On Monday’s edition of MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show, the eponymous host lashed out at Republican West Virginia Governor Jim Justice for daring to use his power as Governor to reform the corrupt leftist public broadcasting system in his state. While many conservatives would prefer it be defunded entirely and be forced to compete in the free market like every other news outlet, Justice apparently sought a middle ground and was still attacked by the likes of Maddow for it.
Maddow started off by crying that “Jim Justice in West Virginia has declared war on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.”
According to Maddow and other leftists public broadcasting “is increasingly important as a news source in West Virginia particularly as the news business has led to the collapse of lots of local gathering news operations.”
“But at West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Jim Justice has decided that’s got to go too. So he’s gotten rid of the professional leadership,” she said.
Only leftists like Maddow think the bureaucrats in public broadcasting are “professional leadership.”
“He installed his own communications director as the new CEO and now they’ve started firing reporters who have reported on scandals and failures in Governor Justice’s administration,” Maddow claimed.
Maddow then predicted that other Republican governors around the country “will see what he's doing and try to emulate it themselves.”
“Because this is what’s in style right now on the American far right. It is a race to outdo each other with this stuff now,” Maddow cried.
She then attempted to compare reforming or defunding leftwing public broadcasting to third-world dictators who crack down on the freedom of the press: “we’ve seen this playbook lots of different places. We can see it all around the world.”
In what’s obvious to everyone but Maddow and her leftwing viewers, there’s a difference between reforming or defunding taxpayer-funded propaganda and stifling free and independent media.
If the government went after MSNBC, that would be a violation of the First Amendment. That isn’t the case with publicly funded radio or television.
This fact-free segment on MSNBC was made possible by Liberty Mutual. Their information is linked.
To read the relevant transcript click “expand”:
MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show
2/13/2023
9:16:54 p.m. EasternRACHEL MADDOW: Just today, in West Virginia. NPR reporting on how Republican Governor Jim Justice in West Virginia has declared war on West Virginia Public Broadcasting. Which is increasingly important as a news source in West Virginia particularly as the news business has led to the collapse of lots of local gathering news operations.
But at West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Jim Justice has decided that’s got to go too. So he’s gotten rid of the professional leadership. He installed his own communications director as the new CEO and now they’ve started firing reporters who have reported on scandals and failures in Governor Justice’s administration.
I could describe that West Virginia situation as a scandal. I think for most Americans who value the idea of a free and independent press, it would be seen as a scandal. But just watch. If what Jim Justice is doing with the media in West Virginia, if that starts getting national attention.
Just watch, other Republican governors will see what he's doing and try to emulate it themselves. Because this is what’s in style right now on the American far right. It is a race to outdo each other with this stuff now. And we know where it ends. We’ve seen this playbook lots of different places. We can see it all around the world.
