Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, top right, and North Korea’s nominal head of state Kim Yong Nam, second right
Since the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympiad it has been an embarrassing few days for our nation’s media complex — a group that increasingly has shown they are incapable of embarrassment. This weekend has seen an avalanche of effusive praise being heaped upon the murderous oppressive dictatorship of North Korea. (For examples of this check out Carl Arbogast’s rundown here.)
That the press could lapse into this phase of fandom is not overly surprising. Our media complex has taken such a combative stance against President Trump that they have abandoned all common sense. A definitive blindspot has developed with many journalists that opposition to Trump justifies any and all positions, so long as they run contrary to the man. And that includes praising a totalitarian human rights-violating regime that has sworn our nation is the enemy.
A prime example of this was delivered by CNN’s Chris Cuomo, in a wonderfully obtuse defense that is tantamount to an admission. Cuomo was responding to journalist Salena Zito, who bemoaned the way media here “normalized and glamorized” the dictatorship. Cuomo, unable to ascertain how he was justifying it all, responded in glorious obliviousness:
You don’t think having a President who lies about what is “fake” and actively maligns the free press out of convenience is a bigger reason for animosity toward us than how some decide to cover this bs? https://t.co/xyaZ3HRYIS
— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) February 11, 2018
You cannot spell it out in better fashion; paraphrased “Trump is mean to us, so we are justified in any coverage as a result!” This goes far to explain the media actually defying themselves when it comes to coverage of North Korea.
Most amazing is that in the weeks leading up to the Olympics the media actually took a sober look towards this very issue. In a fleeting moment of clarity many in the press took the stance that North Korea was, in fact, an entity to be regarded in the negative and that it would be wise to not buy into that nation’s self-aggrandizement on the world stage these coming weeks.
That’s correct — the United States media warned against falling prey to North Korean propaganda:
From Business Insider:
Also at The Independent:
Even the once respected, and hardly Trump sympathetic Newsweek weighed in on the folly:
And yet, despite these rather accurate assessments, the media cannot help themselves. There is little more proof needed of the lack of self-awareness in our journalists than their refusal to heed their own advice. More telling is that when confronted with this dichotomy of thinking they just have to resort to their usual fallback mode.
Whenever in doubt, “But Trump!” is all the explanation needed.
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