President Joe Biden says he never talked business with his son.
Maybe he didn’t.
Maybe that Ukrainian gas company paid Hunter Biden half a million dollars because he has unique business skills that no one else noticed.
It’s possible.
But unlikely.
Now a Justice Department investigation may tell us whether Hunter is a sleazy opportunist who broke the law and whether his father knew, or even helped.
But equally revealing is the arrogance and bias the reporting on Hunter’s laptop revealed among wide swaths of media and big tech gatekeepers.
Even today, most will not admit they were wrong.
The New York Post broke the laptop story near the end of the presidential campaign. The story was explosive, of course, and the media pile-on intense. Some piled on Hunter Biden, but more piled on the New York Post. They questioned the authenticity of the hard drive and the timing and accuracy of the story.
Twitter blocked the story from even being shared. Facebook hid the story. Politico said it might be “Russian disinformation.” A Washington Post column called it “laughably weak.” A New York Times piece labeled it “farcical retread of the Russian hack-and-leak operation that helped torpedo Hillary Clinton’s presidential aspirations.” The story was mocked and buried.
Now, a year and a half later, the Post and Times admit that major parts of the story were accurate.
Do you know what they haven’t said?
“Sorry. We cannot stand the idea of another Trump term, so we didn’t report on bad things Democrats did.”
The Washington Post finally wrote that the way the media handled the story was an “opportunity for a reckoning.” But then they spent the rest of their editorial making excuses for their mistakes.
No one was fired.
No one was suspended.
No policy was changed.
This is nothing new. For months, Facebook blocked any mention of the theory that COVID-19 may have been leaked from a lab. Most media sneered that it was “fake news.” The Washington Post called it “a fringe theory.” The New York Times, a “conspiracy theory.” PolitiFact rated it “Pants on Fire!”
Only when the Biden administration said there might have been a lab leak did Facebook drop its censorship.
Did Facebook say, “Sorry? We shouldn’t censor such important discussion?”
No.
Did we see apologetic commentaries on CNN and MSNBC?
I must have missed them.
Maybe none of this is a big deal to you, but it’s a big deal to me.
I make my living posting videos on digital platforms. I made two videos that suggested fears about climate change are overblown.
I didn’t say climate change isn’t real.
I didn’t say it won’t cause problems. In fact, I said it’s already caused problems.
But because I said the fear might be overblown, Facebook’s climate-activist “fact-checkers” make sure fewer people see my work.
I once got millions of views on Facebook. Not anymore.
Nothing I’d said in my climate videos was wrong. In one case, Facebook’s own fact-checker admitted that I didn’t get any facts wrong. Still, Facebook continues to smear my work as “partly false.”
They even quote me saying something I never said!
Yet even after I point that out, Facebook will not make a correction.
Facebook, Twitter, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, NBC, Poynter Institute “fact-checkers” and most of the elite media are now part information-sharers, part leftist interest groups.
I’m neither Democrat nor Republican. I don’t obsess over whether Hunter Biden got paid to do sleazy things and whisper in his father’s ear. If he did, I doubt that he had much influence, anyway.
I feel far more threatened when America’s Big Media don’t report facts, don’t speak up when censors are wrong and don’t remove mistakes when they’re caught making them.
Apologizing for mistakes is something we teach little kids to do. Is that too much to ask of our media and social media giants?
Magnificent!
Thank you, Mr. Stossel
This is not only limited to major media, social media, and national government. This goes all the way down to local governments.
They scheduled a “controlled” burn at a state park near Bastop TX. The experts lit their test fire and lost control of it burning up 90+ acres. The national weather service predicted high winds for the area the day before, yet they went ahead with the burn. On the news that evening, the local official went on about how they did everything by the book and weather reports can’t be trust for more than 15 minutes. (Judge Pape in charge, with a lot of hand shaking and back slapping during the interview) The follow up investigation (paid for by tax payers) said they needed more training. Again, so the experts can take more classes, at tax payers expense, to become experts.
It would have been nice just to hear them say “sorry. we messed up”.
Had this been a private individual, or company, there would have immediately been law suits and long drawn out court proceedings to place blame and recover money spent on putting the fire out.
It’s not too much to ask, but ludicrous to expect. The swamp is deep and it’s creatures move seamlessly from government to media to big tech. The titles may change but the job is the same, protect the swamp. Doesn’t matter which party is in power, they all protect the status quo.
Well said. I wish it were false. But it’s not.
I once posted a video of John Coleman, a Chicago weatherman, about his thoughts on “Climate Change”. It was blocked as “misinformation”. John Coleman also created “The Weather Channel”.
Democrats think the American people are stupid and won’t figure out that The Big Guy is Joe Biden and he’s just as big a crook as little drugie Hunter, uncle Jim Biden and the rest of the family. We need a independent counceadence before Daddy Joe pardons little Hunter to stop the investigation.
“… Hunter is a sleazy opportunist who broke the law and whether his father knew, or even helped.”
When are you guys going to understand how Biden Inc. works? Hunter is the bag man. All Biden’s family are the bag men. Biden sells his influence through them. That’s what Hunter is doing on the board of Burisma. Bagging the money to pay Biden for getting rid of a pesky prosecutor. And that’s the part that Biden and Hunter made public.
Biden Inc. has its tentacles in everything. Biden is the Manchurian Candidate for both Xi and Putin.
I totally agree. Thank you for your hard work.
“Maybe he didn’t?” What’s the matter with you, Stossel? They have the Old Man on tape, threatening the Ukrainian official by the potential of withholding aid – exactly what they accused Trump of doing. It’s on UTube for all the world to see. You claim to stand above the rest but you’re just like the rest of them. Maybe there’s a reason you don’t get the FB views any more.
I’ve felt that the bipolar right/left model of politics serves no productive purpose and ends up corrupting our governance for over four decades.
An admission that the Media either lied or refused to report documented and factual information would compromise the LACK of integrity of the Media.
The Media have not been honest in their reporting since ratings and the subsequent dollars generated by advertising became paramount to truth. Veracity is now a commodity sold to the highest bidder.
We love you John… Since I’ve been a kid you’ve always seem like a straight shooter. Your legacy will be for your truth sir… Never doubt yourself, and keep standing your ground on right, unbiased and fair…
I’m waiting (hoping) for people like you to put something out which will offer an alternative social media platform…
When I read this, I hear it in John’s voice. 😀 Thank you for your great articles.
Good article, appreciate your work.
One of the most important questions that goes unasked in discussions of dishonesty in the media is “what is the monetary incentive that muzzles true journalism?” Look at the #s out of FoxNews & compare to MSNBC CNN etc.
While those legacy media companies might cater to a certain audience, they have massive financial incentive(upping their viewer #s) to be better journalists. They wouldn’t need to “swing right” but rather treat their viewers like balanced critical thinkers.
…and yet for years they have moved further & further from critical journalism & viewership suffers so fewer $s come from traditional journalism. Is there another source of $s they have found(an entity incentivizing them to muzzle & pursue a narrative rather than a truth)?