We write about controversial topics here at PJ Media and a lot of people don’t like it. Those who would control The Narrative brook no deviation from their telling of news about the Chinese coronavirus, the 2020 presidential election, Big Tech censorship, and the evils of cancel culture. The mainstream media, along with their lapdog fact-checkers, who, if you pressed them, would admit they don’t believe in transcendent absolute truth, nevertheless screech endlessly about disinformation and insist they alone are qualified to separate fact from fiction. That’s why we need you to join our team in this fight.
Last week, some intrepid fact-checkers employed by Facebook slapped a “Misleading” label on a Wall Street Journal opinion piece by Marty Makary, a professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, who claimed that the U.S. will likely reach herd immunity by April. The fact-checkers rounded up three experts of their own who claim that Makary is wrong. No doubt Makary could find a dozen or more experts who agree with his assertions, but none of that matters. The fact-checkers have spoken and there’s no disputing their omnipotent proclamations, at least on Facebook. If you post the WSJ opinion piece to your Facebook page, everyone who sees it will be warned: “Missing Context. Independent fact-checkers say this information could mislead people.”
On social media, The Narrative prevails—always. Big Tech giants control the platforms, control what you’re allowed to see, and, if we’re honest, control what huge swaths of the American people believe, not just about COVID, but about the 2020 election, the January 6 attack on the Capitol, the transgender revolution, and any number of left-wing pet projects.
You may have read about Donald McNeil Jr., a 45-year New York Times veteran reporter, who was fired forced to resign from the Times after some young punks in the newsroom tattled to The Daily Beast that McNeil had used the N-word in a conversation with teens in 2019. McNeil most certainly was not using the word as a racial slur, and NYT executive editor Dean Baquet knew it. He told the reporter, “I know you’re not a racist… but you’ve lost the newsroom. A lot of your colleagues are hurt. A lot of them won’t work with you. Thank you for writing the apology. But we’d like you to consider adding to it that you’re leaving.”
Disagreeing With Biden’s Transgender Policy Is ‘Incitement’ Now? Facebook Says So…
Baquet’s cowardice is disgraceful, but, as Nancy Rommelmann explains at Newsweek, there’s a climate of fear controlling the decision-making in newsrooms and elsewhere:
It’s a climate of fear, and it’s infected the top brass. Whether staff at the Times are in earnest about their fears or whether it’s a tactic to rid the paper of those they don’t want around (or both) doesn’t really matter; people operating from a place of fear make terrible choices. They’ve become scared of their own shadows, of the person in the next cubicle, of unknowingly saying or doing something that will end their careers. Better to join the crowd, to claim to be in pain, to turn pain into a shield and then into a weapon used to intimidate others. After all, pain brooks no questions.
“It’s a blood sport: career cannibalism,” she added. “And it’s on steroids at the New York Times, once the nation’s top paper.” Baquet is just hoping the cancel-culture crocodiles will eat him last.
Here at PJ Media, we believe that you, our readers, are intelligent enough to decide for yourselves what the truth is. We don’t treat you like children who need to be shielded from differing opinions or unpleasant facts. Our contributors have great respect for one another, even when we don’t agree. We’re not sneaking around trying to destroy each other or advance our careers at the expense of our colleagues. Longtime PJ Media readers know we’ve long been committed to debating the issues of the day honestly, disagreeing respectfully, but banding together when we must.
But we can’t do it alone. Big Tech censorship continues apace and we’re not immune from the harmful effects of the suppression of conservative thought.
That’s why I’m asking for your help today.
We created our VIP membership program so that like-minded conservatives who value free speech and truth-telling can support our efforts to expose the Left and fight their radical policies and edicts. By becoming a VIP member you become a partner with us in the battle for the heart and soul of our country. With your help, we’ll continue to bring you the news, opinion, and investigative reporting you’ve come to expect from PJ Media. To thank you for your support you’ll have access to exclusive articles and podcasts at PJ Media, all without ads. VIP GOLD members receive access to the aforementioned benefits at the other Townhall Media sites as well—Townhall, RedState, Hot Air, Twitchy, and Bearing Arms—plus members-only live chats with Townhall media personalities, including PJ Media’s Steve Green, Stephen Kruiser, and Bryan Preston; Townhall’s Katie Pavlich, Kurt Schlichter, and Larry O’Connor; Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey; Bearing Arms’ Cam Edwards; and RedState’s Jen Van Laar, Kira Davis, Brandon Morse, and many more.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member