The way the Washington D.C. media members have been acting for the past few days regarding a passing comment made by Sen. Martha McSally towards CNN reporter Manu Raju you would think an unprecedented assault has taken place. That Raju was so offended is itself amusing, but then throughout the day CNN intended to build this up into a major story.
Raju attempted to ask McSally pointed questions about the Senate accepting new evidence regarding the upcoming impeachment trial. This has been a Democrat agenda item, attempting to get new evidence entered into the proceedings, and Raju was promoting that party’s desires. McSally declared Raju is ‘’a liberal hack’’, and she walked into chambers without anything further to say.
One after another CNN personalities rose up in outrage, from Josh Rogin to Brian Stelter and Jake Tapper. The CNN Public Relations division even weighed in on this perceived offense, declaring McSally’s words as being ‘’unbecoming’’. This is the network that hosted porn lawyer/grifter Michael Avenatti on-air over one hundred times, lecturing others on what is deemed unbecoming behavior.
This media offensive, directed at a GOP senator, has become industry-wide now. On Friday the National Press Club delivered a statement of condemnation
“Manu Raju is a consummate professional who is respected by his journalistic peers and the people he covers, politics notwithstanding. Stating the contrary is factually and ethically wrong.”
Bear in mind, this ‘’consummate professional’’ was the CNN reporter who blasted the story that Donald Trump Jr. and the President had received advance word on the Wikileaks email leak, only to be shown that those emails had already been made public at the time. Reading the time/date entries on the emails seemed too tough for the reporter and the network.
The detail revealed by this official condemnation is that the National Press Club exhibits all of the traits that we have seen in the greater body of its industry. Half-truths, double standards, and hyperbolic interpretation of events are in play with this lone story, an event that played out over the course of mere seconds in the halls of Capitol Hill.
Despite the attempt to sound like consummate professionals in this release what we instead see is petty and partisan behavior, the likes we are accustomed to receiving from journalists. This bias is exposed by one other event that played out on Thursday, an exact mirror image of the exchange so many journalists have described as outlandish. During a press briefing, Pelosi was asked about the details of the impeachment from James Rosen, a longtime DC journalist, and she responded in a fashion that was equally as dismissive as McSally’s had been.
“I will say this to you, Mr. Republican Talking Points, when you talk about the whistleblower, we’re coming into my wheelhouse,” Pelosi responded derisively.
Tellingly we have seen no outrage from the press circles over the Speaker’s words here. No professional defense of Rosen has been heard, and no judgment has been handed down regarding the unprofessional comments made by Pelosi. The reaction, and the silence, on these two events is stark.
The National Press Club expresses how upset they are that on Thursday a longtime DC reporter attempted to ask a professional question of a politician, regarding the upcoming impeachment trial, and in return the politician delivered harsh words that impugned the professional stature of the journalist. However, the National Press Club has no words of condemnation when on Thursday a longtime DC reporter attempted to ask a professional question of a politician, regarding the upcoming impeachment trial, and in return the politician delivered harsh words that impugned the professional stature of the journalist.
Two instances, on the very same day, with the exact same process playing out, but they generate two responses that are on two opposing poles of commentary. Certainly, the fact that two different political parties were involved would be regarded as simply too coincidental.
