How Joe Biden’s White House Continues To Feed the Swamp Media
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This post would be very embarrassing if it were about true journalism. But it’s about CNN.
You’ve probably been reading my colleagues’ coverage here, here, And here The turmoil that erupted this year at the cable news pioneer channel.
Its new owners, who may or may not have done due diligence on CNN’s journalism, are trying to turn the network from a Democrat propaganda channel back into an actual news network. That’s because, without Donald Trump to bash, their ratings are abysmal. Or that’s the line anyway.
Chris Licht, a TV veteran, was appointed to lead the operation. However, a CNN news article revealed just how much work he has left to do.
The headline was created to sound like an exclusive, but it didn’t say so. “First on CNN: Top Biden adviser’s end-of-year memo celebrates president’s ‘strong jolt of momentum’ heading into 2023.”
Here’s a thought: It may have been exclusive because no other outfit would touch it.
The story purports to reveal an internal memo written by Mike Donilon, a longtime Joe Biden adviser, that claims to be a status report on where the 46th president’s administration stands as it begins the second half of its term. Predictably, it’s quite rosy.
Even pretend journalists in Washington can find themselves in danger from alleged leaks such as these. The leaker usually uses the journalist to spread information that helps him, a specific cause, damages an inner rival or serves some other hidden purpose.
Perhaps you recall Donald Trump being available to the media every day, sometimes multiple times per day. Not so with Joe Biden, who can’t handle free-wheeling, unexpected questions. He simply walks away when he has no answer, claiming he’s late for a meeting, which he always is anyway.
Biden aides offer exclusives only to select outlets. Reporters love self-serving articles in the DC hothouse. “news.”
I understand how leakage works. As a government or campaign spokesman, I’ve given my fair share of information to a reporter or two. It was news, but also made me and my boss look good. With a wink, a government official handed me this document. “See that you suppress this widely.”
News consumers cannot know the motive or judge the credibility of such leaks because the source – “a senior White House official” or some such person — goes unidentified.
Leaks during Trump’s term usually turned out to be negative about him, designed to feed the establishment’s narrative about the man who’d promised to drain the Swamp. Which, did you know, the District of Columbia actually was when Maryland happily gave it up for the new country’s new capital in 1790?
The CNN story that was recently published was however very different. The story was described as “uncovering an unknown”. “Exclusive” insider memo written by a senior Biden adviser obtained by savvy journalists was in reality simply a PR puff sheet hailing his boss’s great achievements this year and the immense promise of the new year.
The CNN story opened:
One of President Joe Biden’s top advisers is underscoring the president’s political durability and touting a “strong jolt of momentum” Biden begins the second half of his term.
That’s according to a memo from Mike Donilon, a senior adviser to Biden who wrote the note that was circulated to allies Monday morning and shared with CNN.
“We see,” Donilon wrote “the President’s approval rating on the upswing, a resilient economic climate, and strong support for the President’s agenda.”
This isn’t journalism. It’s supporters’ stenography.
The same CNN reported Recent research shows that around 60% of Democrats are aware of this. Not Biden would be a good choice for their 2024 ticket. This is roughly the same percentage as Republicans who prefer a non Trump candidate. That’s not Donilon’s “strong support.” It’s wishful delusion.
Donilon, a DC veteran, knew that Donilon’s heartfelt, gratuitous praises for a president who loses himself on a stage or reading from a teleprompter would almost immediately find its way into the media. It is possible he even suggested it.
There’s a Washington adage that if you want something to get around quickly, give it to someone on Capitol Hill and call it “Confidential.”
Donilon also knew that if he put such political poof material in a standard news release, it would see only the Trash file of every media email and thus, fail to fool any news consumers about the amazingly successful job his 80-year-old boss thinks he’s doing.
However, the CNN team of journalists (apparently it only took two to create this rewrite) disagreed.
The memo captures a view inside the White House that Biden ends the year in the best position he’s held since his first six months in office, carrying with him a list of concrete legislative accomplishments that officials are planning to highlight throughout the months ahead.
Because, thanks to a Republican-controlled House, Bidenites won’t have much else to talk about in coming months, except GOP “obstruction.”
You can see that the commander in Chief is currently on an extended vacation.
The president decided not to visit Buffalo, a blizzard-stricken city where at least 34 people have been killed in more than four feet snow.
Biden instead flew his family and friends on Air Force One to the Virgin Islands for one week. The two-day workweek was just too exhausting.
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