mainstream media Archives

Commentary: DeSantis Charms GOP by Condemning ‘Leaks’ and ‘Palace Intrigue’

March 16, 2023 RealClearWire

On its face, there wasn’t anything unusual about the email that landed last week in the press office of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“Background interview request from the Washington Post,” read the subject line that summarized the industry-standard process whereby information is shared with reporters under pre-negotiated terms, usually anonymity. When sanctioned by a politician or their team, it is called “going on background” to shape and broaden a story with additional facts and contexts but without direct attribution. When not sanctioned, well, then that is just called leaking.

Axios Agrees to $525 Million Sale to Cox Enterprises

August 9, 2022August 8, 2022 Admin

Axios agreed to sell to Cox Enterprises for an estimated $525 million, the companies announced on Monday.

Cox Enterprises, a global media company with 50,000 employees, is Axios’ most recent lead investor.

Axios CEO and co-founder Jim VandeHei celebrated the deal.

“This is great for Axios, for our shareholders and American journalism. It allows us to think and operate generationally, with a like-minded partner — and build something great and durable that lives long after we are gone,” he said, Axios reported.

Commentary: The Pathological Nature of Wokeness

April 24, 2022April 23, 2022 Ohio Star Staff

It is not often that two contrasting mainstream media events reveal so completely the nature of the deep dysfunction of modern culture. Yet that is precisely what happened last month.

Those two events are as follows: First, contrarian Substack writer and known anti-woke crusader Andrew Sullivan appeared on Jon Stewart’s new show, “The Problem With Jon Stewart.” I do not think I am being uncharitable when I call the appearance a disaster. Which, to be fair, is not entirely Sullivan’s fault, seeing as he was thrust into what was effectively a three-on-one fight (more like a dozens-on-one fight, if you include the studio audience). He was the lone dissenter against a pack of braying fanatics, egged on by a motley trio consisting of a grifter and two useful idiots, one of whom is the most famed enforcer of liberal dogma from decades past.

Commentary: John Stankey Stinks up CNN Even More

March 1, 2022March 1, 2022 Admin

Yo! John Stankey! We told you CNN was stinking up AT&T. Now you are making it worse!

In an interview with CNBC last week, AT&T boss John Stankey exchanged his trademark “Mr. Hollywood Casual” for “Doctor Evil Lite,” while dodging every sensitive question about CNN’s “Mother Zucker” debacle.

In fact, Stankey did the best non-stop weasel dance since the invention of “Whack-a-Mole.”

Commentary: Mainstream Media Newspapers Are Stubborn About Correcting Errors

February 13, 2022February 12, 2022 RealClearWire

Many iconic U.S. newspapers sport slogans that seek to explain their mission – and self-image. “All the News That’s Fit to Print” has been called “the seven most famous words in American journalism.” “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was an overtly partisan call to arms. But the most telling section of a newspaper’s true values is its “Corrections” page. That’s where journalism distinguishes itself from just about every other profession, routinely and straightforwardly admitting its mistakes. Who else does that?

It is a soul-crushing enterprise. A single misspelled name is all it takes to ruin an otherwise stellar article. We reporters may forget the topic of the piece we wrote last week, while the error five years ago is seared into our memories. But it is also crucial: Reader trust is the lifeblood of journalism. If you can’t believe what you read, why bother?

And yet, we do get things wrong all the time. Despite the self-righteous claims of too many news outlets, journalists don’t print The Truth. The “first draft of history” is necessarily messy and incomplete. What journalists have long promised readers is that we will do our best to get the story right initially and then set the record straight when better information emerges. This isn’t solely a commitment to high-minded ethics. It is also transactional: Journalists can so readily acknowledge errors because readers honor and reward our honesty. They forgive us our trespasses because we acknowledge them.

Fox News Contributors Jonah Goldberg, Steve Hayes Say They Quit Paid Carlson’s Jan. 6 Content

November 23, 2021November 22, 2021 Ohio Star Staff

Journalists and conservative pundits Jonah Goldberg and Stephen Hayes, whose commentary has not supported President Trump, have resigned from their paid TV contributor jobs at Fox News.

Hayes and Goldberg, long-time conservative commentators who most recently have rebuked Republican politics that revolves around Trump, co-founded The Dispatch in 2019. The site is described as “a place that thoughtful readers can come for conservative, fact-based news and commentary.”

On Sunday, they announced their joint resignation from the posts they have respectively held since 2009. They write that the network’s irresponsible coverage now outweighs its responsible coverage, which long kept them tethered to their lucrative contracts.

‘Actual Malice’: Courts Greenlight Devin Nunes Defamation Lawsuits Against Mainstream Media

September 22, 2021September 22, 2021 Ohio Star Staff

Journalists who get into public spats with politicians may want to rethink their eagerness to pour salt into old wounds, at least in the middle of litigation.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals resurrected a defamation lawsuit by Rep. Devin Nunes against Ryan Lizza and Hearst Media, because the journalist called attention to his article on Nunes and illegal immigrant laborers after the California Republican sued.

Former Drudge Report Editor Joseph Curl to Launch New Conservative News Aggregator Site

July 27, 2021July 27, 2021 Cooper Moran

Joseph Curl, the former editor of the Drudge Report, announced on Tuesday that he will launch a conservative-oriented news aggregator to deliver to individuals who “devour news all day.”

The new site, dubbed “Off The Press,” will deliver 24/7 access to breaking news with the goal of preventing the continued mainstream media echo that many sites produce.

Commentary: The Democrats’ Topsy-Turvy Spin Machine

July 14, 2021July 13, 2021 Ohio Star Staff

The guessing game of how long the levitation of the Biden presidency can be taken seriously seems to be entering a new phase. The deluge of illegal entries into the United States at the southern border is now running at a rate of closer to 3 million than 2 million a year and yet we still see and hear the bobbling talking head of the Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas assuring us, “The southern border is closed.”

The media has provided almost no coverage of this calamitous invasion. A recent Trafalgar poll found that 56 percent of Americans don’t think Joe Biden is “fully executing the duties of his office,” yet the docile White House press corps continues to ask him about his ice cream and other such probing questions of national interest. Apart from a rising stock market and a quieter atmosphere, the record of the new administration is one of almost complete failure.

The oceanic influx of unskilled labor at the southern border cannot fail to aggravate unemployment and depress the incomes for the vulnerable sectors of what, under President Trump, was a fully employed workforce. The administration has reduced domestic oil production and squandered the country’s status as an energy self-sufficient state. These are all familiar issues to those who follow public affairs, but the 95 percent Democratic-supporting media preserve the cocoon of a fairyland Biden presidency, whose bumbling chief flatters himself with comparisons to Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Commentary: The Massive Pushback Brewing Against the Progressive Left Could Dwarf the Tea Party Sea Change of 2010

July 13, 2021July 12, 2021 Ohio Star Staff

Victimizers quickly becoming victims is a recurrent theme of Thucydides’ history. In his commentary on the so-called stasis at Corcyra, he offers his most explicit warning about the long-term dangers of destroying legal institutions, customs, and traditions that serve the common good for short-term gain.

The historian notes that in the inevitable yin and yang of politics, the destroyers inevitably will seek, but do so in vain, refuge in what they have destroyed. Between 2017 and 2021 the Left has done exactly that.

What was common to the media’s deification of the criminally minded Michael Avenatti, and the promotion of a series of abject hoaxes? Do we remember the Steele “dossier,” the supposed authority of Fusion-GPS, the Schiff “report,” and the entire Russian “collusion” yarn?

Commentary: Biden Is Unfit to Be President — And the Media Is Unfit to Cover Him

July 10, 2021July 9, 2021 Ohio Star Staff

Joe Biden is not mentally or physically fit to be president of the United States. This has been obvious to anyone with eyes or ears for the entirety of his presidency. Acknowledging this simple fact should not be a partisan issue. Regardless of policy disputes, Republicans and Democrats alike should want the leader of the free world to exhibit strength, power, and reassurance on both the national and the world stage. But Biden is merely a figurehead. He is a facsimile of a leader in an office that normally demands sharpness, stamina, and clear-headedness.

No honest assessment can conclude that Biden’s public appearances present a man who is in control of his faculties or who looks sharp and confident. On the contrary, he looks frail, weak, indecisive, unsure of himself, and unsteady. When he speaks, he often says things that simply don’t make sense, even as he almost exclusively reads from a teleprompter or uses notecards. He has repeatedly said that if he takes unscripted questions from the press, he’s “gonna get in trouble” from his staff.

Yet those who do not follow politics closely or ignore conservative outlets could be forgiven for thinking that Biden is fully capable, thanks to the corrupt Fourth Estate that has refused to accurately cover Biden’s ever-increasing list of embarrassing moments.

Commentary: ‘The Truth’ vs. Objectivity in American Journalism Today

July 7, 2021July 7, 2021 RealClearWire

Lately, the local ABC News affiliate in Washington, D.C., has been running promotional spots with the well-worn tagline “speaking truth to power.” That is an odd slogan for a media outlet that can certainly be counted among the powerful in the region. It also raises a question as to whether this local news department has truly discovered “the truth” and is devoting its broadcasts to sharing it with its viewers.

At least implicit in the use of the slogan is a recognition by the station that truth does indeed exist. Sadly, many in American journalism are increasingly denying the existence of objective truth and calling for an end of objectivity in journalism. As Stanford University communications professor emeritus Ted Glasser said recently, “Journalists need to be overt and candid advocates for social justice, and it’s hard to do that under the constraints of objectivity.” In other words, the task of a journalist is to push the progressive narrative forward, truth and objectivity be damned.

Glasser isn’t alone. Recently, in a speech at Washington State University, “NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt also questioned the value of objectivity. “I think it’s become clearer that fairness is overrated,” he said. “The idea that we should always give two sides equal weight and merit does not reflect the world we find ourselves in.”

Husband of Ashli Babbitt Files Lawsuit to Demand Name of Capitol Police Officer Who Killed Her

June 14, 2021June 14, 2021 Ohio Star Staff

The widower of Ashi Babbitt, the Air Force veteran who was killed by a Capitol Police officer on January 6th, has filed a lawsuit seeking to finally uncover the name of the guilty officer, the New York Post reports.

Aaron Babbitt filed the lawsuit in the Washington D.C. Superior Court, demanding all information related to his wife’s murder, including video footage and statements from witnesses to the incident, in addition to seeking the identity of the officer who fired the fatal shot. Separately from this lawsuit, Babbitt’s family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit for $12 million against the Capitol Police, according to the Babbitt family’s attorney Terry Roberts.

Babbitt had previously filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), but the MPD failed to respond by the original May 12th deadline, by which time they either had to provide the material or give a formal response explaining why they could not hand over the materials.

Mainstream Media Calls Georgia for Biden Despite Recount Over Widespread Voting Irregularities

November 14, 2020November 13, 2020 Jason M. Reynolds

The mainstream media, including The Hill here, on Friday afternoon called the Georgia election for Joe Biden despite a recount being taken amid widespread voting irregularities.

Nearly 75 Percent of Americans Say News Bias Is ‘a Major Problem’

August 6, 2020August 5, 2020 Ohio Star Staff

The vast majority of Americans consider news bias to be “a major problem,” but more than half believe the issue is with the news other people consume, according to a survey from Gallup and the Knight Foundation released Tuesday.

Nearly half of the adults surveyed believe there’s “a great deal” of “political bias in the news,” while 37% believe there’s “a fair amount,” according to the survey. Nearly three-fourths, 69%, note they’re more worried about bias in others people’s news than their own.

Commentary: Fake News Media Continues to Focus on the Wrong Things During the Coronavirus Pandemic

July 16, 2020July 15, 2020 Ohio Star Staff

Each new dawn brings another farcical rant from the mainstream media. Facts be damned, hypocrisy ignored, truth summarily rejected—all in the name of “But Trump!” and “Orange Man bad!” Pravda veterans would be proud and perhaps, even a little jealous, as nobody in the MSM is being forced to propagandize at the point of a gun, with threats of a permanent vacation to sunny Siberia. No, the American news media does all of this of its own volition.

Media Focus on Driver Who Hit Agitator During Louisville ‘Protest’ That Led to 17 Arrests

June 24, 2020June 23, 2020 Ohio Star Staff

A small but chaotic protest in Louisville, Kentucky, last Wednesday led to seventeen arrests, five cars towed, and one confiscated gun, but for some reason, the local media initially focused like a laser beam on a panicked woman in a car that struck a “protester.”

Louisville has seen unrest since May 28 over the shooting of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor, a unarmed black woman killed by police during a shootout in her apartment. The incident happened during a no-knock raid for drugs in her apartment on March 13.

DeWine Opines on ‘Fast Reopening’, Walks With His Dog in Exclusive Dispatch Interview

June 23, 2020June 23, 2020 Jason M. Reynolds

What’s a newspaper to do when given an exclusive interview with the governor during a pandemic that has ravaged the state’s economy and rioting that has ravaged the capital city? Would you push against answers that are not true?

If you’re The Columbus Dispatch, you allow Gov. Mike DeWine to talk about the “quick” reopening of the state, his walks with his dog Dolly and how he social distances with his grandkids.

Hundreds of Protestors Gather Inside Michigan Capitol Building Thursday Against Continued Government Overreach

May 2, 2020May 1, 2020 Jason M. Reynolds

Hundreds gathered outside and inside Michigan’s Capitol building Thursday to protest government overreach in the prolonged COVID-19 lockdown.

There were no reports of arrests, though some media outlets styled the event with armed protestors as “storming” the Capitol

Commentary: Why Is the Corporate Media Taking China’s Side on the Origins of the Virus and Silencing President Trump?

March 25, 2020March 24, 2020 Ohio Star Staff

The words “treason” and “traitor” are derived from the Latin tradere, “to deliver or hand over”. In modern times, “traitor” and “treason” are mainly used with reference to a person helping an enemy in time of war or conflict. From these it is crystal clear that the corporate media in the United States are committing acts of treason on an hourly basis.

Commentary: Corrupt Mainstream Media Defends Red China, Attacks Trump

March 21, 2020March 20, 2020 Ohio Star Staff

Nothing demonstrates how completely corrupt the establishment media has become than how it parrots the Chinese Communist Party’s talking points about the origin and spread of the Wuhan virus epidemic.

Commentary: The Chinese Threat the Mainstream Media Doesn’t Want You to Know About

February 19, 2020February 18, 2020 Ohio Star Staff

While we were distracted, the communist Chinese government, the largest dictatorial regime on earth, has been lobbying all fifty of our U.S. governors to make deals. These “deals” promise infusions of cash into state budgets, but with insidious strings attached that effect our freedom.

Commentary: The Subversive Intentions of Our Mainstream Media

February 9, 2020February 8, 2020 Admin

Many media observers will recall the New York Times’ response to Donald Trump’s unexpected victory in 2016. In their subtle, tacit admission that the paper had covered the election with some bias, publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. and editor Dean Baquet promised to “rededicate” themselves to the fundamental mission of the Times and to bring “fairness” to their coverage.

Analysis: Scientific Survey Shows Voters Widely Accept Misinformation Spread by Left-Leaning Media

January 3, 2020January 2, 2020 Admin

NBC News reporter and political director Chuck Todd recently railed against “misinformation” and singled out President Trump and “the right” for having an “incentive structure” to spread it. Todd, who according to NBC, “is responsible for all aspects of the network’s political coverage,” also stated that Republicans criticize the media for “sport” and “the loudest chanters of fake news” are “the ones who, under a lie detector, would probably take our word over any word they’ve heard from the other side on whether something was poisonous or not.”

Commentary: Good Economic News Missing From the Mainstream Media Again

December 7, 2019December 6, 2019 Ohio Star Staff

You didn’t see it on the front page of one of the establishment newspapers or in the lead segment on establishment TV, but Reuters reported the number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, hitting their lowest level in seven months, indicating the labor market remains solid.

Democrats Experience Premature Articulation of Impeachment During Sondland ‘Quid Pro Quo’ Testimony

November 21, 2019November 21, 2019 Chris Butler

When U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland testified before the House Intelligence Committee’s impeachment inquiry hearing on Wednesday, Democrats initially believed he had given them the testimony they’ve been seeking for three years to build an article of impeachment against President Trump. “I know that members of…

Gabbard Blasts Outlets Moderating the Debate for Suggesting She’s a Russian Asset, Assad Apologist

October 17, 2019October 16, 2019 Ohio Star Staff

Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard went after the two outlets moderating Tuesday’s debate for suggesting she is a Russian asset and apologist for Assad, calling it “completely despicable.”

Commentary: The Political Class Is ‘Exhausted’

August 31, 2019August 30, 2019 Ohio Star Staff

There is a small slice of the American populace who, by their own admission, are exhausted.

Commentary: Masters of Unreality

August 24, 2019August 24, 2019 Ohio Star Staff

The latest ploy of the anti-Trump media phalanx and their weekly echo chamber of assorted Democratic candidates and legislators, is to try to move the voter-approval needle by insisting an economic recession is about to occur. The problem is, it isn’t.

Commentary: Major Media Stories Ignore Immigration Status of High-Profile Murderer

May 9, 2019May 9, 2019 Ohio Star Staff

by James D. Agresti Amidst an intense national debate over illegal immigration and crime, major media outlets are reporting on a grisly, high-profile murder while failing to reveal that the killer is an unauthorized immigrant. On Monday, May 6th, Esdras Marroquin Gomez, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, pled guilty…

Commentary: If Deplatforming Hoaxsters Is OK, the News Media Should Be in Big Trouble

May 8, 2019May 8, 2019 Ohio Star Staff

by Julie Kelly Without much explanation, Facebook last Thursday banned several high-profile users amid accusations they violated the company’s subjective rules about violence and hate speech. The ban applied to InfoWars founder Alex Jones; YouTube star Paul Joseph Watson; Laura Loomer, a 25-year-old journalist and conservative activist, and others…

Veteran Says Mainstream Media Reports Claiming End to Border Wall Fundraiser are ‘Blatantly False,’ More Than $20 Million Raised

January 14, 2019January 14, 2019 Jason M. Reynolds

Purple Heart veteran Brian Kolfage came out swinging against the mainstream news media over the weekend after multiple outlets falsely sounded the death knell of his border wall fundraiser and attacked his honesty. The triple amputee veteran took to Twitter and at least one other outlet to refute false reports…

Cleveland ‘Journalist’ Defends Democrat Sherrod Brown, Attacks GOP Opponent in Race She Covers for Plain Dealer

September 23, 2018September 22, 2018 Anthony Accardi

It was a classic example of what President Trump would call the “fake news media,” which pretends to be impartial and neutral, clearly taking sides in favor of a Democrat and against a Republican. Sabrina Eaton, a news reporter covering DC politics for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, tweeted Thursday about…

Commentary: Clowns to the Left of Us, Jokers to the Right, and Media All Around

September 13, 2018September 12, 2018 Admin

by Jeffery Rendall Living in the news bubble that is Washington DC it’s easy for swamp dwellers to lose perspective on their own actions and how they’re being viewed by others. Last week’s media circus surrounding the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh must’ve given outsiders…

FAKE NEWS: Mainstream Media Continues to Prove It Is Nothing but Propaganda

August 31, 2018August 31, 2018 Admin

By Printus LeBlanc To say the relationship between the mainstream media and President Trump is rocky would be an understatement. The mainstream media has waged a jihad against Trump since he descended from the escalator in Trump Tower on June 16, 2015, to announce his candidacy for President. The press…

Commentary: Mainstream Media Is a Watchdog on Republicans, But a Lapdog for Democrats

August 18, 2018August 17, 2018 Chris Butler

This week mainstream media reporters nationwide took a posture against President Donald Trump and asserted they act with integrity and objectivity and that his attacks on them are attacks on democracy itself. Hook people in the mainstream media up to polygraph machines and ask them if they really believe that.…

Ireland’s Government Confirms: Randy Boyd’s Irish Tax Records Cited in Tennessean Article Not Available to Media or Public

July 9, 2018July 8, 2018 Chris Alto

The government of Ireland has confirmed to The Tennessee Star that the Irish tax records cited in a recent Tennessean article about the Irish subsidiary of GOP gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd’s company are private, and not available to the public or the media through legal means. Ms. Leann O’Kelly, Press…