CNN chief Jeff Zucker reminds me of a James Bond villain, specifically Elliot Carver, the media megalomaniac in “Tomorrow Never Dies” played so memorably by Jonathan Pryce. If you recall, Carver manufactures chaos and sews the seeds of disaster to the benefit of his news empire.
The only difference between Carver and Zucker is that Carver was after big ratings. Zucker is only after enough ratings to stay afloat. What he really wants is what Obama and all of the left want: political change through social division and chaos.
Zucker’s henchman Chris Cuomo wrapped up a week of doing his part to stoke violence and destruction in the predominantly black, working class neighborhood of Ferguson with a rousing and self-serving defense of his profession, where he warned that bashing the media could be “dangerous.”
In the language of a James Bond film, this is the scene where the arch-villain monologues and justifies his villainy:
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We’re always talking about political correctness. It seems the media is one of the last places you can go and just bash all you want, all across the range, and it’s still okay. But it’s also a little dangerous because it’s one of the best freedoms we have here, guys. …
I think people make a mistake seeing the media as a monolith. It isn’t. You gotta judge every outlet, every journalist on their own merits.
In Cuomo’s defense, he had just gone through three long days villainy — of aiding and abetting his network’s stirring up of hate and division in someone else’s neighborhood, and Cuomo was undoubtedly looking forward to returning to his own personal Ivory Tower (a hollowed-out volcano, perhaps?) for a picture-perfect Thanksgiving in a neighborhood where the dreams of who-knows-how-many black people are not smoldering. Nonetheless, what poppycock.
It’s pretty easy to make the fascist argument against criticizing the media when you are surrounded only by other members of the elite media and a Democrat lawmaker, but apparently Cuomo believes “the media” should not be held to the same standards the media holds “Republicans,” “conservatives,” the “Tea Party,” “Christians,” and “the police” to — and those are just a few examples of where CNN and other mainstream media outlets “generalize” and “bash” away.
Your rules, not ours.
Secondly, like SPECTRE, The Media is a monolith made up of separate criminal corrupt organizations. It is not a coincidence the mainstream media as a whole all focus on the same stories with the same perspective.
This is called The Narrative.
Sometimes this happens due to the fact that the media is staffed mostly with provincial leftists who all think alike and wouldn’t know real life if it kissed them on the mouth. Also, there is undoubtedly no small amount of conspiring and coordination within this monolith. Timing is crucial in creating a Narrative. Watch Twitter. These people talk to, agree with, and seek the good approval of those they are supposed to be competing with.
Finally, most of those criticizing the media come from another part of the media — new media. And even if Cuomo doesn’t, we believe the media should at the very least be held to the same standard the media holds everyone else to. And as we can see in the smoldering ghost town that is Ferguson today, the mainstream media is a dangerous, biased, and reckless institution that needs to be held accountable.
Cuomo then attacks this strawman:
What happens when something goes wrong and there’s nobody there to shine a light on it? Do you think it usually increases the chances that the right thing happens?
I don’t know of a single media critic, blogger, or American who is making the argument that the media should not cover stories like the shooting of Michael Brown.
No one’s making that argument.
No one.
But it’s so much easier to debate a manufactured point-of-view than a real one.
What we are asking for is responsible and truthful coverage. What we are asking is that media not stoke violence by ginning up a black victim vs. white cop narrative before all the evidence is in. What we want is for the media to wait for facts before speculating about Gentle Giants, especially when we are talking about the safety and well-being of a neighborhood. And while we’re at it, how about not justifying and rationalizing savage looters and arsonists who rampage through that neighborhood?
To men like Zucker black life truly is cheap. Let’s not forget that it was Officer Darren Wilson who spent years in Ferguson risking his own life to keep the citizens of that city safe — and for helluva lot less money than Zucker and Cuomo pull down. It was millionaires Zucker and Cuomo who rode into town to shoot the place up.
Our James Bond villain and his henchman, without knowing all the facts, viciously and without let-up stirred the racial pot in Ferguson — and it’s only black lives that suffer.
The media rationalizes, justifies, and encourage riots in a black working class neighborhoods — and it’s only black lives that suffer.
The media promotes and cheerleads the lie that racism still has Mississippi burning and that black Americans can hardly ever achieve the American Dream because the white man has the system rigged — and it’s only black lives that suffer.
For months CNN and the rest of the media proved they believe black lives are cheap by pouring the gasoline of lies, speculation, and division down the streets of a small city.
The media didn’t cover the news in Ferguson, the media committed evil in Ferguson.
Truth-telling only feels like bashing when you’re the villain.
John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC
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