Even More Hyper-Partisan News? Becket Adams on A&G

to your writer for The Washington Examiner, joins us. Now, Beckett, how are you, sir? I'm great, Thanks so much for having me. Oh, it's always our pleasure. I have about as much hope for the mainstream media as I do for conservatism in Berkeley, California. But um to be interested to hear your perspective from the belly of the beast. Why so? Why so? Glum? Well, He's the thing is that the free press and uniti dates has always been

a political animal. It's it's members for decades and decades have always pulled for one political party or another, sometimes more outright, sometimes more subtly. But where we are now is beyond sort of the newspaper endorsing a candidate or a newspaper condemning one party. This is descended our our national newsrooms have descended in a sort of hyperpartisan culture war battles where you know, up as down, white as black, and the truth doesn't matter. What matters is getting the victory.

So we had these two big stories. We had the BuzzFeed report which claimed that Trump directed Cohen to lie to Congress, obviously crime, and then we had the story about these teams of Kentucky who supposedly be rated, abused and harassed an elder leading of American protester. There was not a moment's hesitation among our largest, most powerful newsrooms and some of the biggest reporters, the most famous pundits who both both of these newsrooms and the pundits just

grabbed these stories. I mean they sunk their teeth into it and they ran with it. There wasn't there was not so much as uh at this moment where people said, well, these are some interesting allegation, is there any sort of co operation? The problem is these stories so perfectly fit into preconceived notions and worldviews about opposing sites in the culture ward that they ran with these stories. And later it turns out uh, Special counsel Mueller's team came out

and dispute at the bus right story. We we've we've covered all that and we I think we're everybody's up to date on the stories that came out and how they turned out. But the greater overarching picture of you know, something needs to be done. What is wrong? I'm just wondering there has to be a there has to be some sort of push. What would be the mechanism that would push back for for all sides? Right now? If your audience loves these stories so much, I'm not sure

they care if you get it wrong. Dang it. I was hoping that with true was true? Turned out it wasn't tell me the next exciting story? What you know, what's the bound side to do in that? Right? That's that's exactly the things so sort of self right, just as we get from so many in the press when the scripture starting a well, at least we try to hold ourself accountable. It's important to recognite at the other King story was less than twenty four hours after the

BuzzFeed scroupt. There there was not even they didn't even take a break. The next thing and the other thing, the other main thing that I think it's been lost on people is that these weren't big, complicated mistakes. There were obvious red flags in both stories from the get go.

That which is why I actually just finding myself and my colleague stayed away from both the bus seed story and the coverageing story until we had more information because the way that they were both initially reported and the claims were being made, there wasn't enough proof for that. And here we are. It turned out later like, oh, I'm glad I held off on this, but I don't understand. Are these institutions, with their bodies and bodies of fact checkers.

There was not even a moment to wait, but here mentioned but here's the problem. What's going to be the correcting mechanism? As I said, the exactly. Joan and I are right, Joan, I ha, Joe and I are in your camp where we try to like, if that sounds fishy, let's wait and see or do some research. I'm not. I think there's more money, more viewers, more licks, more eyeballs, more ears, and just going with whatever serves your side that seems. And you know, Jill Abernsman, she's got a

new book out. She was the editor of The New York Times. She's come out and said The New York Times is doing better than ever um with subscribers and everything like that. While they have lost their way, they now have opinion in their news stories, So what's the correcting mechanism. They're making more money this way than they were the old way, so i'm too. I'm two minds on this. One is that at some point I think there will be a sort of countermeasure. There's always a

counteraction too, super sort of cultural movements. Right now, I think we're in the middle of a cultural movement where newspapers have decided that they are in the business of resisting and not on the business of reporting. At some point, I like to think that the pendum is going to swing back because I hope my my hope is that the like overeating the press, the polic will eventually feel like it has gorged itself on nonsense and wants to return to just a plain, simple, tidy diet of just

fact reporting. I'm not sure overeating is the best examples You've been to the Walmart recently, but that's really what this is. It's gorging on like partisan operative thing. Yes, but you said the pendulum is gonna swing back like the eating and it hasn't just keep getting the other mine.

It is that kind of what I feel like, maybe it's time to go full Colonel Kurtz on this and just burn all the old institutions to the ground and rely on on the ground independent reporters, because I feel like the old institutions are so broken down, these old dinosaur networks are so entrenched that I don't know if you can come back from this now. I think you're right about that. Beckett Adams is a commentary writer for

The Washington Examiner. You know, I think the pendulum, if it's going to swing back to calm, reasonable, cheery reporting, we'll do so when there's a progressive president, and I think they'll they will rediscover their you know, they're they're even handed tone and the rest of it. I just justper times call for desperate measures, and media is desperate

right now, so you're seeing them do desperate things. I think that's part of the institute, is that a lot the reporting that's going on is directly proportionate to the tone from the White House. That seems natural to me.

But this is also part of the reason why I avoid the calls to join these sort of unions of civility and let's have a banded stavility where left and right reached across the aisle and will stand together, because I am pretty certain that that will last for exactly four or eight years before people go back to being in a coma and not caring about what the executive is doing. I'm in a band called Unions of Civility. We play all it's very mellow better it sounds just so.

Are you hopeful or hopeless? I'm hopeless. I'm completely hopeless that this is going to get better anytime soon. I'm hopeless. I thought it would actually take a bit longer for the press to go from scrounging through a Supreme Court nomine yearbook for proof of wrongdoing to scrounging through random teenagers from Kentucky yearbook for proof of wrongdoing happening about two or three months. But here we're well said, yeah, indeed,

so Beckett a different topic. It strikes us and taking in the media over the last well, let's say, from Friday to today, a real change in tone even among the left leaning media about the whole shutdown controversy, and we're hearing a lot more. Boy, both sides look terrible commentary even from the CNNs and MSNBC's signaling perhaps a coming to the table in the offing. I think there

might be some of that. I think Trump's address on Saturday kind of moved the needle and not necessarily in his favor, but away from democrats favor, and he offered

temporary protections for Dreamers in return for funding. And I think it's not being lost on people that the hold up here is that he's asking for funding and they are refusing to come to the table so far as to you know, turn down the invitation to come to the White House for lunch to discuss it, which is funny because later they back to Democratic leaders backtrack and well he didn't specify what he wanted to talk about.

What else are you thinking about? So I think a lot of this it isn't I think that the cars are still in the Democrats favor because the longer this goes on, it does hurt Trump, who did claim response

before it even happen. If you're calling that that Oval Office meeting, so it is to their benefits stretched it out, But I do believe that some of its shifting away because it just keeps going on and it's clear that both sides aren't budging, and then that will only benefit one side for so long before people just say, both of you know you don't stop this fighting right now, I'm gonna turn this car around. You know. I love

you Beckett, and I love your writing. But the whole Trump set in advance, he'd take a responsibility thing I think is overrated. That is, that's a in the know, uh chattering classes. And I'm including myself in this description a piece of information as it becomes more and more about blue collar people t s A inspectors, for instance, who can't pay their childcare costs and they can't pay for the gas to commute to work. I mean, a

lot of the calling quote unquote calling and sick. It's not just a protest, it's that I got I can't pay for childcare for my kid. Um As that narrative grows and grows and grows, and Donald J, for all his false is saying I have an offer on the table. I'm willing to compromise. Can you come and we'll talk and compromise, And Nancy and chuck stick, dude, No, we won't discuss it at all until you reopen the government. I don't think. I don't think Middle America is worried

about what Trump said a couple of months ago. But as long as I squeeze is on, like I was saying, like that, the White House, You're absolutely right, the White House meeting is it is in the weeks, but that is something that they constantly bring up in fundraising supporters. Sure, you are right. As long as this is it's continued and people start to actually feel the squeeze, I don't think any amount of well he said it was his and all that their problem is gonna matter at the end.

It's just noise and I don't care who's that fault. Again. It kind of feels like a parent with noise of kids. I don't care who's a fault. Just stop scriting. Okay, you know I said that the other day on something. I said, if you're getting a fight over this, I don't care who started it. We're not gonna get to do blank doesn't make any difference. Just have it. Um Uh. I had one more on the other topic because I can't let it go. Here's what It's confusing to me.

If I'm at the New York Times of the Washington Post and I hate Trump, how do you not recognize that when you get these big stories wrong, you have handed Trump such a tool, such a hammer, and given him so much help. How do you not standing in the the newsroom and say, people, we can't get any more stories wrong at all, or we're gonna get Trump reelected the years I've been saying that for the last three years,

I don't know. This is the thing that makes that I find so funny is that you have we have this over and over and over and over again. Newsroom comes up with a big, thinly sourced story, everyone rushes to it, it falls apart, and then frum goes see and then they go, well, how dare you point that out? Sir? We try like, well, look that works maybe the first or or you know, first, second, or third time this happened. We're on like the eighteenth iteration of this story, and

it keeps happening. And the thing is that probably all these these stories that are thinly sourced and fall apart, they all go in one direction, and they are all stories that point to wrong doing by Trump. At some point if this were this is where the conspiratorial side

of me getting engaged at some point. If these were just honest mistakes that all of Averages stated would state that at least one would go in Trump's favor them do and then he all he has to do is come out and go see And you're like, well, you make a compelling argument. I don't know what to say to that. Yeah, no kidding, Beckett Adams, he's a secret after truth. Imagine that coming to your writer for The Washington Examiner, Beckett, it's always fun. Thanks a bunch, Thanks

so much, good to talk to. You're right, if it's just mistakes, you would think there'd be the occasional goal in the other direction. No, it's it's not. It's enthusiasm run wild. And the enthusiasm is entirely to take from town. But if you hate Trump, as Jack points out, your out. But I'm the Captain from Captain and Sinil died what about a week ago? God rest his soul, and we appreciate a service to our country. You're listening to the arm is Strong and Getty show conscious of the nation.