Left Wing “Gotcha Journalism” Is Not OK Either

             A documentary filmmaker and self-described “advocacy journalist,” posing as a Catholic conservative, secretly recorded the private thoughts of Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts and Associate Justice Alito, as well as the wife of Judge Alito at a private reception. See https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/10/us/politics/supreme-court-alito.html.

             The off the record comments are quite striking: Judge Alito truly does not believe in the Constitutional, Originalist, and Jeffersonian principle that Church and State must be separate.  He appears to favor jurisprudence based on Christian values replacing the rule of law. His wife seemed ready to take on anyone who rejects her flag waving and beliefs. See https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/10/us/politics/alito-pride-flag.html.

             I do not believe such privacy invasions constitute any sort of public service and ethical journalism.  It does not matter if a right-wing agent provocateur captures unguarded opinions of a prolife advocate, or a left wing fake journalist encourages senior public figures to speak candidly.

             Off the record, whether by explicit instructions, or fundamental fairness, means there can be no record or disclosure. No if, ands, or buts.

             On the other hand, it’s fair game to report what a public figure drops his guard and expresses heart felt, off the wall opinions.  Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s claimed that the allegations of sexual misconduct against him were being carried out as part of vast left-wing conspiracy:

 “This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit,” he said, “fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election, fear that has been unfairly stoked about my judicial record, revenge on behalf of the Clintons and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups.” https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/28/us/politics/kavanaugh-testimony-supreme-court.html 

            Currently, anonymous donors to right wing Political Action Committees, have funded nonstop, snarky advertisements attacking resident Biden as dishonest or demented. That speech narrowly fits within First Amendment protection. When The Wall Street Journal, Fox, and Sinclair add their considerable voice to the dementia claim, I wonder if vast right-wing conspiracy has highjacked the First Amendment.

Even the News Side of The Wall Street Journal Embraces Partisanship

The Wall Street Journal claims to have bright line separation between its partisan editorial side and its straight shooting news operation.  Don't buy it!

In a biased hit job, the Journal wants every voter to believe its conclusion that President Biden's mental acuity has declined significantly.  See Journal Hit Job Sinclair and Fox have repackaged the fake news account into a fake broadcast news account of its own. See, e.g.,  Hit Piece Repackaged

I have relied on the Journal to provide fair and unbiased journalism separate from its partisan editorials.  The Biden piece does not pass muster on fairness, because the reporters failed to include comments from Democrat interviewees that dispute the basic premise of the piece. See, e.g., So Much for Unbiased Reporting

Apparently, it's quite okay for robust, newly remarried, 93 year old Rupert Murdoch to stay involved in Fox management, but a younger Joe Biden is quite demented and unqualified to do anything coherent. So concludes a quite powerful assemblage of media outlets purporting to be fair and balanced.