Having former CNN media reporter-turned Substacker Oliver Darcy on once to freak out about Bari Weiss taking over CBS News was not good enough for PBS. It just had to do it again. On Tuesday, Darcy joined Amanpour and Company, where he had an epic meltdown over Weiss, the Trump administration, and conservative critiques of the news media.
Anchor Michel Martin wondered if Weiss has “given any indication of how she plans to proceed?”
Darcy freaked out that the left might not get a pass under a Weiss-led CBS:
I think you're going to see some really both side-isms and this false equivalent that the left is equally as extreme as the right, and we're not going to be afraid to criticize Donald Trump, but we're going to criticize, maybe, the AOCs of the world or, what they would say, or the Zohrans of the world, what they would portray as an equal extreme, and I don't think that's accurate.
Martin then wondered, “There are a lot of conservatives who believe national media, in particular, do have a liberal bent, and they feel it's entirely fair to have alternate outlets that present alternate points of view. Do you give any credence to that argument?”
Talking out of both sides of his mouth, Darcy claimed:
Well, I think certainly everyone is on board, I think, with having different outlets that provide different points of view. I think the problem is that a lot of these outlets on the right make up things, right? They're not basing those points of view in fact. They are often pushing conspiracy theories. They are spouting disinformation. They are, at the very least, engaging in a lot of misinformation pedaling, and it tends to benefit the man in the White House who is the chief liar, probably, right?
Later, Martin recalled Darcy’s recent congressional testimony, “You said the chilling of speech is one of the first signs a democracy is beginning to decay, which are pretty strong words if you think about it. So, what led you to that conclusion? Why do you say that?”
There is no evidence that Stephen Colbert was cancelled because of Trump, and Jimmy Kimmel recently said his suspension was probably a good thing, but that didn’t stop Darcy from repeating the idea that Trump was behind both:
I think it's obvious that when aspiring authoritarians are seeking to seize power, they do not want to dissent. And so, they seek to chill speech. And you see this manifesting in a number of ways in this administration, whether it's Donald Trump and his, you know, FCC chairman going after a late-night comedian who makes fun of him, you know, celebrating the cancellation of Stephen Colbert, certainly pressuring them to cancel. I mean, Trump called for Stephen Colbert to be fired. They canceled him. You know, pressuring them to take Jimmy Kimmel off the air, pressuring them to take other comedians off the air.
Next, Martin moved on to trust in media, “Only 28 percent of Americans expressed a great deal or fair amount of trust in newspapers, television, and radio to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly… I mean, conservatives say it's that-- because, you know, the media is too liberal, and it doesn't really paint a fair picture, and it's not fair. What do you say?”
Darcy didn’t see what the big deal was, “I think what's caused the drop in confidence amongst, really, Republicans, has been the war that Donald Trump and his allies have waged against the truth for the past 10 years. And it's actually gone longer than that. It's been basically since Rush Limbaugh, you know, rose to power on radio, and there has been this relentless attack against mainstream outlets, saying to a large part of the country that journalists are lying to you, they are misleading you, and you should not trust the, quote, ‘experts.’"
That poll showed independents’ trust in the media is at 27 percent, an all-time low. Nevertheless, Darcy huffed, “The group of people that do not trust the media the most according to this Gallup poll, are Republicans. I think they have, like, eight percent trust of media. And that is a stark difference compared to Democrats.”
Based on everything Darcy just said, it is no wonder why Democrats still trust the media because Darcy just told them everything they want to hear.
Here is a transcript for the October 14-taped show:
PBS Amanpour and Company
10/14/2025
MICHEL MARTIN: So, for the record, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison issued a statement about her appointment saying Weiss will quote “shape editorial priorities, champion core values across platforms, and lead innovation in how the organization reports and delivers the news.” Unquote. Has she given any indication of how she plans to proceed?
OLIVER DARCY: Well, she has said she thinks both political parties need to be scrutinized equally and so that goes back to what I was saying. I think you're going to see some really both side-isms and this false equivalent that the left is equally as extreme as the right, and we're not going to be afraid to criticize Donald Trump, but we're going to criticize, maybe, the AOCs of the world or, what they would say, or the Zohrans of the world, what they would portray as an equal extreme, and I don't think that's accurate.
…
MARTIN: So where, where's the news going to come from? There are a lot of conservatives who believe national media, in particular, do have a liberal bent, and they feel it's entirely fair to have alternate outlets that present alternate points of view. Do you give any credence to that argument?
DARCY: Well, I think certainly everyone is on board, I think, with having different outlets that provide different points of view. I think the problem is that a lot of these outlets on the right make up things, right? They're not basing those points of view in fact. They are often pushing conspiracy theories. They are spouting disinformation. They are, at the very least, engaging in a lot of misinformation pedaling, and it tends to benefit the man in the White House who is the chief liar, probably, right? You know, he lies every time he opens his mouth basically. And so that's the problem. And so you're not dealing with a reality-based network that's just offering a different point of view based on a similar shared set of facts. They are reinventing, they are making up facts, and then misinforming large audiences. And so that’s the issue.
…
MARTIN: I do feel like I need to mention, I'm sure many people probably know this, that Congress recently approved major cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and rescinded federal funding for PBS and, you know, NPR, obviously places that I'm affiliated with, and local stations, which are now at risk.
But you recently testified before Congress about some of these issues. And you said, you talked a little bit about your difficulties as a small publisher protecting yourself from defamation lawsuits. And you said the chilling of speech is one of the first signs a democracy is beginning to decay, which are pretty strong words if you think about it. So, what led you to that conclusion? Why do you say that?
DARCY: Well, I think it's obvious that when aspiring authoritarians are seeking to seize power, they do not want to dissent. And so, they seek to chill speech. And you see this manifesting in a number of ways in this administration, whether it's Donald Trump and his, you know, FCC chairman going after a late-night comedian who makes fun of him, you know, celebrating the cancellation of Stephen Colbert, certainly pressuring them to cancel. I mean, Trump called for Stephen Colbert to be fired. They canceled him. You know, pressuring them to take Jimmy Kimmel off the air, pressuring them to take other comedians off the air. Republicans, we should be clear, are the ones who defunded NPR and PBS, whether its filing lawsuits like Donald Trump has against The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal which is owned by his ally, Rupert Murdoch.
You know, his tweets that attack and stir up hate against news organizations. You're seeing an unprecedented assault on speech in this country right now, and it's led by the man in the Oval Office who is seeking to punish critics and make sure that they do not have the ability to criticize him or to speak their truth about him.
MARTIN: Here's the thing, Oliver, and this is one of the things that critics of the media say. They say Americans aren't watching, aren't listening, and don't believe us, right? Only 28 percent of Americans expressed a great deal or fair amount of trust in newspapers, television, and radio to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly. That's down from 31 percent in 2024 and 40 percent in just-- in 2020. This is according to a recent, sort of, Gallup poll. So, what do you think is causing this drop? I mean, conservatives say it's that-- because, you know, the media is too liberal, and it doesn't really paint a fair picture, and it's not fair. What do you say?
DARCY: I think what's caused the drop in confidence amongst, really, Republicans, has been the war that Donald Trump and his allies have waged against the truth for the past 10 years. And it's actually gone longer than that. It's been basically since Rush Limbaugh, you know, rose to power on radio, and there has been this relentless attack against mainstream outlets, saying to a large part of the country that journalists are lying to you, they are misleading you, and you should not trust the, quote, "experts."
And I think we really saw that heightened during COVID where "do not trust the experts, do not trust the scientists, they are misleading you, they want -- you know, they have nefarious incentives." Now, are there a number of other reasons like perhaps a fragmentation of media because of social media and algorithms and a bunch of other things? Yes, but that is the elephant in the room. And if you look at the polls, the group of people that do not trust the media the most according to this Gallup poll, are Republicans. I think they have, like, eight percent trust of media. And that is a stark difference compared to Democrats.
