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Prose & Contradiction – NEW YORK MAGAZINE
Olivia Nuzzi displayed possibly one of the most impacted explanations for the press being caught in the open not reporting on Biden’s cognitive problems. Sounding much like Carl Bernstein from earlier in the week, Ms. Nuzzi tries to claim the administration led a conspiracy to keep Biden’s condition a secret. Small problem with her explanation. WAIT, sorry – correction needed there: Major problem.
Nuzzi introduced her piece by declaring she had been hearing inside intel about this problem all the way back in January.
In January, I began hearing similar stories from Democratic officials, activists, and donors who came away from interactions with Joe Biden disturbed by what they had seen. For @NYMag, I wrote about the conspiracy of silence to protect the president: https://t.co/clKmksK9D8
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) July 4, 2024
And…and…you never reported on this, Olivia?
When she was challenged on this detail, Nuzzi came back to explain that her pieces generally take months to create, and then there is a lengthy editorial process.
Uh-huh – but then how do we explain that she crafted a rather lengthy explainer about all of this debate meltdown in just a few days after the debacle?
Reporting takes time. I started to hear from these sources in January. This piece is about a conspiracy of silence that made people reluctant to talk. The reporting process is talking to sources and corroborating information and getting more information and corroborating that.…
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) July 4, 2024
DNC PR Firm – CNN
Soooo, bragging about holding those in power accountable seems to be off the table going forward.
Offering up an unwitting admission to the problem the press created for themselves is CNN contributor Jill Filipovic. She, too, attempted to offset the blame onto the administration – that would be, the administration they are charged with keeping in check and challenging with probing questions on behalf of the American public.
Jill tries to sound betrayed, but this undercuts her entire position. She says they trusted the spin from the administration and resent being misled. This is a result of not holding the White House accountable, but holding their hand.
At some point I'll write longer on this, but I think part of the reason the Biden-must-go story has been so huge is that a lot of commentators / voters / even members of the press feel angry and betrayed. Many of us largely trusted Biden's team when they insisted he was fine. The…
— Jill Filipovic (@JillFilipovic) July 4, 2024
Pathological Media Amnesia – VOX
Brian Stelter has been straining mightily to defend the bad honor of the press industry since the debate debacle. What is amazing to behold is that he expects to be taken seriously, as he completely contradicts…himself.
Brian wrote a lengthy excuse, trying to get the media off the hook by pretending they never denied Biden’s condition, despite what we saw them do; saw HIM do. First, here is his neutered attempt to deny the press covered up the facts.
Was the media clueless about Biden's health? Or complicit in a cover-up? No and no. The real story is far more complicated — and more interesting. Here's my column for @voxdotcom, based on conversations with a dozen Washington reporters: https://t.co/eYrSqXcbSE
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) July 3, 2024
Here’s a refresher of when Stelter was leading the cover-up of the details of Biden’s condition and claiming it was a Republican-led false narrative.
"The RNC and its avid followers in the conservative media earn Four Pinocchios." https://t.co/TFUMmCzUPC
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 15, 2024
Two Bidens: Some of us are watching long, complete speeches by the president. Others just watching short, out of context clips on social media. Two audiences are seeing two very different reflections. pic.twitter.com/fg8Sle9qpK
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 19, 2024
Gilded Reframe – NBC NEWS
Nobody is asking that of you, they just want you to do the job you were supposed to do.
Another amusement from those grappling with being called out for media malpractice is editor from NBC News, Ginger Gibson. This is a bit of desperation to avoid the core problem.
Being a journalist during tumultuous times really makes clear that lots of people think we have all kinds of secret knowledge we're not telling people and know what's going to happen. We don't know what's going to happen.
— Ginger Gibson (@GingerGibson) July 3, 2024
Ginger, nobody is complaining right now that you are not able to glean what will take place going forward. They are looking back and calling you out for the glaring facts that were denied, and for telling us how things were the polar opposite of what we were witnessing.
Stealth Story Evolution – VARIOUS OUTLETS
The same press claiming they were blocked from the Biden story had no interest in covering it.
Beyond the effort made to tell us that accurate videos of Biden were faked and that claims of his cognitive decline were manufactured by partisan conservatives, one of the other common excuses made is that there was no ability to look into the matter and the administration deflected all efforts. This is countered by the other actions we have seen from this same press industry.
We only have to recall the outrage expelled when Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report came out, and the tidal wave of opposition to the conclusions in the press. Look at the sheer amount of energy they applied to Justice Samuel Alito for flying a flag outside his home. But somehow, these same intrepid reporters could not be provoked to detail what was already obvious to most viewers.
