President Joe Biden claims he never had business talks with his son.
Maybe he didn’t. Hunter Biden might have been paid half-million dollars by the Ukrainian gas companies because he has unique business abilities that no one else notices. It’s possible. But unlikely.
A Justice Department investigation could reveal whether Hunter Biden was a sleazy opportunist and whether his father knew or helped. But equally revealing is the arrogance and bias the reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop revealed among wide swaths of media and big tech gatekeepers.
Many people won’t admit that they were wrong even today. The laptop story was first reported by the New York Post at the end of the presidential campaign. The story was explosive and intense media coverage ensued. Some piled on Hunter Biden and more piled onto the New York Post.
They questioned both the authenticity of the hard disk and the timing and accuracy in the story. Twitter blocked the story’s sharing. Facebook hidden the story. Politico said it might be “Russian disinformation.” A Washington Post column called it “laughably weak.” A New York Times piece labeled it “farcical retread of the Russian hack-and-leak operation that helped torpedo Hillary Clinton’s presidential aspirations.”
The story was ridiculed and buried. Today, nearly a year later, The Washington Post & The New York Times acknowledge that the main parts of the story were correct.
Do you know what they haven’t said? “Sorry. We cannot stand the idea of another Trump term, so we didn’t report on bad things Democrats did.”
The Washington Post finally wrote that the way the media handled the story was an “opportunity for a reckoning.” But then they spent the rest of its editorial making excuses for its mistakes.
No one was fired. No one was suspended. No policy was altered.
This is not a new phenomenon. Facebook has blocked any mention of the theory COVID-19 might have been leaked from an academic lab for months. Most media sneered that it was “fake news.” The Washington Post called it “a fringe theory.” The New York Times, a “conspiracy theory.” PolitiFact rated it “Pants on Fire!”
Facebook’s censorship was only lifted after the Biden administration claimed that there may have been a laboratory leak.
Did Facebook say, “Sorry. We shouldn’t censor such important discussion?” No. Did we hear apologetic comments from MSNBC and CNN? They must have gone unnoticed.
Maybe none of this is a big deal to you, but it’s a big deal to me. I make my living uploading videos to digital platforms. Two videos I made suggested climate change fears were exaggerated. I didn’t say climate change isn’t real. I didn’t say it won’t cause problems. In fact, I said it’s already caused problems. But because I said the fear might be overblown, Facebook’s climate-activist “fact-checkers” make sure fewer people see my work.
I used to get millions of views on Facebook. But not anymore. Nothing I’d said in my climate videos was wrong. In one case, Facebook’s own fact-checker admitted that I didn’t get any facts wrong. Still, Facebook continues to smear my work as “partly false.”
Facebook even quoted me saying something that I never said! Facebook doesn’t make the correction even though I point it out.
Facebook, Twitter, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, NBC, Poynter Institute “fact-checkers” and most of the elite media are now part information-sharers, part leftist interest groups.
I’m neither Democrat nor Republican. I don’t obsess over whether Hunter Biden got paid to do sleazy things and whisper in his father’s ear. If he did, I doubt he had much influence. I feel far more threatened when America’s Big Media don’t report facts, don’t speak up when censors are wrong, and don’t remove mistakes when they’re caught making them.
We teach our little children to apologize for their mistakes. Is it too much to ask our media and social media giants?
COPYRIGHT 2022 BY JFSPRODUCTIONS INC.
The Daily Signal offers a variety perspectives. This article is not meant to represent the views of The Heritage Foundation.
Do you have a comment about this article? Please email to share your thoughts. [email protected] and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Be sure to include the article’s URL, headline, and your name.
