Posts

Veteran Journalist Gets Hammered for Continuing to Deny Biden’s Decline Despite Damning New Reports

/4 Comments/in , /by

A veteran journalist is getting mocked and ridiculed on social media after he continued to suggest that former President Joe Biden had not suffered mental deterioration at the end of his presidency.

The debate over Biden’s mental diminishment was sparked by a new book from Jake Tapper documenting statements from close advisers and staffers who watched his decline firsthand.

John Harwood registered his skepticism against those reports on social media in a sarcastic missive.

“Oddly, the declining 81-year-old managed to win major climate, infrastructure, and chip investments, rally allies to defend Ukraine, and hand his successor the world’s strongest post-pandemic economy,” wrote the 68-year-old.

‘Was it because, as the Original Sin authors write, ‘Biden on a day-in, day-out basis could certainly make decisions and assert wisdom and act as President’?” he added, referring to Tapper’s book co-written with Alex Thompson.

(Read more from “Veteran Journalist Gets Hammered for Continuing to Deny Biden’s Decline Despite Damning New Reports” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Hunter Biden’s Latest Legal Allegation Could Be ‘Very Bad’ for American Journalism, Analysts Say

/1 Comment/in , /by

Jammed in the letter Hunter Biden’s lawyers sent to Fox News, which led to the company pulling a documentary, is a legal allegation that has serious implications for American journalism, analysts told the Daily Caller.

Biden’s lawyers accused Fox of unlawfully exploiting his name, image and likeness (NIL) and violating revenge porn laws. The first son’s legal team also argued that certain claims made by former FBI confidential human source (CHS) Alexander Smirnov, which Fox used in their reporting, had been “debunked.” Aaron Terr, Director of Public Advocacy for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), told the Daily Caller that if the revenge porn allegations were to succeed, “that would be a very bad ruling for a free press.”

“The media has the first amendment right to publish even illegally obtained information as long as they didn’t participate in the illegal conduct itself. So, of course, the government can punish the hacker. But the First Amendment broadly protects the right of the press to report on information in the public interest, or that’s already been made publicly available, even if some uninvolved party was responsible or participated in some illegal activity that resulted in the information becoming public,” Terr said.

Biden’s lawyers demanded the network remove their documentary, “The Trial of Hunter Biden,” from their Fox Nation streaming platform. The Biden team asserts the usage of the pictures violates his privacy rights under New York Civil Rights Law and that the series exploits his NIL.

“Here, without Mr. Biden’s consent, Fox Nation produced and aired an entirely fictional six-part ‘mock trial,’” Biden’s lawyers wrote. They argue that Fox was not reporting on a newsworthy event, but rather “sought to ‘commercialize Mr. Biden’s personality through a form of treatment distinct from the dissemination of news or information.’” (Read more from “Hunter Biden’s Latest Legal Allegation Could Be ‘Very Bad’ for American Journalism, Analysts Say” HERE)

Judge Holds Ex-Fox Reporter in Contempt for Not Divulging Sources

/10 Comments/in , , /by

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper has held renowned investigative journalist Catherine Herridge in civil contempt Thursday, Associated Press (AP) reported.

The decision comes after Herridge’s refusal to reveal her confidential source behind a Fox News investigative series, according to AP. The stories in question shed light on Yanpin Chen, a Chinese American scientist who was investigated by the FBI but never charged. Cooper sanctioned Herridge to a daily fine of $800 to enforce compliance.

However, this penalty is on hold to allow Herridge time to appeal. Cooper acknowledged the vital role of a free press and the necessity of confidential sources in journalism, the outlet stated. Yet, he emphasized the court’s duty to uphold legal standards and maintain its authority.

“Herridge and many of her colleagues in the journalism community may disagree with that decision and prefer that a different balance be struck, but she is not permitted to flout a federal court’s order with impunity,” wrote Cooper, AP reported. (Read more from “Judge Holds Ex-Fox Reporter in Contempt for Not Divulging Sources” HERE)

In a Retaliatory Move, the U.S. Shortens Visas for Chinese Journalists

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Department of Homeland Security is throwing the next punch in the escalating journalism battle between the U.S. and China.

The U.S. is shortening the validity period of visas for Chinese journalists to a maximum of 90 days to reciprocate for China’s recent expulsion of American journalists and nonrenewal of visas.

This journalism visa tit-for-tat is just one facet of rising U.S.-China tensions related to Beijing’s mishandling of the coronavirus, which has infected the world.

In March, China expelled American journalists from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post after writers criticized the Chinese government’s mismanagement of the coronavirus outbreak.

Beijing also demanded that those outlets—as well as Voice of America and Time magazine—give the Chinese government detailed information about their operations. The expulsion included Hong Kong and Macau, in addition to the People’s Republic of China itself.

Beijing argued the move was in retaliation for the U.S. limiting five state-run Chinese news organizations to 100 Chinese citizen employees who could work in the U.S.

The U.S. was set on May 11 to make the next move, by changing the terms of media visas for Chinese journalists.

The U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act authorizes “I” temporary visas for aliens visiting the U.S. as representatives of foreign information media.

To qualify, the alien must be a bona fide representative of foreign press, radio, film, or other foreign information media having its home office in a foreign country. This type of visa is also statutorily required to be provided “upon a basis of reciprocity” with a foreign country’s media visa terms and conditions.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has, per regulation, been admitting foreign media traveling with “I” visas into the U.S. for a “duration of status,” as opposed to issuing a specific “admit until” date on the visitor’s entry record.

Duration of status is a much more flexible and generous term of admission that, in the context of foreign press, has been interpreted by Customs and Border Protection as the duration of the journalist’s employment.

In the Department of Homeland Security’s new rule published May 11, the department changes the term of admission for Chinese journalists from duration of status to a period not to exceed 90 days. The new rule does allow for extensions of stay, also for periods no greater than 90 days.

The DHS explains it is making this regulatory change toward China to achieve greater reciprocity between the U.S.’ and China’s treatment of foreign press seeking entry into the other country.

Unlike China’s journalist clampdown, however, the DHS rule change does not apply to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) or Macau SAR passport holders.

The DHS states in its rule change that “[i]nformation received from the Department of State, as well as open source information, demonstrates a suppression of independent journalism in [China], including an increasing lack of transparency and consistency in the admission periods granted to foreign journalists, including U.S. journalists.”

Notably, the reporters that the Chinese government expelled have reported on issues of interest to international audiences, but which are embarrassing to the Chinese Communist Party, such as its use of indoctrination camps, mass incarceration, forced labor, and corruption among the party’s leaders.

In addition, China has been shortening the media visas it issues to foreign press to periods of six months or less, as opposed to China’s prior 12-month validity period.

China has long used its foreign press to echo the Communist Party’s propaganda abroad, but those tactics have reached a crescendo following the coronavirus outbreak, which originated in Wuhan, China.

The Chinese Communist Party has used its money and threats to influence public statements made by others, such as international organizations like the World Health Organization, to initially downplay the severity of the infectious virus, followed by blaming the United States for the global outbreak.

The United States was founded on the principle of a free press and free speech. Given Beijing’s treatment of foreign press, and American journalists in particular, the DHS is right to reciprocally shorten “I” visas for Chinese media.

Further, the U.S. and all other countries need to strongly combat the Chinese Communist Party’s false coronavirus propaganda. After infecting more than 4.2 million people and instantaneously destroying economies globally, China owes it to the world to be open and transparent with scientific information about the virus.

Until China changes its ways, the Chinese Communist Party should not be rewarded with lengthy visas to spread its misinformation using American media. (For more from the author of “In a Retaliatory Move, the U.S. Shortens Visas for Chinese Journalists” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Disgraced Anti-Trump Journalist May Have Embezzled Donations Meant for Syrian Orphans

/0 Comments/in , /by

By Washington Examiner. An award-winning German journalist who was recently found to have fabricated parts of stories may be facing more trouble.

Claas Relotius, 33, is facing new accusations that he solicited donations for orphans of the war in Syria, donations that he ultimately pocketed, reported CBS.

As part of the scandal over the former CNN International’s Journalist of the Year, residents of Fergus Falls, Minn., dispelled a variety of falsehoods in his piece “ In a small town” that took aim at “the people who pray for Trump on Sundays.” Relotius is accused of making up quotes, interview subjects, and facts in potentially dozens of stories spanning years. (Read more from “Disgraced Anti-Trump Journalist May Have Embezzled Donations Meant for Syrian Orphans” HERE)

_________________________________________

Disgraced German Reporter May Have Embezzled Donations Intended for Syrian Orphans

By CBS News. A German journalist who who resigned in disgrace for making up information for numerous articles is suspected of embezzling donations he collected on behalf of children orphaned by the war in Syria. Influential German news weekly Der Spiegel said Sunday that its award-winning former reporter, Claas Relotius, had asked readers by email from his private account for donations to be transferred to his personal bank account.

Der Spiegel said it’s not clear how many people donated money, how much Relotius, 33, collected or what happened to the money. But the magazine said it will press charges and will work with prosecutors to find out the details.

“Der Spiegel will give all the information it collects to public prosecutors as part of a criminal complaint,” it said on its website.

The Hamburg-based magazine announced Wednesday that Relotius, who reportedly resigned, had fabricated interviews and facts in at least 14 articles in the magazine’s print and online editions.

Spiegel said concerned readers had in recent days reported Relotius’s call for donations purportedly for orphaned Syrian children living on the streets of Turkey. (Read more from “Disgraced German Reporter May Have Embezzled Donations Intended for Syrian Orphans” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Oh, Please: U.S. Added to List of Most Dangerous Countries for Journalists

/0 Comments/in , /by

In a move that is motivated by everything political and nothing factual, the United States has been listed among the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, according to NBC News.

In its annual report, the free-press advocacy group Reporters Without Borders lists the United States among countries like Mexico, India, Syria, India, and Afghanistan for being one of the most dangerous for journalists based on the number who died in the U.S. in 2018. Not one of the deaths they listed, however, had anything to do with the U.S. government. Four of the six deaths listed stemmed from the Capital Gazette shooting (performed by a crazed lunatic who had a beef with the newspaper); the other two were killed while covering a storm in North Carolina.

“The United States joined the ranks of the world’s deadliest countries for the media this year, with a total of six journalists killed,” the group reports. “Four journalists were among the five employees of the Capital Gazette, a local newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland, who .were killed on 28 June when a man walked in and opened fire with a shotgun. He had been harassing the newspaper for six years on Twitter about a 2011 article that named him. It was the deadliest attack on a media outlet in the US in modern history. Two other journalists, a local TV anchor and cameraman, were killed by a falling tree while covering Subtropical Storm Alberto’s extreme weather in North Carolina in May.”

Thought Reporters Without Borders does not explicitly state it, the media has incessantly blamed President Trump’s rhetoric toward the media for the Capital Gazette shooting this past summer.

“We won’t forget being called an enemy of the people,” the Capital Gazette editorial staff said following the shooting. “No, we won’t forget that. Because exposing evil, shining light on wrongs and fighting injustice is what we do.” (Read more from “Oh, Please: U.S. Added to List of Most Dangerous Countries for Journalists” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Man Who Stripped Nude at Planet Fitness Nominated for ‘Journalist of the Year’

/0 Comments/in , /by

I would like to nominate Eric Stagno as journalist of the year. Because a journalist follows the truth wherever it leads, and Stagno dialed that calling all the way up to 11 and then some last weekend in New Hampshire, when he was arrested at a Planet Fitness for exercising in the nude.

Charges of indecent exposure, lewdness, and disorderly conduct followed, which led to Stagno to make one of the great observations in all of journalism history: “I thought this was a judgment-free zone,” he said.

And all the angels blew their trumpets! Utterly brilliant analysis from Stagno, who, unlike Katy Tur, wasn’t caught questioning the validity of the Constitution earlier this month before this week deciding that you aren’t a real journalist if you work at Fox News or the Daily Caller. So if you are keeping score at home: A real journalist thinks the Constitution blows.

But Stagno doesn’t have time for all that woke. He’s got hypocrisy to unveil, and unveil it he did when, according to sources, he “walked in, stripped down right there in front, left the clothes and belongings at the front desk, walked back and forth across the gym a couple of times and then settled in over at the yoga mats.”

Others at the gym reported feeling “sick,” “unsafe” and “disgusted.” What a bunch of bigots. Don’t they remember Yvette Cormier, whom I wrote about for USA Today and Townhall back in 2015? She tried to make sure that only women were in the women’s locker room at her local Planet Fitness because the disrobing by a transgender man made her feel unsafe – so they canceled her membership. Because of their “no judgment policy.” Isn’t it ironic, don’t you think? Like rain on your wedding day, or a free ride when you’ve already paid.

Where exactly are the true boundaries of that policy, asked Stagno? Do you owe Yvette Cormier an apology? Is your catchy slogan just a façade for getting to unfairly discriminate against cis men?

Nah, Stagno didn’t really ask those questions, because as you may have guessed by now, he isn’t really a journalist. And you know who else really isn’t a journalist? The countless partisan hacks like Tur who light gender differences and the First Amendment on fire daily but won’t be bothered to entertain how Stagno – who may very well be insane – nonetheless just unraveled their entire stupid worldview with one downward dog pose in the nude.

On the one hand, disgusted women who feel unsafe will be protected from the pervs in their midst. On the other hand, disgusted women who feel unsafe will be forced to celebrate the pervs in their midst or else.

There’s only one way such an outcome is possible: The tribalism of those making up rules like “no judgment” is untethered from reason and dangerously out of control. Or as I wrote more than three years ago concerning Yvette Cormier:

The “right side of history” evolves fast. Today’s lunacy is tomorrow’s new normal. That’s because the debate over homosexuality and sexual morality has never really been about “tolerance.” This is really about using whatever means necessary to compel people to believe and practice what you believe. In giving Cormier the boot, Planet Fitness is celebrated for the very acts for which Christians are attacked. That’s why there’s no intellectually honest answer to the question how come Planet Fitness can decide whom it wants to do business with on moral grounds, but a Christian baker or florist cannot.

I’m really sick of being right about stuff like that.

Planet Fitness was full of hypocrites then. It is full of hypocrites now. Because the double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways. If this were not so, that business would have been shut down a long time ago because no one would be caught dead supporting such a silly place.

But we love our hypocrisies. We count on them. We nurture them. And then we wield them as weapons. Even to promote moral madness.

Which brings us back to Stagno, who looks like a 21st-century Rasputin. So perhaps it’s only fitting that the spitting image of the mad monk himself used his psychosis to convict us of our own. (For more from the author of “Man Who Stripped Nude at Planet Fitness Nominated for ‘Journalist of the Year’” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

American Journalism Is Collapsing Before Our Eyes

/0 Comments/in , /by

Donald Trump may or may not fix his campaign, and Hillary Clinton may or may not become the first female president. But something else happening before our eyes is almost as important: the complete collapse of American journalism as we know it.

The frenzy to bury Trump is not limited to the Clinton campaign and the Obama White House. They are working hand-in-hand with what was considered the cream of the nation’s news organizations.

The shameful display of naked partisanship by the elite media is unlike anything seen in modern America.

The largest broadcast networks — CBS, NBC and ABC — and major newspapers like The New York Times and Washington Post have jettisoned all pretense of fair play. Their fierce determination to keep Trump out of the Oval Office has no precedent. (Read more from “American Journalism Is Collapsing Before Our Eyes” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.