Downie Calls Balls and Strikes. Rogan Gets Fact-Checked. Always Look for the Mediaite Clip! | Winners & Losers in Today’s Green Room

THE DAILY NEWSLETTER – FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 2022

MEDIA WINNER: Leonard Downie Jr.

Journalism professor and former Washington Post executive editor Leonard Downie Jr. has authored an in-depth report on the relationship between the White House and the media, finding a substantial improvement from the administration of former President Donald Trump to President Joe Biden, but still identifying in clear terms some serious concerns that press freedom advocates have about the current White House’s level of transparency.

The article’s headline, “‘Night and day’: The Biden administration and the press,” comes from ABC News White House correspondent Jonathan Karl, who told Downie “It’s night and day,” and that “We’ve reverted to close to normal. In the late Trump days, you couldn’t talk to any officials on the record.”

Downie describes Biden’s approach to the nation’s press corps as “a stark contrast to Donald Trump’s vicious rhetoric” and the “combative and uncooperative” attitude many Trump administration agencies took with the media.

The report pulls no punches for Biden, providing detailed examples of infrequent press conferences, press conferences cut short, and slow responses to requests for information.

The American media, protected by the First Amendment, is a vital bulwark against corruption, abuses of power, and incompetence in our government. Downie’s report draws on his decades of experience in this arena and calls out the very real shortcomings of both the current and former White House occupants.

Accurately and fairly calling balls and strikes is always a win.

MEDIA LOSER: Joe Rogan

During Wednesday’s edition of his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, Joe Rogan denied that myocarditis – an inflammation of the heart muscle – is more commonly a side effect in children who have had Covid-19 than it is in children who have had the Covid-19 vaccine. He was immediately fact-checked by his guest Josh Szeps. After not believing Szeps, Rogan had his producer look up the information to confirm, and he tracked down an article in the U.K.-based science journal The New Scientist, which showed that Szeps was correct.

It’s admirable Rogan admitted his mistake, but Szeps’ real-time fact check was far from the first time the guy who used to dare people to drink donkey semen on TV got his facts wrong. At least this time he wasn’t promoting an outright conspiracy theory.

According to a 2015 Rolling Stone interview, Rogan briefly attended college but “found it pointless and dropped out,” and he’s certainly no doctor or scientist. Nearly 300 people who actually are doctors and scientists sent an open letter to Spotify requesting they create a misinformation policy due to Rogan’s massively popular podcast and how he has “repeatedly spread misleading and false claims on his podcast, provoking distrust in science and medicine.”

Rogan’s penchant for tinfoil hattery and quack remedies has real world consequences. His huge ratings and celebrity followers mean his misinformation gets widely amplified.

“With great power comes great responsibility,” Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben taught us, and it’s far past time Rogan learned that.

Links We Like:

Police Misbehavior Is a Crucial Threat to Liberty
– Steven Greenhut, Reason
It Might Be Time to Retire ‘Jeopardy’
– Tom Nichols, The Atlantic
Joe Biden Needs Four Sister Souljah Moments
– Charlie Sykes, The Bulwark
The true cost of Amazon’s low prices
– Sara Morrison, Vox

Read the full Mediaite Green Room Newsletter here, including the latest news about new charges filed against members of the Oath Keepers for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and why you should always look for the Mediaite clip. Sign up for your free subscription here.

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