The gatekeepers are very mad. Recently, two of CNN’s testosterone-challenged talking heads, Brian Stelter and Jim Acosta, whined about Joe Rogan’s popularity and how problematic it was. Stelter asserted that CNN has entire departments devoted to fact-checking while Rogan is a one-man show. Clearly, CNN would be superior for the unwashed masses. Yet, they prefer listening to Rogan by a factor of roughly 100 compared to most CNN shows, and this worries Acosta and Stelter. The entire segment was so ridiculous that comedian Russell Brand devoted several minutes to mocking it on his podcast.
Then today, there was a candid and revealing exchange between NBC’s Stephanie Ruhle and tiresome anti-Trump columnist Max Boot. Boot wrote the same pathetic article he has been writing since President Trump won the Republican primary. Once again, he is lamenting the fact that large segments of America no longer listen to the creatures that inhabit the Acela corridor.
Boot has never engaged in the amount of self-reflection it would take to understand that his policy prescriptions haven’t changed since the end of the Cold War, and most Americans have moved on. The Washington Post values him (after Trump completely broke him), assuming he has some great insight into how his former fellow travelers in the Republican Party think. The truth is that has not been the case for decades. Ruhle, a fellow corporate media elite, decided to commiserate with Boot:
Joe Rogan.
Much like DJT, it's about the size & power of its his audience/base more than it is him.
Spotify would not drop $100mil Rogan if his audience was not worth double that. https://t.co/Gj98UdPqt8— Stephanie Ruhle (@SRuhle) February 8, 2022
Of course, Boot couldn’t just leave Ruhle’s observation alone. He had to comment and, in doing so, he clearly stated what has CNN’s chief donut taster and MSNBC’s morning anchor so upset:
Giving people what they want may be good business but it’s not necessarily good for society. That’s why the lack of gatekeepers is a big problem. https://t.co/1TysKZnheT
— Max Boot (@MaxBoot) February 8, 2022
Boot is engaging in the same thinking that Communists and Democrats often do. The average citizen does not know what is best for him or her and cannot be trusted to make good choices. Without careful management by the experts, the plebs are liable to act against their own interests and engage in frivolous pastimes. Only Boot and people he approves of are qualified to tell you what to think and control the flow of information to ensure you are not exposed to alternative points of view. Boot and his friends know they can’t trust you to come to the correct conclusion.
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This arrogance permeated the entire pandemic response. Elites told Americans to ignore things about the human body we have known for centuries, and that lifelong bureaucrats know better than you. Some scientists were better than others. People in lab coats who hadn’t touched a patient in decades knew more about how to care for patients than clinicians who looked them in the eye every day.
As the entire COVID-19 narrative collapses amid blue state governors abruptly lifting restrictions, an even larger share of Americans are skeptical of anointed “experts.” Many are looking for the information the “gatekeepers” have kept from them. As many of them look around at the damage lockdowns and restrictions have wrought on their children and their communities, the idea of self-appointed experts acting as gatekeepers who determine the bounds of civic discourse is absurd.
In the Twitter conversation, it also never occurs to Ruhle to contemplate why Rogan commands the audience he does. She is correct in her assessment that Spotify values the size of Rogan’s following. But it is the following Rogan built. Like Trump, Rogan resonates with an incredible cross-section of America. Just as President Trump increased his support from minority voters in 2020 despite constant charges of racism levied by every cultural institution, Rogan will weather the recent astroturf hit job just fine.
And it all boils down to a single attribute: authenticity. Rogan is genuinely curious and open-minded. His reactions to his guests are honest and often thoughtful. He never denigrates a guest, even when he challenges their point of view. When he hosts a guest with specialized knowledge, Rogan also does his homework. His questions are more complex than anything you see on CNN, and he asks them for hours, not minutes. Rogan’s audience gets to see how he thinks and learns an immense amount of information about his guests. Like most Americans, Rogan can disagree with someone on a particular issue and still show them respect or share a joke.
The traditional gatekeepers in the corporate media are too high on their own fumes to come across as authentic. Do you really believe Stelter is as obsessed with Fox News as he seems? Or is it just a schtick? When you see Acosta’s selfies of him gazing longingly at himself in a green room mirror, is it even possible to take him seriously? And how is it that Ruhle and Boot are so obtuse they can’t see that the size of the audience for President Trump and Rogan is actually all about them?
The pandemic taught America more than just the uselessness of the expert class. It was a case study in the need to connect with each other personally. Public figures who ooze authenticity can make those connections and keep the public trust. The ones whose arrogance is like a slap in the face will not. And ultimately, Ruhle, Boot, and their friends in the bubble will be standing guard at a gate that no one is looking to open.
