Antifa Attacked Journalists, Why Is Media Staying Silent?
Antifa attacked journalists with NBC last night. It was just a quick hit and it seems everyone is ok. But this type of behavior is prevalent among far left protests so why doesn't the media talk about it? We heard that CNN personalities have faced threats and many people are upset with Trump for his rhetoric about the press. But the issue goes both ways.
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Yesterday, a massive group of left-wing protesters descended on Charlottesville to oppose Unite the Right.
Unite the Right 2 is taking place in D.C., and it is the one-year anniversary of the Unite the Right protest in Charlottesville.
These protesters are against fascism, white nationalism, and white supremacy.
The other night, we saw some tweets from an NBC film crew, journalists who were on the ground, saying that protesters were getting aggressive.
Eventually, we saw video where someone actually attacked one of the NBC journalists.
Now, I don't know what's going to happen today, but I want to talk about this rhetoric that is anti-press.
We saw the statement from Trump that the press is fake news.
They're the enemy of the people.
Jim Acosta then asks Sarah Sanders, does she agree with this?
Will she disavow?
And she rebuts.
Brian Stelter did a segment where he said that violent threats and the risk of violence against journalists are increasing, and he equates it to statements made by Trump.
But for those of us who have been on the ground at many of these protests and instances of civil unrest, we know that far-left protesters are often extremely violent towards journalists as well.
As well as people you'd associate with the right, depending on what's going on.
But typically, we see Antifa, black bloc anarchists in the far left, threatening journalists.
We saw this in Berkeley.
So today, let's take a look at what's going on with the press.
Is it really a Trump issue, or is it true that the left hates the press equally?
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The first thing I want to show you is what happened with Antifa in Charlottesville.
This is a tweet from Breaking911.
It says, Antifa protesters attack NBC reporter at CalNBC, the entire camera crew in Charlottesville, Virginia.
unidentified
Fuck you, Snickers!
you bitch, fuck you!
don't worry about me, don't worry about me i have it, i think
This is just one example of an Antifa aligned protester.
I don't want to necessarily say they are Antifa because not everybody who was protesting Unite the Right would call themselves that or probably even knows what it means.
But these are people coming out in opposition to fascism.
Many people are flying the flags and many people are chanting the same things.
So if you're in the group and you're aligned with them, then you're anti-fascist.
So this was Antifa attacking an NBC crew.
And it's typical.
This stuff happens all the time.
When I was in the NATO protests in 2012, a group of black bloc far leftists yelled, charge the press.
And they did.
Journalists know full well when you go on the ground, the far left will try to steal or destroy your equipment or they'll just hit you.
In that video we can see they called them a snitch.
But now let's take a look at what's going on with the right and with Trump.
This is an article from The Guardian.
Enemy of the people.
Trump's phrase and its echoes of totalitarianism.
The phrase the president has repeatedly said in his attacks on the media was used by dictators including Stalin and Mao.
Suffice to say this is an op-ed that talks about how calling the press the enemy of the people is totalitarian, but let's take a look at the threats journalists receive, or the story at least, from Brian Stelter.
The idea of fake news, that CNN lies, that many big companies lie, is prevalent on the right, and most people on the left, for some reason, even though they used to champion the same cause, kind of avoid the rhetoric.
But I do believe it's fair to say that many people associated with the far left still do believe the mainstream media lies.
So it's not just the right wing that believes this.
And if it is, then something happened on the left, because they're certainly not talking about it right now.
But when the left talks about the media, they call them the snitch media.
That's what we saw in the Antifa clip.
It is never acceptable to threaten journalists, even if you don't like what they do.
It's never acceptable to threaten anybody, let alone physically attack them.
Look, there are a lot of people in media that I think are detestable, and I think they mislead, and I think they're wrong, but you know what?
It is what it is.
Journalists can only cover certain things.
So I have people messaging me saying, Tim, why don't you talk more about this group or that group?
And I'll say, because I have a beat and I cover something specific.
And sometimes it's focused on a particular aspect.
Typically, when I cover instances of press freedom, I'm worried about on-the-ground reporters.
Who are being attacked by people on the ground.
So you won't see me talking as much about what's happening with Brian Stelter.
But what he's talking about is absolutely valid.
This guy called into C-SPAN and said he was gonna shoot him if he saw him.
Not cool at all.
Brian Stelter shouldn't have to worry about this kind of stuff.
Simply because he has ideas and he wants to share things that he thinks are important.
We should all be allowed to engage in public without fear of bodily harm, even if you disagree with Brian Stelter and don't like what CNN does, even if you think CNN's lying.
They have a right to do what they do.
There's a lot of things about CNN I really don't like, and there's a lot of things about Antifa I really don't like, and I think they're both a problem in different ways.
But, the idea that Trump supporters are the only ones that really threaten the press is kind of the myth here, because as I've shown you, Antifa physically attacks them as well.
But let's take a look at the mainstream left, because they equally do not like the press, and this is something that is often missed in these broader conversations.
NPR did an interview with Jason Kessler, the organizer of Unite the Right.
They talked to him for quite a while, and they asked him about his opinions, to which he gave them.
Almost immediately, People started attacking NPR, saying that they were platforming white supremacists.
This story from the Huffington Post.
NPR defends interview with white supremacist Jason Kessler following backlash.
The broadcaster aired an interview with Kessler in which he claimed white people are under attack and listed races in order of supposed intelligence.
One critic said, It's a deep betrayal to the entire community of Charlottesville,
Mimi Arbayet, a representative of Charlottesville Anti-Racist Media Liaisons,
told HuffPost recently, Fascism uses the press to normalize itself and recruit
followers and gain social power.
The press is not a neutral player in history.
The producers and interviewer were forced to defend themselves.
One person, Rachel Martin, said, The heaviness is important to hear.
In particular, Noelle King's interview with Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler.
We have to understand the threat to combat it.
And someone responded, understand what?
White supremacy has existed since the first European hit the Americas.
African Americans understand it due to slavery, Jim Crow, systemic oppression.
Native Americans understand it due to genocide and the theft of their land.
This is about normalization of it.
The interview demonstrates the importance of racial diversity in journalism, and they tag the National Association of Black Journalists.
Noelle King, who did the interview, responded, I'm a biracial woman. Our executive producer is a black
woman. I understand you didn't like this interview. I understand why. But Morning Edition is a
notably diverse team who thought long and hard before airing this. If you're at NABJ next year, I'd
love to meet you in person.
A biracial woman and a woman of color produced that interview and did the interview.
But everyone is furious that they platformed this white supremacist.
Journalism has to talk to these people so we can understand them.
But many of these people don't believe in a free press.
However, what I find particularly troubling is that they don't believe in a free press so long as it doesn't benefit them.
And I will say to many people on the right, it's similar.
When outlets come out with stories that are negative towards Trump, a lot of people just scoff and get angry about it.
But I assure you, not all of the reporting about Trump is Trump derangement syndrome or fake news.
Certainly some of it is.
The reality is nobody is perfect.
The right-wing sources have their bias, and the left-wing sources have their bias.
And the left says Fox News is fake news, and the right is saying CNN is fake news.
All that matters is that you shouldn't threaten people.
People shouldn't be at risk because they're doing their job.
Some people like watching Fox News, and they think Tucker Carlson's more honest than Brian Stalter, and some people think the opposite.
But here's where the contradiction really emerges.
Because last year, Vice embedded with white supremacists, getting in their cars with them, going to their hotels, and filming them for days, showing their message, what they believed, and what they were doing.
And this was met with critical acclaim, praise from the left, and they even won a Peabody Award, From the Peabody website, Charlottesville Race and Terror, Vice News Tonight, listed as a 2017 winner, what changed?
Why is it that when Vice went on the ground and filmed everything they were saying as they marched, explaining it to people, and let one of these white supremacists speak to a great length, that was okay, and it was worthy of awards?
But NPR does one interview, and now they're platforming white supremacists, and it's wrong.
unidentified
It was terrifying to watch Vice Reporter Ellie Reeve embed herself among neo-Nazis in Charlottesville.
Her portrait of Christopher Candwell is chilling as he articulates his desire to fight a race war
on American soil.
It is my honor to present this Peabody to HBO, Ellie and Vice News Tonight,
the only news network where you can find out what neo-Nazis are doing
He is praising that she showed Chris Candwell talking about how he wants to have a race war.
He was able to espouse his message.
They won an award for it.
I have great respect for Ellie Reeve and the producer.
I actually know the people who worked on this and I think they did a fantastic job because that's what journalists should do.
Embed with the crew, find out what they believe, and tell people.
And for some reason, everyone respected that at the time and said, it's good that we're hearing this so we know what these people want.
But when NPR does it, they are criticized and attacked.
The same thing is said of me.
When I go down and livestream and interview people, the left accuses me of platforming, of giving them the ability to spread their message, and they physically attack me for it.
Now we have a story from the Washington Post just today.
70 news organizations will blast Trump's attack on the media.
The story talks about how Trump has labeled the news media the enemy of the American people.
They talk about how he uses the word fake and fake news.
And I want to say, the president does hold particular power in the world, and I think that should be obvious to everybody.
He can control drone strikes, missile strikes on Syria, weapons deals with Saudi Arabia, and other really dangerous things that I really don't like.
And when he gets up on stage at a rally and says these things, yes, it's particularly dangerous.
I think his rhetoric is a bit too hyperbolic and a bit too extreme, and I do believe he contributes to a lot of the anger towards the press.
I think that should be obvious to anybody.
But to act like it's just him, like he's the only one doing anything wrong, I think is rather silly.
You have someone like Trump, who is a centralized authority, talking down to his fans at his rallies, saying, enemy of the people, fake news.
But then you have huge groups of people on the left attacking journalists.
So you have a decentralized movement on the left that physically attack journalists and verbally attack them for doing their jobs.
It's not a partisan issue.
And it's great to see that news organizations are going to come out and speak out against Trump for labeling the news fake news or calling them the enemy of the people.
But I would be surprised if we saw anyone from CNN or the mainstream media highlight what's going on with an NBC crew on the ground in Charlottesville.
Now, suffice it to say, it was a local NBC crew who highlighted the fact that they were attacked.
And they do this.
Local news outlets absolutely report on when they're attacked, and I respect them for doing that.
Look, it happened.
Talk about it.
But I'd love to see a segment from Stelter or from anyone else highlighting not only Trump's rhetoric and the threats they've received, but talking about the threat faced to journalists on the ground and around the world.
Let's make sure it's clear to everybody.
You shouldn't threaten people, period.
You shouldn't attack people, period.
Okay?
And we should be critical of anybody who attacks the press.
I think the mainstream media has a lot to be held account for, and there's no one to hold them to account.
And I am very, very critical of them, And I've referred to some of these companies as fake news myself.
But it doesn't mean that it only affects one side.
Because we can clearly see that there's animosity towards the press from every direction.
Can we be bipartisan about the issue?
Can we have CNN talk about an NBC crew being attacked on the ground, as well as talk about the threats they've received?
I'd love to see that happen.
I would love for people to recognize that No matter where the journalist stands politically, no matter what their opinion is or what they report on, we all get threats.
It's not a singular issue.
It's not only Trump.
And I hope people realize the contradiction of those on the left to attack the media for interviewing, you know, someone like Kessler, but then to praise Vice News for doing literally the same thing.
I can only say one thing.
To me, it's obvious.
It's politics.
People don't like it when you report things that make them angry, that make them look bad, or When you report things that contradict their view of the world.
There are a lot of people that tell me they think I'm the only honest journalist, and I respect that because I really do think I'm honest and doing a good job.
But it should be painfully clear that a lot of people think I'm a fence-sitter and I won't tell the truth because I don't want to appear biased, which is not true.
I say exactly what I think 99.9% of the time.
Obviously, there's some things I can't talk about, like where I live or confidential or off-the-record information.
I try to respect people's privacy.
Then there are people who would follow someone like Anita Sarkeesian and say what she's saying is true and I believe her wholeheartedly.
And there are people who will follow Sargon of Akkad and say I think he is the only honest person and I believe him wholeheartedly.
There are people who will watch Fox News and say Tucker Carlson is the only honest person and there are people who will watch Brian Stelter and say he's the only honest person.
So people just choose who they trust and there's not much you can do about it.
I try to read the news, I try to fact check, and I try to do my best.
So I respect everybody who watches me and sees that I am trying really hard to really understand what's going on, break it down, and bring you something that's rational and honest.
But I can't say I'm better than anybody else, because I really don't know.
I don't watch everything Alex Jones says, and I don't watch everything Brian Stelter says.
There's no real way to know for sure, so the only thing I can say is, even if you disrespect the work someone does, just know there is someone else on the other side who disrespects your guy just as much, and if we can keep it civil, drop the threats, don't insult people, don't attack people, just challenge them politely, then I think we'll all move forward in a very positive direction.
But I'm not confident that's going to happen.
I really don't know what's going to happen.
But anyway, that's my two cents.
Look, the issue of whether or not someone is honest or is fake news, threats to the press, it affects everybody from all sides.
Nobody's innocent.
Some might be more dangerous than others.
Some might think threatening someone isn't as bad as physically attacking them.
The point is, none of it should be happening.
So let me know what you think.
Comment below.
How do you feel about all this?
I know there are a lot of people... Look, I'm on YouTube, right?
So I understand, you know, most of you who are watching me are looking for alternative media.
And that's most likely because you don't trust the mainstream news sources.
But keep in mind, I...
I trust the mainstream sources more than 50% of the time, right?
I don't think they're perfect.
I wouldn't give them, like, a credibility rating of 75%.
There are some organizations I would.
The AP and PBS I would put very high.
CNN, I trust them a little bit more than I don't trust them.
I think they're overtly partisan.
I think they chase ratings.
But some of the reporting they do is fairly basic and it's fine.
And the same can be true for MSNBC and Fox News, though they're way more partisan.
It's all about knowing the bias of who you're following and what you're watching, and not attacking them and calling them fake news simply because they might be wrong or biased.
Some journalists lie, some journalists plagiarize, and we try our best to catch them, but for the most part, I think the press is trying.
I do think we have a problem with activists in media from digital outlets, because they're chasing that clickbait, and that's something we definitely need to figure out, because that is hyper-partisan, and they use the truth in a way to manipulate, but that's a whole other issue.
Suffice it to say, let's not threaten journalists, and let's all chill out, and hopefully the left will do it, which I don't think they will, and hopefully the right will do it, which I don't think they will, because we're in a culture war right now, and it is what it is.
So let me know what you think.
We'll keep the conversation going.
You can follow me on Twitter at TimCast.
Stay tuned.
New videos every day at 4 p.m., and new videos on my second channel every day starting at 6 p.m., and that'll be up at youtube.com slash TimCastNews.
