Fake News and "Fake News"

I guess putting embedded YooToob links on the front page slows down the blog, so my video is below the fold.

What you will see is a 10-minute conversation between Fox TV commentator/talking head Tucker Carlson and NY Times Public Editor Liz Spayd. The subject of the conversation is the NY Times' craptacular election coverage, and I actually felt a bit sorry for her because she is being called upon to defend the indefensible, and her heart clearly isn't in it. And she is actually rendered speechless more than once in this interview, and it takes her awhile to phrase an answer.

This is actually a good sign on a personal level for her. It means that somewhere deep down inside, there is a little flame of honesty that her work for the NY Times has been unable to extinguish.

And I think it's hilarious how hard the post-election MSM has been pushing the "fake news" narrative, because basically they're just trying to deflect from their unbelievably crappy news coverage that this election has laid bare for all to see. The MSM basically did not do its job and their response has been to point the finger that somebody else.

And I hope you've all noticed that what they mean by "fake news" is just news they don't agree with:

The fake journalism that helped elect Donald Trump is now enemy number one for the fourth estate.

The linked article is an hilarious anthology of NY Times pieces that got the election completely wrong.

And Carlson doesn't take any guff. When Spayd tries to deflect the bias charge by trotting out the tired and predictable line that "we get many e-mails saying we've been too relentlessly negative on Hillary and her e-mail server", Carlson snarks, "Yeah, I know they're pretty upset about that on the Upper West Side."

My prediction is that Ms. Spayd will not last long as the Times' public editor. She reminds me a lot of Daniel Okrent, the man who first occupied the position of "public editor" at the Times. He actually admitted that, yes, sometimes the newspaper he works for is liberally biased, and that's a problem. So he, get this, didn't last long, he was soon replaced by a succession of company apologists who acted more like Baghdad Bob than public editors. I think Ms. Spayd will soon be seeking employment elsewhere.

posted by OregonMuse at 07:15 PM

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