When Joe Biden takes office, news organizations largely run by coastal elite liberals will be under a microscope, while media watchers are eager to see if the press vitriol will continue from the Trump years or if the Democratic government will receive the flattering coverage of the Obama years.
After four years in which President Trump stirred the pot and called on the left media at every step, the first indications point to the latter.
We’ve seen a Biden consultant thank MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle for her “defense” and “help”, Twitter censorship potentially damning stories about Biden’s family, brilliant articles about new Vice President Kamala Harris, the Washington Post celebrates the return of “reality-based briefings” and chyrons on the CNN screen change the sarcastic tone used to cover the president for the past four years – and Biden hasn’t even slept in the White House yet.
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Conservatives expect the mainstream media to flatter President-elect Joe Biden and vice-president-elect Kamala Harris. (AP Photo / Andrew Harnik)
CNN’s David Chalian said on Tuesday that the side lights of the National Mall’s reflecting pool are like “extensions of Joe Biden’s arms hugging America,” anchors Jake Tapper and Don Lemon looked dizzy after Tapper ended an interview with Biden and Harris and correspondent Shimon Prokupecz tweeted, “Let healing begin. We need it ”, on the eve of Induction Day.
Chuck Todd of NBC was recently called on his own show for ignoring Hunter Biden’s controversy during the 2020 presidential election and New York Times editor Lauren Wolfe was mocked on social media on Tuesday for exaggerating Biden’s arrival at the Andrews Joint Base.
“I have chills,” she tweeted, prompting some to remember the famous observation by then MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews that he was “thrilled” [his] leg “listening to an Obama campaign speech in 2008.
Jeff Zeleny, then a reporter for the New York Times, asked President Obama at the beginning of his presidency what “charmed” him most about this position. The question even drew a malicious smile from Obama himself and is remembered as a microcosm of the way the press facilitated the work of the beloved Democratic media.
NewsBusters editor-in-chief Curtis Houck expects similar treatment from Biden.
“Zeleny’s delighted question will always be close to the top of the easiest questions ever, so it will be difficult to win. But they will certainly try to ask him questions in 100 days if the presidency has been more difficult than he imagined,” Houck told Fox News.
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“They can ask him how much he has changed during those 100 days, if he is more deeply in love with America, which means restoring America’s support among the elites,” continued Houck. “But most of all, take any softball that anyone can consider for Biden and expand it by at least ten for those that Vice President Harris will receive. ABC, CNN and PBS, to name a few, must have an ongoing competition for see who will be the biggest suck-up of the government. “
The Biden government need not worry about CNN’s Jim Acosta, as the aggressive reporter has been removed from his White House duties.
((Photo / Manuel Balce Ceneta))
CNN has already transferred former White House correspondent Jim Acosta, who spent four years bombing Trump and members of his administration with aggressive issues that were considered by many to be arrogant. Critics think taking Acosta out of the White House is a sign that the hyperpartisan network is preparing to facilitate the Biden government.
DePauw University professor and media critic Jeffrey McCall believes the Biden government offers traditional media a “great opportunity to recalibrate and return to the days when journalistic balance was the norm and a supposed sense of objectivity was expected” , but he thinks most reporters simply praise the Democratic president at every step.
“The media generally flattered President Obama and then criticized Trump on most occasions. But Biden is not Obama or Trump, so here’s the opening for the media to consciously move away from journalistic activism and go where the facts of the Biden government lead. Unfortunately, it already seems that the mainstream media is not willing to look in the mirror and cover the Biden administration with careful scrutiny, “McCall told Fox News.
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He said the plot created by the press is less about what Biden is doing than what Trump did or failed to do.
“Biden’s narrative is projected at each stage as a counterpoint to Trump’s agenda, with the assumption that Biden’s steps are correct, even before there is enough time to fully assess his success,” McCall continued. “It looks like the traditional media will give the Biden government a very smooth ride and little scrutiny. This is not necessarily because Biden may be doing a great job, but because he cannot be criticized without possibly putting the Trump administration in a favorable retrospective light. “
Cornell Law School professor and media critic William A. Jacobson echoed the theory that Biden’s coverage will be designed to further tarnish Trump.
“Media coverage in a Biden government will have a consistent structure: Biden is responsible for everything that goes wrong, and Trump is to blame for everything that goes wrong,” Jacobson told Fox News.
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While some fear that the Biden government will not be fully held accountable by the mainstream media, others fear that censorship of conservatives will only intensify.
The tech industry began to crack down on rhetoric by Trump and many of his supporters after the deadly Capitol riot on January 6. Twitter permanently banned the president, and Parler – a non-partisan social media platform popular with conservatives – was quickly banned by Amazon Web Services. While Biden takes office, liberal reporters from CNN and other progressive media are calling for additional censorship, such as cable providers that can take conservative content off the air.
Babylon Bee’s CEO, Seth Dillon, runs a satirical news organization that regularly mocks the mainstream media, which he watches closely as part of his role. Babylon Bee’s recent comic headlines include: “Depressed Brian Stelter spends all day hitting the Refresh on Trump’s Twitter page” and “BLM celebrates MLK’s birthday by dropping a statue of him”.
Although Dillon’s website is intended to provide humor, he was very serious in warning about the additional censorship that could happen during the Biden government.
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“The left has been reinvigorated by Trump’s departure from office and the violent conduct of some of his supporters on Capitol Hill. They see an opportunity to tighten control of power by taking more control of public speaking,” Dillon told Fox News.
“The media is echoing Democrats’ pleas in Congress for more censorship – under the guise of applying community standards – and Big Tech is out there carrying out its orders with joy,” said Dillon. “What happened to Trump and Parler is just the beginning, and I have no doubt that the media will make it their goal during the Biden government to ensure that public opinion supports Big Tech’s tyranny. They are already working overtime to convince us it’s all for our own good. “
Conservative advocate and podcast host Kyle Kashuv thinks it’s all about ratings and web traffic, which will result in the mainstream media treating Biden and other Democrats with kid gloves.
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“I would like to say that the media will begin to repair its destroyed credibility among the American people – made indisputable by its coordinated minimization of leftist disturbances during the summer that set dozens of cities on fire, destroyed thousands of small businesses, caused billions in damage, and left innocent Americans killed, “Kashuv told Fox News when asked what he expects from the press when Biden takes office.
“For four years, the media lit up that the United States is bad, that the Americans are deplorable and that the Constitution is a dangerous document,” Kashuv continued. “Going forward, the media can choose clicks or awareness – they are looking for clicks.”
Joseph A. Wulfsohn of Fox News contributed to this report.