KJP Gets Cornered About Her Hunter Biden Lies
Biden's Hunter Pardon Sends Dems Into Chaos
Comer Points Out Why Biden Really Handed Hunter a Get Out Prison Card
Did Trump Just Preview His Own Pardons After Biden's Latest Move?
Joe Biden Is a Liar
House Republicans Respond to Biden Pardoning Hunter
American Believed to Have Been Held Hostage by Hamas Was Killed on 10/7,...
'Only in America': Spring Course Offering at the University of Maryland Prompts Widespread...
First Lady Reveals Final Holiday Theme for the Biden White House
'Do That at Your Peril': Fetterman Warns Those on the Left About Their...
Jonathan Turley Has a Lot to Say About Hunter Biden's Pardon
Must Watch: Major Companies Going Un-Woke in Viral, New Holiday Season Ads
A Town Was Fined for Refusing to Celebrate ‘Pride Month’
Did You Hear What Some Unhinged Women Are Doing in Response to Trump's...
Slow Suicide of the West: Sick Parade of Pro-Terrorism Ugliness Continues
OPINION

Journalist Tantrums About Elon Musk Don't Fix Public Distrust

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Brandon Bell/Pool via AP

There's something about Donald Trump winning an election that drives journalists crazy. The National Press Club in the nation's capital is an epicenter of media arrogance, as anyone could see from its Nov. 21 "Fourth Estate Award Gala," in which they proclaimed they were honoring the "fearless pursuit of truth."

Advertisement

But as always, the "truth" is expected to lead to "justice," which in their view is the opposite of Trump winning the presidency again. Trump's victory demoralized journalists. They felt like 76.8 million Americans completely ignored their years and years or besmirching Trump as a fascist threat to democracy.

Axios.com co-founder Jim VandeHei uncorked a temper tantrum at the awards ceremony, as he boasted about being in a "war for truth, for freedom." Translation: For the Democrats. He can't stand anyone attacking them for making "fake news" or for, ahem, engaging in nonstop Democratic Party talking points. Joy! Vibes! Brat! And all that.

"I'm not going to sugarcoat it, like, everything we do is under fire," VandeHei complained. "Elon Musk sits on Twitter every day, or X today, saying, like, 'We are the media, you are the media.' My message to Elon Musk is: Bulls--t! You're not the media. You having -- you having a blue check mark, a Twitter handle and 300 words of cleverness doesn't make you a reporter!"

This is a little funny, since Axios.com was touted by the National Press Club for its "smart brevity." When it writes little bursts of text for busy, governing-elite people with low attention spans, they're still hailed as "smart."

Advertisement

At 1 a.m. on election night, as it became apparent Trump would win again, Musk tweeted, "You are the media." This enraged VandeHei because journalism is an elite profession, for highly educated people who educate the masses, even if the masses don't accept their lessons.

VandeHei lamented, "Being a reporter's hard. Really hard. You have to care. You have to do the hard work. You have to get up every single day and say, 'I want to get to the closest approximation of the truth without any fear, without any favoritism.' You don't do that by popping off on Twitter. You don't do that by having an opinion. You do it by doing the hard work."

VandeHei seems to forget that part of the reason people don't trust journalists is they show a lot of favoritism. They fear being seen as too centrist by their colleagues. They spend large amounts of time popping off on Twitter and opinionating on cable television. Opinions are more highly prized than investigations. Investigative reporters aren't making Scarborough money.

Naturally, "Morning Joe" played some of VandeHei's tantrum, and Joe Scarborough asked for a "slow clap," like VandeHei was Tom Cruise at the end of "Top Gun."

Scarborough oafishly equated all media criticism with lying: "It continues to need to be said when all of the garbage that's flying around on social media, lying about reporters, lying about the hard work they do, lying about the hard work editors do, lying about everything up and down about not only their alternative set of facts, but alternative set of facts about what people like you do."

Advertisement

Did he produce any examples? No. Because ovations and overbroad opinionating are all that matters.

If "smart" journalists want to figure out the election results, they can't conclude that every media criticism is a lie. They have to engage with critiques and stop thinking they are the most heroic and crucial actors in politics, that democracy dies when people unsubscribe. They need to talk less and listen more. Don't count on that.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Recommended

Trending on Townhall Videos