311 Comments
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Jim Trageser's avatar

I liked how the lefties on BlueSky were worried CBS would "lose credibility" with Weiss in charge.

Lose credibility?

HOW?

Only 12 percent of Americans currently find the legacy media credible now.

The problem is that too many newsrooms are staffed by Democratic activists cosplaying as journalists.

If those folks quit CBS in protest, that's what we call addition by subtraction.

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Kurt's avatar

Heads better roll at CBS news, starting with 60 Minutes. We’ll know if Bari is serious by how Leslie Stahl behaves regarding Trump. She has doggedly remained flat out wrong for years. Time to clean house!

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Shield of Muffins's avatar

She would have to acknowledge that "the laptop is unverified" was a lie and Trump was right.

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Pacificus's avatar

Bari hates Trump. There will be no disciplining of Stahl for her anti-Trumpism.

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Carrie Crockett's avatar

I don't know if I'd agree with that entirely. I think she has disdain for him but has common sense and, therefore, agrees with some stuff he's doing. Like anti-wokeness. I myself DO read the FP regularly. She wrote she had panicked about the tariffs but was proven wrong--they did work. I think Bari is left-leaning openminded, and I know that sounds oxymoronic at this point...but in her case, I'd say it's true.

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ba ford's avatar

She adores hillary clinton. That is a huge fault

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R H's avatar

Exactly. Talk is cheap. Watch their actions, and we will know soon enough.

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Brian M's avatar

Who would even visit Bluesky?! If Twitter was too conservative for them (it is definitely not) then they do not want opinion, they want an echo chamber that reinforces their self-indulgence

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KARYN TRUITT's avatar

I thought that was kind of the purpose of Blue Sky, a place where wokies didn't have to listen to reason.

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Glau Hansen's avatar

So, like a mirror of truth social?

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KARYN TRUITT's avatar

No. There is logic and reason in the debates, posts and discussions on Truth Social. Blue Sky, meh - not so much.

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Glau Hansen's avatar

I suppose that makes it pretty clear which faction you are a part of.

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KARYN TRUITT's avatar

Yep, I am part of the 'faction' that DOESN'T have blue hair, or a nose ring or a tongue stud, or a rainbow flag, or a car covered with 'tolerate' or 'coexist' stickers, or anger management issues.

MY 'faction' has trade skills or university degrees that actually produce income - and contribute to a productive and profitable society. MY 'faction' has life and business management skills, we don't have to scream at people with 4 letter words to get our points across. MY 'faction' is actually able to research, locate, download and read documents from government and academic websites, understand and analyze them, place them in worldview context, and make rational and logical decisions, in the sphere of reality. And then talk about them.

MY 'faction' is usually willing to have polite and honest discussions with others until or unless they act like judgmental twats - most of us are too busy *working* to deal with crap like that. Have a lovely afternoon... I'm working on a 2 million dollar project, so tata!!

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Gym+Fritz's avatar

Talk, and letters to subordinates, are cheap; let’s wait and see, let’s take a serious look in a year or two and see what Bari does - especially who she hires and fires.

I used to be a big fan of her and Nellie, but then she started to hire key people at TFP who tilted strongly and consistently left, and the way the TFP surreptitiously censored comments was disturbing. I think striking out on her own was pretense, and that Bari had big money backers from the git-go. She was no Sasha Stone.

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Shield of Muffins's avatar

Same. Oliver Wiseman (?) as political reporter was clearly biased and I unsubscribed.

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Dave Sylvester's avatar

TFP never promised no bias, it promised truth, openness, and balance and I believe they have delivered. I don’t believe there are, or ever were, any news sources that are completely unbiased, just those that are transparent about it and those which are not.

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Carrie Crockett's avatar

Yes, as I understood it, the FP promised bias from both sides, which is very different from no bias.

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Gym+Fritz's avatar

Perhaps Oliver will wind up in an important position at CBS, if so . . .

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Carrie Crockett's avatar

The FP HAS had a lot more left-leaning articles in the past few weeks or so. I thought that was because all the serious writers were in negotiations with CBS, or CBS was trying to see how far left they could push the Free Pressers. Not very far, it turns out.

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Kate's avatar

I was one of the first subscribers when it was called Common Sense, but my 4-year subscription is hanging by a thread despite my respect for Bari. I don't mind balancing out the content or having a mix of left and right (after all, TFP's raison d'etre was supposed to be an alternative to the media echo chamber).

But some of the changes over the past 1-2 years have turned me off, like cutting off commenting on articles after 2 days (who has time to read their ever-expanding content right away?) and hiring on establishment liberals like Tina Brown as regular contributors. It's becoming the very thing it was created to be an alternative to. It's grown too big for its own good.

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Tricia's avatar

You are a brave man to venture into Bluesky. I cannot tolerate that echo chamber of mass insanity, hate, death threats and the proud mentally ill.

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Jim Trageser's avatar

Oh, to clarify, I don't have a BlueSky account - I can't imagine I'd last more than 5 minutes before I was banned for wrongthink. Fox or Outkick had a roundup of online posts from various media and political figures, and the ones from BlueSky they included were the most entertaining ...

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Kate's avatar

Magnet for the mentally ill

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JimInNashville's avatar

I remember when Herb Sandler started ProPublica, and there were various pledges of neutrality. The neutrality lasted about 6 weeks. The culture of “professional journalism” is saturated with leftists taught what to think (not how to think) at “schools of journalism.” They believe the test of a great journalist is the Foolitzer Prize count.

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Michael Framson's avatar

I like your math.

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Brian Brother's avatar

Cosplaying journalists. Good ☝️ one!

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Carrie Crockett's avatar

If anybody lost credibility, it was the Free Press. Let us hope we are paranoid and that it remains free.

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Jim Law's avatar

Indeed! Dan Rather is VEWY concerned about CBS loosing its credibility and impartiality! Bahaha!

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Glau Hansen's avatar

Dude, the left abandoned the legacy media, same as the right. That credibility largely reflects affluent centrists.

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Susan Vonder Heide's avatar

Ms. Weiss is not a conservative, but she is not a leftist hack either. I view her appointment with cautious optimism. Time will tell.

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Clarity Seeker's avatar

One things for sure: it can't get much worse than it currently is

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Timothy Grant's avatar

But the Times certainly won't!

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TWC's avatar

Oh please....her 'wife' did the EXACT same shit when she worked for the NYT. These ppl are STILL the PMC, they just sniffed the prevailing winds a bit. Weiss is part of the chattering class, same as she ever was....

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Robird's avatar

Correct. Neither Bari or Nellie want to defeat wokeness, they just want to control it. TFP fairly quickly devolved into a liberal mouthpiece, pretending to be centrist. No real challenges to the progressive orthodoxy, mild resistance to the most extreme positions of the far left.

I would be shocked if CBS demonstrates any significant change, it will not call out the absurd behavior of Newsome, Pritzker, Hochul, Schumer, Jeffries, et.al.

Weiss and company are still of and desire to be included in the East Coast/West Coast liberal elite.

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Matt L.'s avatar

TFP would not touch the latest Russiagate story. Not one line of print about it. That spoke volumes to me about Bari and her true stripes.

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Pacificus's avatar

Proving once again, that Bari is a putz. Spread the word.

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Matt L.'s avatar

She also has never apologized or walked backed publicly calling Tulsi Gabbard an ‘Assad Toadie’

Maybe Bari is waiting to arrive at CBS to do the story on how Nellie’s ‘queen’ Hilary Clinton

manufactured fake evidence of Trump collusion with Russia (Steele dossier) fed it to the FBI, Justice Department, Adam Schiff’s of the world and the MSM, who then used that "evidence" to claim election fraud without investigating the facts.

But I really doubt it.

Bari and TFP refused to touch this story with a 10 foot pole, after they began negotiations w/ Skydance.

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Pacificus's avatar

Check. The idea that Bari Weiss represents some non-woke approach to the news is laughable.. She left the NYT because of her ultra-Zionist views, not because she was "anti-woke."

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Carrie Crockett's avatar

I have ready every TGIF from the Free Press for the past year, and I do think Bari and Nellie are anti-woke. It's these other people that write for them. I don't know. I don't know what to believe. $200 mil is a big payday.

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Heidi Kulcheski's avatar

Exactly, and an ultra zionist owns CBS and gave her millions to lead it forward. At best it's not any worse than the FP now. That's not saying much. It is certainly not a coup for conservative media.

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Baltimoracle's avatar

Boom ! ... everything is even entertained the thought of subscribing, that interaction between Weis & GG would play in my mind and prevent it. Way too many good, worthy journalists to support on SS ( one of 2 i pay for is the Simulation Commander )

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TWC's avatar

Let's not forget Bowles' hit piece on J Peterson either. In his own home!

Both women are insufferable, deceiving ppl

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Kate's avatar

I enjoyed TGIF its first year or so, but stopped reading because she really began to annoy me. It was getting further and further left, and not only that, I can't stand her self-amused, too-cute-by-half writing style.

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B Smith's avatar

Now they have the money to qualify.

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TWC's avatar

Courtesy of Ellison...an Oligarchs Oligarch

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Robird's avatar

Nellie is from a very wealthy San Francisco family.

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B Smith's avatar

Yeah, I read about that.

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Kate Cahill's avatar

except that they are Zionists!

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JT's avatar

Good

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Carrie Crockett's avatar

As much as I do not want to believe that is the key to their official non-left views, it may well be. I've had real laughs from them that proved to me they were able to see things neutrally. But maybe it was an illusion.

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Kate Cahill's avatar

I was a regular subscriber for a while, but left due to censorship. O haven't been able to square their circle of being Zionists , Hilary lovers and generally pretty left wing. Maybe it's all about the power? Politics makes strange bedfellows!

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TWC's avatar

Not inaccurate

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Dennis Chiapello's avatar

Why “wife” with scare quotes? Are they not legally married?

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TWC's avatar

No scare quotes...just quotes. Because wife implies a husband, and there isn't one in this case.

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Dennis Chiapello's avatar

You don’t understand the definition of scare quote. Since we know Bari is a woman, referring to her wife provides all the information one needs. Do you regard them as married or “married?” Would you use air quotes when speaking? Does gay marriage get under your skin, or does your perfectly valid dislike toward Bari simply inspire a bit of snark?

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TWC's avatar
Oct 8Edited

I understand its a loaded term, and not particularly relevant here.

But you do bring up some interesting points. Re: gay marriage, I advocate for it as its ALWAYS been a Civil Rights issue rather than any other political issue. But it does strike me as sorta silly for a gay woman to refer to her legal partner as a wife. Are they both 'wives'? And same re: gay men. Both are 'husbands'? (see what I did there?) Its just silliness. As for snarkiness, you are prob on target, as I don't have a particularly fond view of lesbians. Nor 'journalists' (lol). Generally speaking, ofc. These are my biases, admittedly. However, they have very little bearing on this topic.

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Dennis Chiapello's avatar

So I wasn’t mistaken. You disdain the “silliness” of gay marriage. You also volunteered that you have a predjudice against Lesbians in general. (Don’t use “bias.” Why get all mealymouthed this far in?)

I agree, none of this has any bearing on the topic of Weiss and CBS, but you couldn’t quite stifle it.

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TWC's avatar

You are most definitely mistaken. Whats to stifle? And wtf is ur friggin point here? Are you trying to engage in some 'gotcha' moment? Or some other nonsense?

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B Smith's avatar

I hate to say, this has the ring of truth. At least of some truth. We’ll soon see…

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Princess Thunderbutt's avatar

Agree here.

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JJoshua's avatar

Correct

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Brian M's avatar

A really disgusting post by Ms Testa, whoever the hell she is, or thinks she is. As you say, Sasha, lessons NOT learned by the NYT and never will be. I do not look at Bari as a superstar, though the money says she is. I still see liberal bias in TFP. But at least it is bearable, just not my cup of tea. I let my subscription go. While Bari and Nellie and Suzy shoot mostly straight, a lot of the staff and guest writers do not. There is little balance from the right for the opinion material. It heavily skews left. But I am sure for Bari it feels right down the middle, as compared to the NYT. So I do wish her good luck. But I won't be on board the rest of the way

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Carrie Crockett's avatar

It's weird. Maybe for Bari it feels middle, but the commenters on the FP do not feel that way. If they just listened to their commenters, they'd have the middle voice of America, dammit.

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ba ford's avatar

What is the middle voice of america?

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Carrie Crockett's avatar

I'll take a shot at this. The middle voice of America believes America is essentially a good place where, perhaps more than any other country on Earth, we have a historic responsibility to be a beacon of freedom and opportunity for those willing to work for it.

The middle voice of America does not believe we are inherently an evil country, nor does it believe we are perfect.

It does not believe in wokeness. It also does not believe Trump can do no wrong. It is skeptical and knows when it's being fed bullshit. It believes we have a corruption problem that affects every aspect of our lives down to the food we eat and the air we breathe that may be too deep to uproot but that we have to try.

It may have strong views on certain hot button issues but is accepting and respectful of those who hold other views.

It acknowledges things were not equal for everybody in the past, but it also knows that no country on Earth ever was. It firmly believes as a country we've made a LOT of progress since 1776, 1865, 1965, and that the way forward is through merit-based opportunity and success and not through perpetuating the past with DEI.

It believes in capitalism but not to the point of poisoning our food supply and health and neighborhoods with unchecked greed.

That's my stab at it. I don't know. I'd guess the average American may, at this point, be extremist for one side or the other due to echo chambers and screens.

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Kate's avatar

I couldn't have said this better myself, congratulations

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Mark In Houston's avatar

A good and nuanced view of TFP that while not as biased and left as the NYT - seeks to move the pendulum toward the center. Other organizations are moving there more aggressively.

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Kate's avatar

I think it depends on the issue. When it comes to the transgender nonsense, or Palestine, or cancel culture in education, they are not on the left at all. And they've run very critical articles about NPR, and other whistle blowing stories. These things are why I've kept my subscription this long. Now that Paramount is taking over TFP, I'll wait and see. I'm not hopeful.

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Princess Thunderbutt's avatar

Agree here very much. I listened to a show w Bari and Nellie. Way Left discussing their relationship and marriage. They are rather left of…left. Bari is mediocre and is a media darling.

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Ruth H's avatar

Still not watching CBS News. Maybe in a year after the current staff is cleared out or they learn how to actually report the news.

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Tricia's avatar

I wrote in a comment section somewhere else that (pardon my vulgarity) there is no way in Hell I will ever watch the lying legacy media ever again. That includes CBS.

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Ruth H's avatar

I’m right there with you.

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Roger Beal's avatar

Why return? The past two decades have shown us where to go to find actual reportage, and on-the-scene video, and cogent opinions. Let the media dinosaurs wallow in the tar pit they made for themselves.

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Ruth H's avatar

Very true.

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DarkSkyBest's avatar

I am curious as to the age and location of the remaining legacy media viewers. Old and coastal?

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Brian DeLeon's avatar

Yes, exactly. If I hear reports that CBS News is covering stories the corporate media is currently not covering, that they are being more honest in their coverage of the the center right in this country, I might tune in now and again . Until then, the TV remains off.

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Ruth H's avatar

I seriously doubt they will learn real reporting, so it’s a big maybe, more likely still won’t be watching.

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Dawn Hoffman's avatar

Excellent commentary!

We all need to pray for Bari Weiss. Pray for wisdom and protection as she works to change the culture at CBS. She is off to a good start with her letter.

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Princess Thunderbutt's avatar

She will not be praying for you, however bc of how left she leans.

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Sally Sue's avatar

I agree. I will be praying for her.

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D Parker's avatar

The national socialist media is having a problem with not being able to maintain leftist lies.

Too bad.

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Christopher Kruger's avatar

I love Sasha, and still will-

Bari Weiss is a foreign agent.

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Andrew Collins's avatar

I started off really liking Bari. Until I saw her on Rogan where she claimed Tulsi Gabbard was a Russian asset.

Foreign agent? Probably not. A Leftist trying to pass as a "reasonable" journalist? More likely.

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Cynicon Implant's avatar

Nailed it. From the way she talked about Tulsi it was clear that the only info she had on her was from the chatter within Bari's circle. She even said something like "everyone knows she (Gabbard) is horrible." When Rogan pushed her on why she was horrible, Weiss had nothing. That moment confirmed my suspicions that Bari's move was really just reading the winds of change and taking advantage of it.

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Christopher Kruger's avatar

How she got on the editorial board of the New York Times by the age of 30:

As a college student, she attacked Palestinian academics for opposing Israel and saying she felt unsafe - sound familiar? Not sure Sasha knows/knew about that.

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Princess Thunderbutt's avatar

Exactly.

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Christopher Kruger's avatar

I was talking about FARA and the State of Israel...but you are correct about Tulsi as well..

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Princess Thunderbutt's avatar

Watched that too. Meh Bari Lefty.

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MyOpinion's avatar

Wow! What (another) story!

Every Sunday night I watched "tick...tick...tick", otherwise called 60. I thought there stories were so interesting....and true. My favorite person was Dan Rather.

On the evening of Sept. 8, 2004, I was curled up in my favorite chair with a bag of heavily buttered popcorn in my lap and an open bottle of Pepsi on a table next to me. It was my normal habit.

Dan Rather began asking questions and handing documents to his guest.....President George W. Bush.

Less than 2 months before the presidential election, Rather presented a 60 Minutes report containing memos (or letters) that criticized GWB's military service with the TX AIR National Guard. Rather claimed the documents had been written some 30 years prior by GWB's commanding officer.

To this day.....I can see the dismayed look on GWB's face and the disdain for GWB on Rather's face.

Seemingly, Rather hated GWB. Here was the problem. Rather hadn't (couldn't) authenticate the documents and was misled by his "source".

Eventually, Rather was fired.

I credit Dan Rather for 2 things: 1) He broke my habit of watching 60 Minutes and 2) caused me to never watch CBS again.

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Gary W.'s avatar

Rather going after Bush's NG service was a laugh, since Dan included in his 2012 book a photograph of of himself in Marine dress blues with the caption, "As a young Marine". Later it was revealed that he had been discharged after only one week.

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Cranky Frankie's avatar

One of the all time great face plants in journalistic history. Whoever passed those documents to Rather knew he was an easy mark but wasn't smart enough to create the docs on old machinery. Or maybe it was someone who wanted to torch Rather, knowing he couldn't resist and that the fraud would be quickly discovered. Did Rather ever reveal his source?

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Brian DeLeon's avatar

“Kenneth, what’s the frequency?”

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Matt L.'s avatar

“You said that irony was the shackles of youth, uh-huh”

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Senectus-Mundi's avatar

“You wore a shirt of violent green, uh-huh

I couldn't understand

I never understood, don't fuck with me, uh-huh”

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Matt L.'s avatar

Michael Stipe was part of my childhood cosmic backseat education. The End of the World as we Know It is another song that seems to randomly pop into my head from time to time.

“Six o'clock, T.V. hour, don't get caught in foreign tower

Slash and burn, return, listen to yourself churn”

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Dr Amelia's avatar

It was the Tom Cotton piece that got me cancelled when I was in medical school. I read it without a point of view, unaware of the NYT “preferred” opinion and posted something about it on Facebook and I was promptly called a racist. People told me I was not allowed to have an opinion and to shut up. I was suddenly some ignorant piece of garbage that had to be removed unfriended, or educated with articles from the Atlantic that told me not to compare the riots of 2020 to Jan 6 because, reasons…. The legacy media is the enemy of the people. It is what divides America. I wish Bari luck but if what she faces at CBS is the same mindset at NYT and other legacy outlets, I don’t think she will be able right the ship.

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William Skelley's avatar

I been around this country and many other countries I have seen, talked to and can gauge what other people think about a lot of different subjects. The NYT needs to get some of their writers out and get a different perspective of life in this world than the Progressive/Left leaning one.

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TWC's avatar

Lol. You're hilarious. Maybe the BBC and Reuters will change too, huh? Cmon, man....these 'institutions' exist for the very reason to control narratives. Thats it....always has been.

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ba ford's avatar

Too late

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Kate's avatar

The Washington Post is currently doing this - supposedly

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Jen Todd's avatar

The Free Press couldn't be bothered to accurately report a story. The critical detail they always decided to leave out would blow-up their reporting had they actually cared about truthfulness. They wouldn't even mention inconvenient stories that upended their unwavering devotion to Hillary, Biden, Kamala. Russian collusion, what? Open border, where? The comment section was more informed when they weren't being censored or banned.

Bari Wiess is lipstick on a pig. She won't change anything about CBS because she and her wife are the same old-same old that ill-liberalism counts on.

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BD's avatar
Oct 7Edited

You are probably correct. But I do hope some things do improve. And the effect on ABC and NBC may do some good. We can hope. And I do like Bari's letter. Again, is it all smoke and mirrors? One thing is certain...the alphabet media is on the way out unless they do a big turn around.

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Louisa Enright's avatar

Yes, Weiss is "lipstick on a pig." I left TFP. Very few facts or objectivity there--and they censor comments. Weiss and Bowles won't change anything. Anywhere. They can't as they operate with blinders on.

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ba ford's avatar

Exactly

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Ree T.'s avatar

💯

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Marsali S.'s avatar

I wish Bari well in her new endeavor and I hope she’s successful. I never watch anything on the networks except for the NFL, so I can’t really speak to what’s on there. It seems like a good culture change though, and I hope Bari can pull it off.

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Daniel Beegan's avatar

Well said Sasha Stone.

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Unwoke in Idaho's avatar

There is one thing Weiss could do right off the bat, should she actually want to purvey the truth, is show the ant ICE rioters in all their glory from Portland. To show the insurrectionist language they use, their violent tactics, their hate.

Bet she won’t.

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Kate's avatar

Megyn Kelly does

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Sharon ShihTzu's avatar

I wish Bari wisdom, grit and some psychological sophistication. Changing a culture ie shifting the assumptions and values that members of the culture hold is one of the most difficult and challenging endeavors one can undertake.

I hope she is successful and in order to be so she may have to fire a large swath of the current work force that brings us the "news."

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