04.20.23
First Amendment Strike Force – CONGRESS
We may never get over the ignorance from the media ecosystem that actually favors silencing voices in journalism. More than just opposition to Fox News, any journalist expressing a viewpoint deviating from an approved narrative is actually targeted to be silenced by many in the press. Matt Taibbi is among the most targeted of late for his role in revealing the Twitter Files.
At MSNBC, Mehdi Hasan has been keenly focused on Taibbi, delivering patently false accusations that Matt has been incorrect in some of his revelations and that, in doing so, he lied to Congress. Mehdi claims that Taibbi incorrectly claimed the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency worked in conjunction with Twitter when it was the Center for Internet Security. What was Hasan proven wrong with on the matter? Both the CIS and the CISA have been involved.
That Hasan has been shown to be incorrect in his accusations is one thing, but his level of antagonism toward Taibbi is rarely challenged, and Taibbi is not defended by other so-called journalists. (SWWDT?)
Making matters even worse is that Hasan's false claims have been picked up by the very intemperate congresswoman from the Virgin Islands, Stacey Plaskett (D). She has claimed, as a result of Hasan's inaccuracy, that Taibbi could be charged with contempt of Congress and five years in prison. The crude irony is that as Taibbi's visit to Congress was before the Subcommittee on the Weaponization of Government, we see Plaskett possibly attempting to weaponize the government in order to silence Taibbi.
Mehdi's viral deception that Taibbi lied under oath about DHS/CISA now has House Dems explicitly threatening Taibbi w/ imprisonment. Taibbi was accurate in this quote, yet here's a letter from Rep. Stacey Plaskett citing Mehdi to float a threat of 5 years of jail against Taibbi pic.twitter.com/VYf2tw8LDE
— Lee Fang (@lhfang) April 20, 2023
Anti-Social Media – WIRED MAGAZINE
- What's a little TOS violation when looking to attack an anti-trans conservative?
It was rather newsworthy when the realization was that conservative firebrand Matt Walsh had his Twitter account hacked, as well as many other personal accounts, in a SIM card hack. Last night, Wired announced that their reporter, Dell Cameron, who had been working on the story, had his Twitter account suspended. The magazine claimed innocence on Cameron's part, insisting that he had not printed or used any of Walsh's information.
To make this plea, however, the outlet has to pretend that Cameron was not seen soliciting Walsh's hacked information on the platform, a clear breaking of the site's terms of service.
Rather certain that it was his soliciting for stolen personal information.
— Brad Slager: Just Watching Walls Moving Out... (@MartiniShark) April 20, 2023
He’s hardly an innocent victim here. https://t.co/VCK0RjLhwQ pic.twitter.com/CLmzTdhZxO
Low Octane Gas Lighting – NBC NEWS
- It is exactly the same thing, except for the details that were 180 degrees out of proportion.
Ben Collins saw that Wired reporter suspension and came to a conclusion – it is exactly the same thing as the Hunter Biden laptop story!
Fun fact: This is the very same rule that was used to block distribution of the New York Post story about Hunter Biden, the greatest First Amendment violation in American history. https://t.co/q1P4bTCSDG
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) April 19, 2023
While Ben is partially correct in that the same standard was brought up, the difference is in the laptop case, it was not involving hacked materials, and Twitter executives had actually admitted they made the wrong decision on the matter. Other than that, kinda sorta good reporting on the story, Ben.
Body Checking the Fact-Checkers – Global Disinformation Index
The problems cited with the Global Disinformation Index are something we have been tracking, as Townhall Media has been on the receiving end of the accusatory actions of this slanted organization. As more about this outfit is learned and exposed, it is leading to results.
Now comes word that as a result of the controversies found with GDI, it has been decided that Oracle will be severing ties with the disinformation group.
Breaking News in Disinformation Inc. World
— Gabe Kaminsky (@gekaminsky) April 19, 2023
Oracle is officially severing its relationship with the State Department-funded Global Disinformation Index, which has been secretly blacklisting conservative media outlets, @dcexaminer exclusively confirms.https://t.co/TyNT0sNn00
Reporting on the Mirror – BUZZFEED NEWS
- When you build an empire on the basis of cat memes and the Steele dossier…
The news was announced today that BuzzFeed News is going to be shuttered. Over the past year, the company had a small stock scandal involving their SPAC offerings for employees, and there was the newsroom unionizing last summer. This is a serious crash, considering the outfit won a Pulitzer and was nominated for a second in 2021.
The CEO of BuzzFeed, Joseph Peretti, sent word out that while jobs were being cut company-wide, he is shuttering the news side completely:
While layoffs are occurring across nearly every division, we've determined that the company can no longer continue to fund BuzzFeed News. We will concentrate our news efforts in HuffPost, a brand that is profitable with a highly engaged, loyal audience that is less dependent on social platforms.
BuzzFeed News Is Shutting Down, Company Laying Off 180 Staffers 15% of the staff laid off.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) April 20, 2023
The remainder will just be tossed under the collapsing brand of the Huffington Post.
Multi-pronged disintegration of the digital liberal media.https://t.co/8sH3sst2pb
