With Mueller in the Rearview, the Media’s in the Crosshairs

The USA Today headline sitting in news racks across the country last Monday morning read amp8220No Conspiracyamp8221 just above a photograph of Robert Mueller walking out of St Johnamp8217s Episcopal Church in Washington after attending Sunday services there the day before amp160After 22 months the special counsel did not determine that amp8220 members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activitiesamp8221 amp160Although remaining agnostic on the question of obstruction of justice for political observers and consumers of news this was the end of a long concerning and emotionally exhausting period of American politics amp160But as of late the mediaamp8217s role in it all is taking center stageJon Gabriel the EditorinChief of the conservative platform Ricochet went to Twitter shortly after word broke that no further indictment was expected amp8220The news media peddled false info about Russian collusion for two years and they made billions doing it amp160They have every incentive to cook up a new false narrativequot amp160These sorts of hot takes might be expected from members of the amp8220conservative teamamp8221 but they were joined by many other journalists including progressivesGlenn Greenwald shared his thoughts amp160amp8220Let me just say MSNBC should have their top host on primetime go before the cameras and hang their heads in shame and apologize for lying to people for three straight years exploiting their fears to great profitamp8221Matt Taibbi an editor at Rolling Stone made the comparison between the mediaamp8217s coverage of Mueller and amp8220Weapons of Mass Destructionamp8221 amp8220 WMD damaged the mediaamp8217s reputation Russiagate may have destroyed itamp8221Aaron Matamp233 writing in The Nation chimed in quotThe implosion of the collusion theory is a humiliation for everyone who promoted itquotBob Woodward appearing on MSNBCamp8217s Hardball with Chris Matthews last Monday evening however defended the mediaamp8217s coverage of the probe amp8220 the media is being criticized now There was all this hyperventilation about alleged collusion I think the media my newspaper The Washington Post The Wall Street Journal The New York Times did a very good job with all these allegations and lies out there amp160Thereamp8217s no way youamp8217re going to sit at homeamp8230amp8221Fair enough amp160But itamp8217s hard to deny that there werenamp8217t certain commentators almost willing it all to be true amp160As one compilation video making the rounds on social media shows outlets such as MSNBC and CNN were just a bit too fond of apocalyptic proclamations and nearpromises that impeachment was imminent amp160The video for example includes more than two minutes of one alarming phrase alone being repeated again and again that amp8220the walls are closing on President Trumpamp8221Rachel Maddow whom The Washington Post39s Paul Farhi called quotthe queen of collusionquot dropped approximately 500000 viewers from the Monday before the probe closed to Monday March 25th amp160MSNBC39s second mostwatched primetime program The Last Word with Lawrence O39Donnell saw a similar decline amp160Even as commentators such as Joe Scarborough generally stood by the pressamp8217 coverage of the investigation he did concede that there were certain quotbad actorsquot in the commentator circuit who wouldn39t be invited quotback on our showquotJust as Sean Hannity had to acknowledge that he is not a journalist per se but rather an amp8220advocacy journalist or an opinion journalistamp8221 it seems similar selfrecharacterizations may be requested of others in the media space in the weeks to comeTaibbi wasnamp8217t alone in wondering aloud if there were legitimate parallels to be drawn between amp8220Weapons of Mass Destructionamp8221 and the coverage of Mueller amp160Back in August a full seven months before the conclusion of the probe Jack Hunter writing in The American Conservative also made the same bold comparison suggesting that Ann Coulter Sean Hannity and company unflinchingly bought the Bush administrationamp8217s narrative of events hook line and sinker amp160But after all much of the rest of the media did too amp160David Remnick of The New Yorker would later state that his publicationamp8217s acceptance of the Bush administrationamp8217s positionamp160 was the greatest regret of his career at the magazine amp160And of course in 2004 Daniel Okrent the first public editor of The New York Times would issue a lengthy apology for the paperamp8217s amp8220institutionalamp8221 failure of journalism in covering the claims that led to the War in IraqSome of course vehemently objected to the comparison saying that there is no equivalency between a political investigation and a war that led to the deaths of estimates vary hundreds of thousands amp160But in both cases respected members of the American government and intelligence community went on the record and the media took their words as truth whether it be Colin Powell during his 2003 speech to the United Nations or former CIA Director John Brennan Representative Adam Schiff and the likeamp8217s bulletproof confidence that President Trump was at the end of his rope amp160Even as former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper cautioned that Brennanamp8217s rhetoric had gone too far the media still continued to give the former CIA Director the most ample airtime while many hosts seemed all too excited to share in his prognosticationsWho knows what the months ahead will bringamp160 But the degree of certainty displayed by many in the press ought to be cause for concern amp160Essential to journalism is the need to verify amp160Recall the old code journalists are supposed to live by amp8220If your mother tells you she loves you find a second sourceamp8221 amp160And this is not even to mention the type of rhetoric employedOf course sensationalism today is used on all sides and Fox News is no stranger to it but we need to do betterFor those of us outside of the newsroom perhaps itamp8217s worth pondering a question posed by Georgetown Law Professor Randy Barnettamp160 amp8220If the Mueller Report finds no collusion with Russia by the sitting president to secure his election the charge that induced a special counsel how many will consider this to be bad news and be disappointed amp160How many Trump critics will be relieved their worst fears were untrueamp8221 amp160Say what you want about the President but the fact that the current executive branch isnamp8217t in fact comprised of Russian coconspirators ought to make us all breathe a collective national sigh of reliefClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160

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With Mueller in the Rearview, the Media’s in the Crosshairs

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Erich J. Prince

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With Mueller in the Rearview, the Media’s in the Crosshairs

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