Responsible Journalism Stuff

Last week, an ABC reporter, Amy Robach, divulged that her three year effort to air a report on the actions of noted Democratic donor, friend of Bill and Hillary Clinton (not to mention many other celebrities and politicians), sexual predator and pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein, was spiked because the brass at ABC contended it wasn't ready to air. Sources not verified, fact checking not complete ... you know, responsible journalism stuff. An analogous situation involving Democratic donor, friend of Bill and Hillary Clinton (not to mention many other celebrities and politicians), and sexual predator, Harvey Weinstein, was treated the same way by the brass at NBC News. The report on Weinstein was ready to air -- Sources not verified, fact checking not complete ... you know, responsible journalism stuff.*

Except it wasn't responsible journalism in either case. It was yet another case of this:



Now compare the approach used by ABC and NBC to their approach during the Brett Kavanaugh debacle. John Kass comments:

Let’s remember what ABC, NBC and other media did to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing just a year ago, destroying his reputation, smearing him without evidence because he wasn’t on their political team.

Oh, you don’t want to go near Kavanaugh? Then just get off the bus, because I’m going there.

There is just no responsible way to discuss ABC’s alleged spiking of the Epstein story — or NBC’s spiking of the Harvey Weinstein story — without dealing with how those news networks, and other media outlets, worked frantically to destroy Kavanaugh.

Many in the media had one standard for Epstein and Weinstein, who had clout with Democrats including Bill and Hillary Clinton.

But Kavanaugh? He’s a Bush Republican nominated by President Donald Trump.

So that other standard was applied, one that allowed unsubstantiated allegations to be reported and repeated, endlessly, in an attempt to ruin him and keep him off the Supreme Court.

It seems clear now, from the Ronan Farrow stories and other accounts, and from Robach’s hot mic take, that NBC and ABC showed great deference to Epstein and Weinstein.

But Kavanaugh? He wasn’t treated deferentially. His reputation was destroyed by wild, unsupported and fantastic allegations that he was a serial sex predator.

Without corroboration, Kavanaugh was even shamed as the leader of a gang-rape crew that drugged young women before attacking them ...
When Kavanaugh dared become angry about the smears, TV panels of talking heads said he was all but insane. Newspapers were also attacking Kavanaugh, and now many are busy skinning Trump and calling his 60 million voters — some being their own readers — stupid.

The Kavanaugh hearings gave us a look at Democrats in their most unhinged, and vicious form. It wasn't pretty. The Dems jettisoned honesty, they dismissed due process, they took unsubstantiated allegations as fact ... They. Were. Despicable.

And their trained hamsters in the media were no better ... in fact, even worse.

If you think that Kass is exaggerating the bias exhibited by the media on the Weinstein, Epstein and Kavanaugh stories, here's some data collected by Real Clear Politics:

It should come as no surprise that the Kavanaugh data (right section of the histogram) got about 10 times the number of mentions as the real sexual predators. No doubt some of this is justified given that a SCOTUS nomination was in play, but why the hesitancy to run the investigative reports in the case of Epstein and Weinstein and the enthusiasm to run outrageous and completely unproven allegations in the case of Kavanaugh?

With their kid-gloves treatment of two sexual predators who just happen to have connections to prominent Dems, the main stream media has demonstrated just how hypocritical and venal they are. They can no longer be trusted because they're no longer objective journalists. They're partisans who have become as unhinged and vicious as their masters.

FOOTNOTE:
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* As if not be outdone, CBS has fired the whistleblower who is alleged to have leaked elements of the Amy Robach interview. After all, the "true professionals" in the main stream media protect their unnamed sources, at all cost—except when those unnamed sources leak information that is damaging to the Dems. You can't make this stuff up.

UPDATE:
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The trained hamsters in the main stream media (including ABC and CBS) have elevated the Trump "whistleblower"—by all accounts, a hyper-partisan Democrat (with ties to Biden, Brennan and Schiff) with a clear agenda to hurt Trump—to Mother Teresa status. His name (which we already know) and background (which does not lend itself to credibility) cannot be divulged because—impeachment! He is untouchable.

Yet CBS and ABC worked together to get a CBS "whistleblower" fired. The CBS whistleblower divulged the quashing of the Epstein investigation at ABC. James Freeman comments:

And now it seems that CBS, which as far as this column can tell hasn’t been harmed at all by the employee, has fired her on the principle that whistleblowing must not be tolerated—unless it damages people like Mr. Trump.

ASIDE:
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For just a moment, take no notice of the Dems' unwillingness to accept the results of a democratic election in 2016. Overlook their attempt to impede a legitimate investigation into a soft coup attempt by senior members of the FBI and CIA. Forget for just a sec their full-throated endorsement of the proven hoax that was "Russian collusion." Disregard for a moment their on-going frenzy to impeach a duly-elected president over a phone call that resulted in no action that could be construed as damaging.

It's the Kavanaugh hearings that tell all.

In a series of posts (e.g., here, here, here, here, and here) in September and October of 2018, I expressed my outrage (yes, it's possible to become outraged even if you aren't 'woke') at the treatment of Brett Kavanaugh at the hands of the Democrats (including a few presidential contenders). I stand by every word, and would suggest that through their behavior during that dark episode, the Dems have provided thinking Americans with sufficient evidence that they do NOT deserve to lead.