“A pioneer devoted to equality.”
That was The Washington Post’s headline about Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
But when Justice Antonin Scalia died, the headline was, “Supreme Court conservative dismayed liberals.”
When the founder of ISIS was killed, the headline was: “Austere religious scholar at helm of Islamic State, dies.”
But when President Donald Trump’s brother died, the headline was, “younger brother of President Trump who filed lawsuit against niece, dies.”
At news conferences, Vice President Biden gets softball questions. After an article in The Atlantic claimed Trump called fallen military members “losers,” one reporter asked Biden, “What does it tell you about President Trump’s soul?”
“It’s not even softball!” complains The Hill’s media reporter, Joe Concha. “It’s T-ball, except when you put a beach ball on the tee!”
Trump does get nastier questions.
What we used to call “mainstream media” is now “woke” media. Many don’t even try to be objective. That’s the topic of my new video this week.
Watching CNN during this summer’s protests, I noticed that reporters kept calling protests “mostly peaceful,” even when reporting violence. CNN posted the words, “Mostly peaceful protests” on the screen when flaming cars were on the street behind their reporter.
CNN defended itself, citing a study that said “93% of protests were… peaceful.”
But that’s silly. When planes crash, we don’t put “99% landed safely” on the screen. As Concha puts it, “When people start dying and losing their businesses, that’s your story!”
I push back: “Most people who work there consider themselves journalists. They try to get it right.”
“I don’t know if I agree with that, John,” Concha replies. “More and more are playing to a crowd.”
CNN once tried to look like a neutral news network. No more. Now it does whatever it can to scare people or make Trump look bad.
In March, CNN sneered at the president for misleading people by claiming the U.S. did more COVID-19 tests than any other country. They, correctly, pointed out that per capita, “South Korea and Italy tested many times more.”
CNN was right to adjust for population. But then, to make Trump look worse, CNN suddenly stopped adjusting for population.
They scolded the president, saying, “The U.S. had more coronavirus cases than any country in the world!”
But that’s just wrong! Adjusted for population, 28 countries, including France, England, Ireland and Norway had more cases.
CNN sneers at Trump all day.
I asked their spokesperson if CNN considers its reporting objective. No response.
During the Democratic National Convention, CNN didn’t bother fact-checking Democrats’ speeches. But during Trump’s speech at the Republican Convention, CNN suddenly put up a black ticker tape “fact-check” across the screen.
Why not fact-check the DNC, too? “There’s a reason we didn’t fact-check Democrats!” said CNN’s Chris Cuomo. “They are not lying the way Trump does.”
But they lie, too.
Democrats were deceitful enough that the AP and BBC found a need to fact-check.
For example, Michelle Obama complained that under Trump, “children are torn from their families and thrown into cages!” But that border-control policy began under her husband’s administration.
CNN’s Van Jones admits that CNN overtly favors Biden, saying after Biden’s acceptance speech, “As long as he didn’t embarrass himself, we were going to come out here and praise it.”
“Maybe CNN’s just being honest,” I say to Concha. When I was at ABC, everyone pretended to be apolitical (but nearly all were on the left).
Concha replies, “CNN’s prime-time lineup, Anderson Cooper, Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon, have the title of anchor, not opinion maker.”
Fox at least calls its prime-time anchors “opinion” hosts. News hosts like Chris Wallace and Bret Baier play it pretty straight.
It’s clear that most reporters don’t like Trump — or even Republicans. Last election, 96% of journalists’ political donations went to Hillary Clinton.
Why?
“Our national media are in two cities, New York and Washington,” says Concha. “When you’re surrounded by everybody else in a city and newsroom that goes the other way, it’s almost impossible not to start to conform.”
Photo by Andrew “Donovan” Valdivia on Unsplash
Let’s face it America is being led by two gangs that want to out do each other, and blame each other for their failings.
However the news media is just as much at fault, the talking heads will say anything for ratings. They have lost the ability to tell the news without bias.
Unfortunately people won’t think for themselves but want to be told what to think so they pick a side instead of looking for the truth!
All this needs to stop or we will become just like the gang bangers!
Nope, they are not even close to comparable, the left media cares nothing about truth, they only care about protecting left politicians. When some is brought up and they have no real defense, so they just try to say it’s okay now, when last week it was something that wasn’t okay. Destroying the morals and ethics of our country with the way they protect them. At least the right biased sited give real examples and real justifications, not just opinions.
You don’t even cover the lies the media is perpetuating on the Breonna Taylor.
I appreciate your take on the bias in media. In this day and age I feel real journalism is dead. Opinion and obfuscation almost feels encouraged, and the adage that “If it bleeds, it leads” is no longer the directing factor.
I dig around the internet and try to find news that can objectively report on any number of issues, but in almost every story there is subjective writing. It’s literally turned into an “Us vs Them” and it’s tiresome.
Just give me the facts, and let me make up my own mind and formulate my own opinion.
I wish there were more people in journalism such as yourself. Thank you for being fair, objective, and simply just having common sense. You’re a sigh of relief knowing I am not alone. Much gratitude.
Media today is terribly biased. Even FOX is leaning left now.
John Stossel has always been my favorite journalist as his way of thinking matches mine since I first saw him in ABC (20/20).
I ve seen journalism change markedly over the years and today they re so disgraceful! They ve lost all the ethics they learned in school and now writing to embroil readers so that revenues could still come in in this declining newsprint world.
Now John – I d give my soul up just to see what these bigwigs in the media boardrooms are saying. Record those meetings and broadcast them to the world.
It s all about the money.
I enjoy your posts because most of the time you seem to “report “ the news without a biased slant. I realize that you definitely have an opinion, but it never seems to overshadow the topic. Keep doing what you’re doing and I’ll keep following you for your reporting.
Of course most of the media is deceitful and opinionated. Why beat around the bush, we (America) are in the middle of a soft coup! I just saw how Hitler and Mousilini (sp) used radio and flyers to propagandize the public. People are NOT stupid, they believe what sounds convincing, not necessarily what is true, especially if there is only one side of a issue presented.
Following the Presidential debate I tuned into CNN to hear their take on the event. I haven’t watched CNN in years and was absolutely dismayed at the mischaracterization of Trump’s comments and the outright lies told by Wolfblitzer and their “fact checker”. If CNN is where people turn for news, it’s no wonder why there are problems in our society.
Objective reporting and critical thinking is dead. Us verses them makes money. Confirmation bias leads people to the trough of designer news that suits them, they gorge on the biased slop available, and can’t wait to come back and eat more. Our only hope is for the independent thinkers to hold fast.
I stopped watching the news, even FOX. I sometimes listen to talk radio, mostly conservative even in a liberal state like Washington. Amazingly enough, I get to hear both sides most of the time. But to get down to the nitty gritty, I really have to search for it myself. I’m old enough to remember the likes of Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, Harry Reasoner Leslie Stahl, Barbara Walters (pre-The View) and Tom Brokaw. These need to be the people who’s footsteps current news ‘anchors’ should follow. Good, solid, UNBIASED news.
Time to switch to News Nation ( WGN Chicago)! Fair and unbiased news💖🇺🇸
I wanted to let the writer of this column know that all of this stuff about the media looking like it hates Trump and has so much bias against him is all theater. They probably don’t hate him as much as they let on publicly that they do. I avoid the media as much as I can help it but what I do know is that they just want to shape public opinion and swing the biases by getting into people’s psyches with any of the stuff that they in truth continue to let on about. Not only is the mainstream media not trustworthy to report unbiased truth from any sides but in addition truly it is just one big giant cesspool like both of the parties are and Washington DC itself is. The whole Beltway is one big giant one. I don’t know what you think of him yourself but I hate to have to give you the big shocker that I myself am convinced that it turns out Trump is part of the whole raw sewage about Washington DC who is being a Trojan horse for enchanting so much of the whole Conservative base so that the real Deep State can go as much full steam ahead as possible with their agenda to finally in the full completion grind America down to a globalist tyranny.
My feeling about this “noise” anyway is that the majority of Americans that vote, don’t pay attention to what CNN, ABC, MSNBC, CBS or NPR.
Like, myself, if you have a fully formed conscience, you don’t rely on the news. I check in once in a while when I need to see what the “climate” is like, to avoid any surprises waiting for me at work or home. But coworkers, family and friends usually give me updates and that’s enough. Honestly I only watch EWTN, because through the filter of Catholicism, which is my religion, I at least maintain what is most important to me ultimately. I realize most people probably cannot understand the value of prayer as a means to discernment, but it actually works. And even many Catholics don’t get it, but that is the outlying fallout of a relaxed attitude to beliefs or having faith in general. Unfortunately distrust it is so insidious now, that it’s why people are lossing hope. I tell people to pray, if they are Catholic or at least a Christian, but even if you’re not, God will find a way to get the discernment you need.
I forgot to mention, thanks to John Stossel. I have always appreciated your reporting and journalism over the years, because it is real to me. I can always see that you truly care about what people need to know. It’s okay if you have an opinion, but most times, you make it clear. Years ago in the newspapers and even on TV, there was always an OP-ED section or segment. I especially remember when Eric Severid would follow Walter Cronkite, and it was always “clear” it was “his” opinion. That’s what we need to get back to, someday! Of course I believe we need to pray for it!
GOA JUST filed a suit against Face book and at leadt one of their “fact checkers” this is the kind of stufc we must support if we are to combat the indiscriminate use if biased fact checking by FB.
As much as I hate government interference I feel its time to do something about social media and their ability to control information the public see and hear.
This includes Facebook, Twitter, Google, Youtube plus. Their power and clear abuse of their Power in biasing the political and cultural debate is clear and pervasive as we will see in the next month. But what’s to be done if its not too late. THESE ARE ORGANS OF PROPAGANDA far more dangerous and insidious than government sponsored.
I notice John’s suggestion is no control and just let people use their judgement to sort fact from fake. It seems to me this would help the Twitter, Youtube, Facebook problem. But we are still left with the search engine problem where algorithms can be tuned to slant the news to the liking of a political position undoubted woke left these days.
And that’s why President Trump did the right thing to post via Twitter, it was a brilliant move.