This Thursday evening, Americans will be able to witness the final, official death of what once was known as “journalism” in America with the multi-platform primetime rollout of the Democratic Party’s kangaroo court…otherwise known as the House Select Committee investigating January 6th riots at the U.S. Capitol.
The “bipartisan” committee—which has obscenely wasted more time and taxpayer money than any legislative project since the infamous Humphrey-Hawkins Leaf Raking Act of 1978—has a single, thinly-disguised mission: to smear former President Donald J. Trump and attempt to block him from running for the White House again in 2024. Period. End.
But for people who prefer to live in Fantasyland…Harry Litman—a law professor and former DOJ official—offers this classic inside the Beltway spin: “In all accounts, by the way, this is, I think, clearly the most competent, impressive, wide-ranging congressional investigation ever mounted in the country.” (That presumes that your idea of a competent investigation is one that Scotch tapes together flimsy “evidence” slimily tying President Trump to everyone from the Proud Boys to the dopey Q Anon Shaman in his stupid Viking hat rampaging through Congressional chambers.)
If Professor Litman’s version is correct, the TV networks breathlessly hyping Thursday night’s broadcast would just let the committee’s case be presented…accompanied by the usual hand-wringing from members preening for the cameras; the only additional input broadcasters might want to consider is chipping in to buy a hairbrush for Maryland’s Jamie Raskin who always appears to be channeling Cosmo Kramer on “Seinfeld.”
However, Axios reports that the Select Committee has engaged former ABC News president James Goldston—a “master documentary storyteller”—to “produce” Thursday night’s hearing “as if it were a blockbuster investigative special. Axios adds that Goldston will draw on his experience running “Good Morning America” and “Nightline” for ABC to produce a captivating multimedia presentation. If the January 6th hearing ends up being as objective as ABC News, it will be the linear equivalent of the old Michael Douglas film “The Star Chamber” wherein judges, frustrated by loopholes in the legal system, hire hitmen to snuff out criminals.
I’m not suggesting that James Goldston is a “hitman” or that Democrats (and their GOP lapdogs Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger) have become unhinged by their two…count ‘em…two failed Impeachment attempts to remove President Trump from office during his term. But on the other hand, the January 6th Committee must have a pretty weak case if it needs to gussy-up its presentation with video mumbo-jumbo, sizzling graphics, and the typical slight-of-hand employed on “news” programs which present heavily edited yellow journalism as “facts.” Thursday night’s Hollywood production is showing signs of making MSNBC, CNN and the Associated Press look like pikers when it comes to duplicating Leni Riefenstahl’s propaganda films during the Third Reich.
But “journalism”—gathering of actual facts and presenting them in print or on the air—was deader than Julius Caesar long ago. Woodward & Bernstein spawned the bastardization of news known as “advocacy journalism” wherein “reporters” see it as their duty to push their own version of stories and slant coverage against those they disagree with (code: conservatives.)
Then there’s the revolving door through which pass weasels from various government agencies who then encamp as “news anchors” or “hosts” on America’s TV networks. People like George Stephanopoulos who leapfrogged from Bill Clinton’s White House to ABC News (hey, isn’t that where James Goldston was president?) Or inveterate liar Jen Psaki, who is headed to MSNBC where she’ll reach literally dozens of viewers with her trademark spin about why Americans are better off under Joe Biden as gas prices skyrocket…baby food shortages mount… and inflation makes the dream of home ownership evaporate for an entire generation of young people.
But wait, there’s more: The Hollywood Reporter has detailed how “a new wave of leaders” are changing newsrooms all over America. Are they demanding their staffs stop slanting coverage of political campaigns? No. Are they hiring only reporters who are committed to the truth, rather than gun-grabbing agendas? No. So what in fact are they doing to guide coverage?
THR observes: “Never in the history of American television has there been a more diverse lineup of news chiefs. Cesar Conde broke the color barrier in May 2020 when he became chair of the NBCUniversal News Group (and the first Hispanic leader of any major English-language TV news organization), and in February 2021 he promoted Rashida Jones to president of MSNBC, where she is the first woman of color to run a news network. After Godwin moved to ABC News from CBS News, where she had been the No. 2, her former company named Neeraj Khemlani president and co-head alongside Wendy McMahon, who is white, in June. Together, they’re among the new guard attempting to transform media – what is covered, how it’s covered and who is covering – from the top down.”
So basically the “new wave of leaders” can best be summed up as the reverse of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: they are judging new hires by their genders or the color of their skin rather than the content of their character. Diversity and equity are fine if you’re staffing a Jack In The Box drive thru window or adding workers on the assembly line making Peeps marshmallow chickens for Easter…but a little experience covering actual news might be advisable in America’s newsrooms.
But I digress, and I hate being the skunk at the Sunday School picnic. So let us allow the Democrats to fire-up their “last stand” Thursday…another limp attempt to diminish a great President with half-truths, edited videos, and alleged legislators like Jamie Raskin and Liz Cheney throwing mud at Donald Trump on multiple TV networks. (I suspect the ratings for “The Office” on Comedy Central will skyrocket on Thursday evening…proving once again what happens when the dogs don’t like the food.)
Regardless of the outcome Thursday, it would be a good use of our time to pray for America’s future. Because win or draw, we can no longer count on TV or newspapers to provide the kind of truthful, unbiased news coverage we deserve as we make decisions as citizens in a free country. And that is a much larger tragedy than any pumped-up videos of buffoons in Davy Crockett hats who months later still make Liz Cheney tremble.
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