To the envy of people throughout the world, Americans enjoy precious freedoms which are enshrined in our Bill of Rights. Fortunately, this includes the freedom of the press to conduct their journalistic responsibilities without government interference.
A free press has served Americans in many positive ways since the founding of our nation. We need a free press to serve as a watchdog on our government and to keep our politicians honest. Since the founding of our nation, responsible members of the press have reported on issues such as political corruption, the waste of taxpayer money, and the abuse of political power, among many other vital topics.
Unfortunately, journalism has become corrupted through the years. In the past, great reporters only had a commitment to undercover the truth, no matter the political consequences. Today, journalism has become infected with a toxic liberalism. Progressive reporters focus their energies on pursuing stories that will harm Republicans, especially conservatives. Their greatest joy is to undercover or report negative stories about President Donald Trump, a person they truly despise. In fact, many of these corrupt liberal reporters have no qualms about manufacturing negative Trump stories if necessary.
Journalism started moving in a very liberal direction around the start of the Vietnam War and this trend intensified during the Watergate scandal. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of theWashington Post were instrumental in forcing President Richard Nixon to resign.
Since those liberal glory days, the goal of many reporters has been to recreate that magic and oust another Republican President. They tried mightily to damage President Ronald Reagan during the Iran-Contra scandal, but they failed miserably. Amazingly, despite the best efforts of liberal journalists, Reagan left office with a high approval rating.
While Bill Clinton gave reporters plenty of fodder with his many misdeeds, most of the liberal D.C. press corps had no appetite to pursue the Lewinsky scandal. If not for the conservative website, The Drudge Report, the dishonorable behavior of Bill Clinton may have never been reported. This site, which was in its infancy, broke the story and literally forced, kicking and screaming, the more traditional media outlets to cover the Clinton and Lewinsky drama.
During the Obama years, political journalists spent most of their time defending and promoting a President they adored. This outlook completely changed after the election of Donald Trump as President. Since his inauguration, the press coverage from the three major broadcast networks has been over 90% negative, according to the Media Research Center.
At least President Trump realizes the type of enemy he is facing. On Wednesday, he tweeted that the media today is “Fake News, especially NBC and CNN.” He continued, noting that “Our Country’s biggest enemy is the Fake News so easily promulgated by fools!”
As CNN regularly dispenses Trump hatred and “Fake News,” their ratings have fallen dramatically. Since his appointment in 2013, CNN President Jeff Zucker has destroyed his network’s reputation and ratings. Nevertheless, he was recently awarded a contract extension through the 2020 election.
The network used to be known for presenting both sides of the political debate, like the famous Crossfire debate program. Today, all of CNN’s hosts are liberal, as well as almost every one of their so-called “analysts.”
At CNN, liberal activists are masquerading as reporters and “analysts.” For example, CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta regularly interjects his liberal viewpoints and acts in an obnoxious manner with both President Trump and White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Acosta is not the only CNN reporter with bad manners. On Thursday, CNN “political analyst” Brian Karem started screaming at Sanders during her regular press briefing. Karem berated Sanders as a “mother” and lambasted her for not showing enough concern for the illegal aliens and their children who are separated at the border.
Karem would have never tried this stunt during the Obama administration. In fact, while Obama was President, White House reporters were always on their best behavior, dutifully serving up softball questions or offering lavish praise for their hero.
Today, President Trump and his White House staff are treated horribly and regularly have to endure insulting and unfair questioning from a biased media.
The double standard will continue and the ratings for the liberal news outlets like CNN will continue to fall. This dynamic will lead to the creation of more news alternatives for conservatives and all Americans who care about the truth.
This newfound media environment is a direct result of the corruption in American journalism today. While the cause is very negative, the outcome is quite positive. More choice is always a good thing as the outlets offering the truth, rather than the liberal version of it, will eventually prevail.
Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian and his award winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs locally at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and at 10:00 p.m. Sundays on PBS affiliate WLAE-TV, Channel 32, and from 7-11 a.m. weekdays on WGSO 990-AM & www.Wgso.com. He is a political columnist, the author of America’s Last Chance and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and on www.JeffCrouere.com. For more information, email him at [email protected]
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