CBS has long been a network in decline. With dismal ratings, the network has been mired in third place for years, and many view it as openly biased and partisan in its coverage, including pushing false stories with a political agenda. Bari Weiss was brought in to save the network and move it back to a neutral center. She has encountered continued attacks from staff who are outraged by the efforts, including her recent selection of Tony Dokoupil as the next evening anchor. Dokoupil is being attacked as too white, male, straight, and pro-Israel. Continue reading “CBS Staffers Attack New Anchor as Too White, Straight, Male and Pro-Israel”
Category: Media
The pattern is all too familiar. The Washington Post runs a story with a sensational claim: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the killing of survivors of one of the first boat attacks back in September — a coup de grace or finishing shot that would constitute a war crime. The Post appears to have had only one source making the specific claim about Hegseth, but ran with the story. What followed was a line of politicians and pundits calling for the usual criminal charges, impeachments, and resignations. Then, various sources, including the New York Times, debunked the story. Continue reading “New York Times Debunks War Crime Story By the Washington Post”
Below is my column in The Hill on the latest development in the investigation of the environmental crimes committed in the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines in the waters near Denmark and Sweden in 2022. The German court issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian in a move that could prove an embarrassment for not just Volodymyr Zelensky but Joe Biden. The truth is still unknown with allegations against both Russia and Ukraine. There are “false flags” flying on both sides that dismiss clues pointing to one country or the other. However, the Germans appear to be zeroing in on key Ukrainian figures.
Here is the column: Continue reading “A German Court May Have Just Shattered One of the Biden Era’s Biggest Lies”
New York Attorney General Letitia James has a long history of lawfare, pandering to her political base by targeting Donald Trump, the National Rifle Association, and others. Now, she is thrilling her base by promising to go after Condé Nast after the company fired four employees who had a confrontation with Condé Nast Chief People Officer Stan Duncan outside of his office. Continue reading “Letitia James Targets Condé Nast Over the Firing of Workers Accused of Disrupting Workplace”
Below is my column in the Hill on moments of honesty after the recent Democratic victories in California, Virginia, New Jersey, and New York. In the euphoria that followed, Democratic politicians and pundits admitted that they intend to pursue radical changes, including packing the Supreme Court, once they retake power.
Here is the column: Continue reading “In Vino Veritas: Punch-Drunk Pundits Reveal Plans to Pack the Supreme Court”
There is a controversy at the BBC over a correction made by presenter Martine Croxall on air when she changed a reference to “pregnant people” to “women.” The network later received 20 complaints and agreed that Croxall had violated network policies. (For full disclosure, I previously worked as the legal analyst for BBC). Continue reading “BBC Finds Presenter in Violation of Network Standards in Correcting “Pregnant People” Reference on Air”
I previously criticized the new Pentagon policies for media organizations. While the Trump Administration made some changes, the rules remained unduly restrictive and unprecedented. As a result, virtually every news organization, including Fox News, refused to sign the agreements at the deadline — a decision that I strongly support. Continue reading “Media Companies Refuse to Sign New Pentagon Media Rules”
While many media outlets are attempting to regain balance and to appeal to a broader audience, the New York Times is clearly not one of them. The newspaper is doubling down on the denials and deflections on the left after the latest political assassination. The newspaper is under attack for featuring the work of Hasan Piker, a writer who has called Jews “inbred pigs,” declared that the United States “deserved” 9-11, and screamed about killing capitalists.
Continue reading “The New York Times Criticized for Featuring Alleged Violence-Spewing Anti-Semite”
In Cool Hand Luke, Paul Newman’s character famously bluffs in a hand of poker and later explains, “Yeah, well sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand.” It is a great scene and a great movie. The problem is that sometimes nothing can be . . . well . . . nothing. Democrats are learning that lesson this week after some Texas legislators indicated that they will be headed home and opponents are calling the bluffs of figures from California Gov. Gavin Newsom to Texas’s Beto O’Rourke. Continue reading ““A Failure to Communicate”: Democrats Face Costly Calls on Texas Redistricting Bluffs”
The media and various liberal pundits are again shrugging this week after the exposure of another false story targeting a conservative or Republican. In this case, Vice President JD Vance was criticized for ordering the raising of the river near his Ohio home to improve his family’s canoeing experience. First appearing in The Guardian, the story took off in the media and was featured on shows like The Colbert Show when Stephen Colbert mocked “insane spoiled baby emperor move.” The problem is that it was entirely untrue. The Secret Service raised the river for security reasons with no contact with the Vice President or his family.
I previously criticized the California law, called the Defending Democracy from Deepfake Deception Act of 2024, as flagrantly unconstitutional. Signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the law would have gutted free speech protections for political parodies. Now, in Kohls v. Bonta, Senior U.S. District Judge John Mendez has rebuked the state for a law that he concluded had to be rejected in its entirety as flawed to its core: “No parts of this statute are severable because the whole statute is preempted. No parts of A.B. 2655 can be salvaged.” Continue reading “Federal Judge Strikes Down California’s Unconstitutional Deepfake Law”
It is official. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting finally accepted death over balance.
This week, the CPB announced that, with the withdrawal of federal funding, it would cease operations by September 30, 2025: “Despite the extraordinary efforts of millions of Americans who called, wrote, and petitioned Congress to preserve federal funding for CPB, we now face the difficult reality of closing our operations.” Continue reading “After Years of Refusing Reforms, the CPB Accepts Institutional Death Over Political Dishonor”
Below is my column in Fox.com on the release of the last declassified material on the origins of the Russian collusion investigation. After the release, former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper wrote in the New York Times insisted that they never relied on the Steele dossier. The column only reaffirmed the level of dishonesty and duplicity that marked their tenures in office. (The Times still printed this claim despite being demonstrably untrue).
The documents quote Brennan in overruling career analysts and intervening to include the dossier in the intelligence assessment. Moreover, the column echoes the media spin that the investigation was about an attempted Russian interference while dismissing the collusion claim that consumed much of the first term. (Even after leaving office, Brennan continued to push the false collusion claim). Both countries routinely hacked each other’s emails — that is why we have the most recent incriminating evidence on the Clinton campaign’s funding and spreading the false collusion claims. We hacked their emails. We have also regularly tried to influence the elections of other nations. The key to the dossier and the Russian investigation was the allegation of collusion and the central role of the Clinton campaign in creating the narrative that Trump was a Russian asset.
Here is the column:
We have been discussing the recently declassified material related to the Russian investigation, including disclosures of the role of former CIA director John Brennan at the end of the Obama Administration to reinforce the unfounded allegations of Russian collusion and influence. After an earlier intelligence assessment rejecting the narrative was effectively quashed, Brennan reportedly hand-picked the team to do a second rushed 2016 U.S. intelligence community assessment in the final days. We are now learning more about the person Brennan selected to head that team. Just the News and other outlets are revealing not just the extreme political bias of Susan Miller, but her remarkably poor handle on some key facts. The one unassailable fact that comes out of her postings is her declaration that “[I] am not a Trump fan.”
This month, the public has witnessed the mainstream media at its very worst in circling the wagons to deflect or dismiss the new evidence on how government officials, including President Barack Obama, laid the foundations for the Russian collusion hoax. However, the most telling admission may have come from Chuck Todd on the mentality of many in the media. In denouncing the decision to interview Hunter Biden, Todd lamented how the coverage was bad for the Democrats and the Bidens. He then declared, “I make choices,” which is precisely why he was widely criticized for bias as a former Sunday show host. His “choices” often seemed to run in favor of one party.