BuzzFeed, the Covington Teens and the Harms of False Witness By Steve Cortes
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/01/22/buzzfeed_the_covington_teens_and_the_harms_of_false_witness_139247.html
In the last week, two related media failures starkly revealed the endemic press credibility crisis that confronts our country. Far too many prominent media figures earnestly parrot distorted or patently false narratives so long as the group-think stories advance an agenda of “resistance” to President Trump and to the voters who galvanized our 2016 movement.
First, on Thursday night the media largely erupted with glee at BuzzFeed allegations that Robert Mueller possessed evidence that Trump suborned perjury, a claim forcefully discredited the next night by a rare public pronouncement from Mueller’s own team. Until that denial, MSNBC trumpeted the supposedly imminent impeachment of the president 97 times in one day. However, once the truth emerged, countless broadcasters and writers struggled with this grand unmasking of their inherent bias.
But help appeared – or so they thought. Video footage emerged that, initially, appeared to show a group of teenagers surrounding and intimidating an elderly Native American activist. Straight out of central casting, these young men were white, Catholic pro-lifers, and decked out in MAGA gear. Sensing an incredible opportunity to save face, the Trump-opposition advocates that populate most newsrooms leapt at this apparent validation: “See, they really are retrograde, racist hatemongers!”
But, like the BuzzFeed non-bombshell, this one too proved problematic once calm analysis prevailed. Yes, it appears a handful of the rowdy teenagers acted rudely, but on the whole any honest observer of unedited videos would conclude that the teens acted very responsibly and respectfully in the face of two groups of adults clearly seeking provocation and slinging unwarranted epithets at the youngsters.
Unfortunately, the first sham almost necessitated the second one. Once the media charlatans exposed their naked prejudice regarding the BuzzFeed lie, they clamored for an “out” and willingly exploited children as long as the new purported scandal fit neatly into an anti-Trump storyline.
Commendably, some media figures reversed and apologized, such as ABC’s Meghan McCain who tweeted out, “I like many others may have reacted too quickly. Apologize for being part of the media pile-on.” CNN’s Jake Tapper pursued real journalistic clarity on the whole matter by tweeting out an article by Reason magazine’s Robby Soave who stated that “the media got this one completely wrong.”
But, perhaps predictability, neither accountability nor regret flowed from most media outlets. “The View’s” Ana Navarro posted, “I sure as hell think Trump’s racist comments and constant dog-whistles have contributed to Making Asswipes Great Again.” Miss Navarro has, so far, issued no apologies or explanations. But perhaps such obstinacy further proves the disrespect evidenced by someone who would file her nails on national television as I discussed the grave matter of crimes committed against Americans by illegal aliens. Similarly, Kara Swisher of the New York Times described the Covington teens as “Nazi Youth 2019.”
The maltreatment of the president will not surprise any honest observer, since 90 percent of network news coverage of Trump in 2018 was negative. In addition, such a pervasive slant is hardly new, as a Harvard University study determined that 2016 election coverage of Trump was overwhelmingly negative. The study documented, for example, that 89 percent of Trump coverage by CBS News in the general election was negative.
What might surprise most Americans is the recent, more brazen attitude the press now exhibits not just toward Trump himself, but also toward toward tens of millions of regular Americans who support him. People of the MAGA movement, like those kids at the Lincoln Memorial, have been derided by cable news regulars like Rick Wilson as “not sophisticated” and a “rube ten-toothed base.” MSNBC’s Donny Deutsch went further, smearing all Trump voters as “Nazis.”
Too often, media masters callously discount the views and rights of regular Americans. Even worse, reporters disregard fact-checking before assailing the reputations of innocent citizens like those Kentucky teens. Perhaps media power brokers should consider the humble wisdom of St. Philip Neri about the potency of false witness. That 16th century saint is said to have counseled a gossip to climb a tower and tear open a feather pillow into the wind. Then, he instructed that the feathers be collected as a penance. The impossibility of the task represented the irreparable harm of spreading scurrilous accusations. America needs a press dedicated to truth-seeking rather than preordained narratives. All people, whether presidents or teenagers, deserve honest reporting about their behaviors, rather than rumor-mongering.
Comments are closed.
