So in one seemingly harmless, routine moment the problem with today’s mainstream media is revealed. Again.
This time the reveal came from three different incidents. Two from CBS, and one awhile back from The New York Times.
First here was CBS and a seemingly simple conversation with a book author. In this case the author was left-winger Ta-Nehisi Coates. Coates was on CBS to discuss his new book The Message, a tome which is decidedly pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel.
The second came with a presumed-normal CBS interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, she, of course, the Democrats’ nominee for President in the soon-to-be 2024 election.
What could possibly go wrong? Plenty -- a very telling plenty.
In the first instance, the CBS interview with Coates was with CBS co- anchor Tony Dokoupil. Dokoupil hangs his interviewer hat on CBS Mornings. Dokoupil’s sin? Why, he had the nerve to ask about what seemed obvious to Dokoupil -- the author's intense anti-Israel bias.
The Associated Press headlined the story this way:
When is an interview too tough? CBS News grappling with question after Dokoupil interview
And having asked his question…all…internal… CBS… hell…broke loose. Coates, you see is a believer in all the left-wing sacred cows. From dislike of Israel to love for reparations for slavery and more, Coates is there for the Left.
Right up there on the scale of leftist targets these days, particularly after October 7th, is Israel and the very existence of the Jewish State. And it was the latter that ousted the CBS internal rot.
Dokoupil’s ever so anchorly and polite inquiry about Coates’ written treatment of Israel was enough to light the fuse of the leftist dynamite that is the CBS News staff.
The Associated Press reported it this way:
NEW YORK (AP) — An internal debate over CBS News host Tony Dokoupil’s pointed interview with author Ta-Nehisi Coates about Israel has spread to the boardroom, with the chief of the network’s parent company saying Wednesday that it was a mistake to reprimand him.
Shari Redstone, outgoing head of Paramount Global, expressed support for Dokoupil while speaking at the Advertising Week conference on Wednesday. CBS News leaders on Monday had reprimanded Dokoupil, a “CBS Mornings” host for an interview they said didn’t meet their standards.
'I think we made a mistake,' Redstone said, according to published reports.
Later Wednesday, CBS network President and CEO George Cheeks issued a supportive statement for Wendy McMahon, the boss of CBS News, who was involved in criticizing the interview.
'There has been strong and growing discord within CBS News that needed to be addressed in an editorial meeting,' Cheeks said. 'This must lead to further substantive dialogue about perceptions of inconsistent treatment, implicit bias and the important standards our News division has in place to establish guardrails for fairness and objectivity.'
Hit the pause button here and move on to the second CBS kerfuffle of the month.
This one would revolve around a 60 Minutes interview with Harris. The bottom line of which is a released transcript of the interview that differed from the tape of the interview, which is to say, the tape was apparently edited to save Harris from another of her now trademark word salads.
The first of these two kerfuffles produced a staff rebellion because of Dokoupil’s treatment of Coates. That rebellion produced this headline from Fox News:
CBS' Tony Dokoupil expressed regret to 'upset' colleagues for tense exchange with anti-Israel author: Report
Fox went on to report:
CBS News host Tony Dokoupil has reportedly expressed regret to colleagues over how he handled last week's interview with an anti-Israel writer.
The New York Post reported Tuesday that CBS News held an "emotional meeting" with network staffers led by CBS Mornings executive producer Shawna Thomas following the internal blowback Dokoupil has faced following his exchange with The Message author Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Stop right there.
And recall this headline from Politico about a New York Times Op-Ed by Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton.
NYT opinion editor resigns after outrage over Tom Cotton op-ed
James Bennet stepped down following the opinion article that called for using the military against civil unrest.
That story began:
The New York Times announced on Sunday that its editorial page editor had resigned after backlash from the public and the company’s own employees over a Republican senator’s op-ed that called for using military force against recent rioters.
…. The column immediately drew backlash, with dozens of Times journalists voicing their opposition, tweeting the headline, caption and a form of the phrase “Running this puts Black @NYTimes staff in danger.
Notice anything?
Whether it is CBS or the New York Times, both major news outlets for America and the world beyond, it appears that both are effectively run by staffs of virulent left-wingers who have zero interest in straight news and every interest in slanting whatever news story of the moment is slanted in a far left direction.
The story could be about a CBS anchor asking an author who has written a pro-Palestinian tome about his views as written about Israel. Or the story could be about CBS playing games with the actual words of the Democratic presidential nominee and sitting Vice President of the United States.
Or the story could be about a Times Opinion Editor green-lighting an Op-Ed from a Republican Senator about sending in troops to control exploding violence in American cities in the wake of the George Floyd killing.
In both cases the staffs of, first, the New York Times, and second -- many months later -- CBS News, go crazy because the left-wing gods of the two staffs have been offended. Offended at different times over different subjects.
But different subjects not withstanding, the real upset here is that the Times and CBS offended those that demand news must be presented with a left-wing slant - or there will be internal staff hell to pay.
Which, quite obviously, means neither the staff of the Times or CBS and who knows how many other “mainstream” outlets are about actually straight-up reporting the news. They are openly devoted to spreading Left-wing propaganda. And if their bosses don’t like it? There will be staff hell to pay.
The one bright spot?
As long as Big Tech companies, aided or unaided by the Biden Administration and Big Government, aren’t trying to censor truly diverse views on big name social media - there is a chance free speech and objective news coverage can survive and thrive in this or that media cubby hole.
But safe to say, the verdict is still out on this. And, decidedly notably, both Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and other liberals have made news recently for supporting controls on free speech. The trend is not good.
