Kentucky Gov. Blasts Courier-Journal for Partnering With ProPublica: Supported by ‘George I Hate America Soros’
Governor Matt Bevin (R- KY) posted a video of him blasting the Louisville Courier-Journal for its announcement of a journalistic partnership with ProPublica.
The Courier-Journal reported on the announcement today:
The Courier Journal and the national nonprofit news outlet ProPublica will partner in a yearlong investigation of a Kentucky state government program…
Courier Journal reporters Alfred Miller and Caitlin McGlade and investigations editor James G. Wright will work with ProPublica throughout 2019. All come with a background in data analysis and watchdog journalism with lasting impact.
The partnership is through ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network, started this year, to help bolster local news investigative journalism, and the Courier-Journal is one of several local news outlets ProPublica will be partnering with.
But tonight, after just the announcement, Bevin decried the partnership in a video asking who’s holding the Courier-Journal accountable.
OUTRAGEOUS.
ProPublica, a left-wing activist group funded by the likes of George Soros, is now funding . . . "investigative reporting" at the @courierjournal.
Is this the future of journalism?
Who is holding the Courier-Journal accountable? https://t.co/U3fdQUO6U9
— Governor Matt Bevin (@GovMattBevin) December 13, 2018
Don't take my word for it! Check out the links below for more info: https://t.co/Idg9d2MmiE
— Governor Matt Bevin (@GovMattBevin) December 13, 2018
"Credibility of Pulitzer Prize Takes a Hit by Rewarding ProPublica's Liberal Bias": https://t.co/EfGHERSbRe
— Governor Matt Bevin (@GovMattBevin) December 13, 2018
“This is the same Courier-Journal, mind you, which, while it’s dying, continues to maintain that they are unbiased, that they are good journalists, and that they are interested in transparency and holding government, among other people, accountable. Well, who’s holding the Courier-Journal accountable? Who’s doing any kind of analysis of who this ProPublica is?”
Bevin then goes on a tear against ProPublica, bringing up where they get their funding from, primarily Herbert and Marion Sandler (Marion Sandler passed away several years ago). At one point the governor says, “This is also an organization, ProPublica, supported by George ‘I Hate America’ Soros. I mean, this is the sad reality of who the Courier-Journal, which pretends that it’s an actual news organization or a publication, is so remarkably biased they are now full in bed with this particular organization ProPublica.”
Before pen has even touched paper, Bevin is accusing the Courier-Journal of giving up on objectivity and being a “sock puppet” for people “who hate America and undermine, day in and day out, the values that we in Kentucky actually hold dear.”
At at one point in the video he encourages everyone to “just disregard the nonsense that comes out of this biased left-wing organization.”
Both ProPublica and the Courier-Journal responded to the governor’s attacks:
The work of our Local Reporting Network is beyond reproach. Read the work and draw your own conclusions. https://t.co/2XTyxC7L1e
— Charles Ornstein (@charlesornstein) December 13, 2018
We're excited to get started! Here's more on the partnership: https://t.co/YrXvUviBUj https://t.co/eoxVw3nyh6
— Courier Journal (@courierjournal) December 13, 2018
[image via screengrab]
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