you, of course, have to report anything that affects their ability to drive or pilot. Red Flag laws require you to report someone who has weapons and is threatening violence.
If the WH physician failed to do yearly mental health exams in a president this age then in most states that would be considered negligent. Serial mental health exams can be a quite effective means of seeing an objective change in a person’s mental health. Depending on the exam you use there is a minimal acceptable score or an increasing risk score, suggesting more often exams or greater scrutiny.
If you work with someone on a daily basis your brain basically uses the day before as your baseline and people can slowly go to hell under your gaze and you will not even see it. Hence the need for periodic assessments and scores.
If you fail to see someone for a 6-12 month period the decline of an individual will be a greater contrast and thereby more obvious than to those working daily with that same person.
If the scores were not done the MD was likely negligent. If the scores were done and showed decline and were not reported then that opens up a whole host of liability and possible fraud and criminality.
Yes, there are definite things we could do to deflate activist journalism. Congress could repeal Sullivan in legislation, restoring defamation-deterrence rights equally to all citizens. Section 230 could be weakened, so that the social media platforms are exposed to liability when they amplify defamation.
But that leaves Public Frauds (whoppers pushed out for political effect, but not defaming any party). Public Frauds have been very costly in terms of the national blunders that ensue. Fighting to depose Saddam Hussein based on artful falsehoods (4000 lives squandered, in the end empowering Iran). Getting deep into the Vietnam War (duped by the Gulf of Tonkin fraud). Electing Biden, nudged by the 51 “spies that lie” and sympathetic media. And, now, Democrat primary voters being conned into a non-competitive primary contest concealing Biden’s mental decline.
Without legal means to deter outright fraud steering our public decisionmaking, we are doomed to a series of future shootings-in-the-foot. And, this deterrence must never rely on govt. prosecution or intimidation. The torts system, as GEB argues, is where to turn for means to punish political actors for attempts to dupe the public.
Doing nothing to correct the problem? That’s flaccid and defeatist.
I don’t think Congress can do anything about Sullivan since it’s based on the Court’s interpretation of the First Amendment. I believe the Court will have to overrule it or at least tailor it back significantly. For that to happen some public figure will have to have a defamation claim against a newspaper which is based on the paper’s negligence (as opposed to reckless disregard) and raise and preserve the issue of whether negligence is enough for liability.
Yes GEB, when you see someone on a daily basis your brain does indeed use “the day before” as a cognitive baseline. That’s why, so often is the case, immediate family members are often the last to recognize cognitive decline in a loved one.
Do you really truly feel ‘Independent’.
The U.S. Govement has never bee so compromised.
U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy (McCarthyism) had been right all along,
it just took 74-84 years for the Israeli factions (Not Red Communist Russians) to fully penetrate the United States.
The U.S.A. is no longer “Independent” – If the rest of the World were to cut Us off, you’d quickly know how ‘Dependent’ We are.
Happy ‘Dependence Day’ – We’ve got the rest of the World fooled.
(Uh Huh – Yeah Right)
Anonymous says, the Jews are plotting to take over the world. Is she quoting directly from Mein Kampf or just paraphrasing. Either way she reveals that it is she who is the racist.
I guess if these press reporters were to tell the truth about President Biden over the last four years, they would have been accused of plagiarism, since they all would have been reporting the same story the same way.
Happy Independence Day to all! The Estovir family is spending July 4 at Colonial Williamsburg for reenactments of recitation of Declaration of Independence by cast members, and other patriotic events
Happy Fourth!
🎇🎆🧨
https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/events/special-event-noon-reading-of-the-declaration/
Williamsburg is a nice place! I have been there before. Happy 4th!
Here is another view.
Another amateur psychologist offering his opinion. Where was this guy a few weeks ago when Special Prosecutor Hur said Biden was not capable of standing trial because he was too old? Now that Biden’s condition can no longer be hidden he jumps out from under a colorado rock. This guy was willing to perpetuate the Biden was ok lie and now he has the audacity to tell us how bad Trump is. He’s just another schill.
Anonymous, you should be careful who you choose as a source. This is a guy who was a consultant for oil companies and Banks. From Wikipedia, He left Stratfor in 2012, founding a consulting firm Zeihan on Geopolitics that same year. His client list reportedly grew to include energy companies, financial institutions, business associations, agricultural interests, universities, and other government organizations. I’m sure that many of the government agencies he consulted for appreciate his position. Feeling are strong indeed for those who depend on the government for their living. He’ll get back to civilization soon to receive his pat on the head from his government employers along with a fat check to deposit in one of the banks he consulted for. Is he working for the betterment of the nation or to pad his own pocket. The answer is easy and it’s not multiple choice. The average American knows that he was better off under Trump.
Yea I know, he comes with baggage.
I’m pretty sure he has not been convicted of fraud. Nor has he been found liable for sexual abuse and ordered to pay nearly $100 million. Unlike one of the leading contenders for President this election cycle.
Anonymous, one of Biden’s esteemed consultants is Hunter Biden who is a convicted felon but that’s just dandy with you. Good old Hunter wouldn’t pay his child support cause it would take money away that he needed to buy crack. Good old Joe has a granddaughter that he has yet to recognize birthed by Hunter and a prostitution. Your sanctimony has grown very thin. Should a convicted felon crack addict be advising the President of the United States? This is to easy. I know everyone who doesn’t agree with you is a paid Troll. In a past post you admitted that you worked in the government so who’s the one getting paid to troll?
Long on rhetoric, short on facts. Another low IQ individual meeting the low IQ needs of the leftist blogger who is afraid to carry a name.
You mean low IQ like yourself that cannot refute the fact (yes fact) that trump is a convicted felon. Fact that he sexually abused a woman and was ordered to pay nearly $100 million for defaming her. Fact that he had sex with a porn star and denied it (what kind of idiot denies having sex with a porn star?). Go ahead, worship your orange god. He is demented and has demented your brain as well.
Trump is NOT a convicted felon until sentenced. Apparently, the Manhattan court is beginning to think about the fraud they have perpetrated and the retribution they will receive.
Thank you for the confirmation. You are too dumb or drunk to realize it was a hit job and Trump will win on appeal. The SC decision makes any conviction unlikely and shows that neither you nor the rest of the leftists care about this country.
When justice targets good people it is a signal that those in power are wannabe dictators.
We witnessed biden’s dementia first hand, Trump’s philosophy may be difficult for brainwashed prog/left tools to comprehend, but it is consistently pro-America as opposed to the pernicious America-hating just under the surface of most prog/left fanatics.
Hillary has been your President since the beginning of the Biden Administration 2020.
i.e. The past 3yrs 9 months is what Hillary/Harris have wroth, with the help of the Defense Industrial Base, Alphabet Departments, and the Israelis*.
* Israel’s AIPAC wags the Dog (The entire U.S. Government)
Ooh, a new Jet hater in our midst.
My brother once said, “When things go wrong, blame someone else first; always start from there.” The Joseph Goebbels paraphrase, “Say of others what you do,” also is applicable. Now you understand Democrats, Progressives, Liberals, Leftists, Fascists and Communists? Have I forgotten anyone? 🙂