Data Republican (small r), whose mad genius database skills have laid bare the corruption and self-dealing between Washington and an army of NGOs, was the subject of a weekend hit piece in the Salt Lake Tribune — and her husband might have gotten the worst of it.
On Sunday, the Trib's "emerging news reporter," Brock Marchant, published an article that was little more than a summary of an earlier Rolling Stone piece that Jennica Pounds (Data r) says contains "multiple factual inaccuracies."
Rather than interview Pounds directly for his report — she isn't difficult to reach — Marchant contacted her husband, Brent, through his work email. He did so late on Saturday night, mere hours before the 6 a.m. Sunday publication.
Jennica posted that Brent "responded professionally" and explained that "his business activities are entirely separate" from the Data Republican website but that Jennica would reply later. "As a mother, my family responsibilities naturally took priority on a weekend, and I was unable to immediately respond to your inquiry."
Also, Jennica's deafness and autism often require assistance for clear communication.
"Instead of allowing me a fair opportunity to reply, you chose to rush publication," she continued, proving "you prioritize sensationalism over accuracy, fairness, and responsible journalism."
The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Code of Ethics requires reporters to "Diligently seek subjects of news coverage to allow them to respond to criticism or allegations of wrongdoing." But that requirement is increasingly ignored by the dinosaur legacy media, at least when conservatives are involved. A few examples in recent years include the Steele Dossier, the "very fine people" hoax, and the Covington Catholic incident.
Perhaps the best part — or at least the most revealing — was that after giving Jennica no chance to give her side, the Trib ran with his headline: "Meet the Utah software engineer and distillery co-owner giving notes to Elon Musk and DOGE."
How was Marchant supposed to introduce anyone to a person he virtually refused to meet first?
The Pounds are co-owners of a small-batch distillery named Spirits of the Wasatch in Salt Lake City. While hardly relevant, Marchant hammered that fact in his third paragraph before getting to the "nasty" stuff about how the Data Republican online tool has helped Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency identity waste and graft.
Spammers spent Sunday flooding the distillery's Yelp page with one-star reviews.
I am not exaggerating when I say that my son-in-law is one of the hardest working person I know. These are the reviews that liberals left just recently on his 5 star business in an effort to destroy him, @DataRepublican, and our entire family. It's despicable! No one is allowed… pic.twitter.com/GYfn253a6S
— MOMof DataRepublican (@data_republican) March 9, 2025
"This is what he's dealing with right now. He's seriously thinking about closing up for the week for his own safety," Jennica replied.
Utah Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican, called it "Legacy media cruelty & intolerance on display."
And Another Thing: Lee's personal X account is BasedMikeLee, and it's a must-follow. My VodkaPundit account is closing in on 20 years old, and it's a mix of personal and professional, but mostly absurdities. You should follow me, too.
To its credit, Yelp says that Wasatch "is being monitored by Yelp's Support team for content related to media reports," and the spammy reviews appear to have been taken down.
"The sad thing is," Data r posted on Sunday morning, "I was going to respond to your questions in good faith today. But your actions in being unwilling to wait a single day have vacated all of that." If anyone from the Salt Lake Tribune has gotten back to her, it wasn't done publicly, nor has Jennica had any updates indicating Marchant (or anyone else at the Trib) had responded.
My take is that March and his editor(s) are scrambling, trying to figure out how to reframe their (lousy) side of the mini-crisis they created.
Things are getting serious, too — deadly serious, or some would have it.
INCITEMENT: Democrats are distributing bumper stickers calling for the assassination of Elon Musk. The left is resorting to political violence because voters are rejecting them at the ballot box.
— @amuse (@amuse) March 10, 2025
h/t @kylenabecker pic.twitter.com/V1OrhjPwUC
I tried contacting Marchant for this column to get his side of the story, but he didn't respond within the 80 seconds I allowed him before hitting the Publish button, so it's safe for you to assume the worst about him and his motives.
Hey, I didn't make the new rules — I just play by them.
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