Corporate Media Gets A Do-Over on Pandemic Reporting Only To Fail Again

Updated

By Jefferey Jaxen

The hornet’s nest of trauma and incomplete closure stemming from the failed pandemic response has been kicked again…hard.

Fauci’s non-testimony in front of Sen. Rand Paul’s Senate Homeland Security Committee and, perhaps more importantly, Paul’s Reading Room document dump of all Fauci’s pandemic correspondence has reignited the public’s appetite for justice.

There is plenty of blame to go around for the treatment the public received during the pandemic – it’s a big tent

The through lines of onus rest with politicians, regulatory agencies, Big Tech, the willful blindness of ‘science’ and finally corporate (legacy) media.

In my opinion, the corporate media was the main public engine whose continuous propaganda was the glue allowing all the other bad actors of the pandemic to operate with impunity…Fauci included.

The space that has been carved out by Senators Paul, Johnson, Hawley and others during last week’s Fauci hearing has allowed an open lane, backed by documents and evidence, to speak up against the injustices of the COVID-era response.

Of note, none of the 5 Democratic members during the now-infamous Fauci hearing asked a single question of him.

Speaking to FOX News after last Wednesday’s Fauci hearing, HHS Secretary Kennedy echoed the same observation:

“…we cannot forget the media’s role in never questioning Fauci…The media malpractice is really what I think we should focus on…Anybody who questioned Dr. Fauci was put off on an island. They were pariahs. The media every day was telling us, ‘Trust the experts.’”

NPR rushed to Fauci’s rescue with the headline What the science says about the origins of COVID-19. Their investigation refuses to include any new evidence from the latest internal emails and Fauci’s own daily logs. In fact, it is just a rehash of older information, concluding.

Six years ago, NRP came out the gates with this proclamation:

The outlet Mother Jones chose to go with a limited hangout focused only on his ego and narcissism regarding Fauci’s diary and associated file dump, writing:

“The diary entries contain plenty of cringeworthy moments—Fauci congratulating himself on how famous he had become, for example, and basking in the attention of female celebrities like Julia Roberts and Barbra Streisand. What they don’t contain—much to the dismay of Paul and Fauci’s other critics—is any kind of smoking gun proving that the public health leader deliberately misled the American people.”

Not a surprise, as the same outlet and author penned the zinger in May 2020 titled Anti-Vaxxers Have a Dangerous Theory Called “Natural Immunity.” Now It’s Going Mainstream and the prophetic March 2020 article titled Anti-Vaxxers Are Spreading Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories Criticizing social-distancing campaigns and warning of “police state” tactics.

Meanwhile in the multimedia space, CNN’s Abby Phillip argued there’s no proof Fauci made any mistake or did anything “that was so wrong” during the COVID pandemic.

CBS Medical Correspondent Dr. Céline Gounder claimed she “read all the pages of the diary.” As viewers waited with bated breath for a mainstream exposé on the evidence, Dr. Gounder has only this to say:

“Most of his comments are actually about the pressure it was creating and the harassment and death threats that led to it in terms of security.”

Joe Scarborough, co-host of Morning Joe, claimed Americans really wanted transparency and answers on questions about the COVID origins, the lockdowns, and school closures. In true legacy media spin, Scarborough blamed not Fauci, who invoked the Fifth Amendment 111 times, but Sen. Rand Paul for obstructing Americans from getting these answers.

 

 

Perhaps the display which lacked the most dignity was from Lawrence O’Donnell on his MSNBC show The Last Word. Standing in front of a projected image of the words “I Love You, Tony,” O’Donnell used his entire eleven-minute and twenty-nine-second show as an ode to Fauci and his career.

The corporate (legacy) media deserves its lack of trust from the public and once again proved why they hold their current position.

For anyone who wants to do their own research, you can simply go to Sen. Paul’s Reading Room and start reading.

Jefferey Jaxen

Jefferey Jaxen is an investigative journalist and researcher, best known for his weekly segment The Jaxen Report on The HighWire. With a sharp eye for detail and a talent for clear, compelling storytelling, he has exposed major issues in medicine, science, and public health policy, earning recognition as a trusted voice in independent journalism.