Duane wrote a similar post earlier today, and it turns out that we were writing it at the same time, and I missed his. His is excellent, but I wanted to throw in my $.02 (and not throw out my writing either).  So here is my take on the Associated Press hit and run on J.D. Vance. 

As you know, the Associated Press is the most important news organization in the world, as it feeds stories into almost every other outlet. It provides the vast majority of content that reaches the eyes and ears of news consumers, and most people aren't even aware that it exists as a separate entity. 

Whether you are watching Fox News or MSNBC, much of the content you get originated with the Associated Press. And the AP is a totally compromised institution. 

Last night provided a great example of how the AP has become an agitprop producer. At a rally, Vance responded to the horrific shooting everybody was talking about. Here is what he said:

It would be a shame if everyone saw the clip of what he actually said https://t.co/kwESuj4vtj pic.twitter.com/mwSNy2OxZi

— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) September 6, 2024

Seems pretty straightforward. School shootings are terrible, and we should protect our children. He outlined his approach to the problem, which unsurprisingly was "protect the children" instead of just "make absurd suggestions that will accomplish nothing in reality."

But what did the Associated Press report?

That puts a different spin on things and a spin that Kamala Harris picked up right away, accusing Vance of being indifferent to the death and suffering of kids and parents. 

This is what we would call "mission accomplished." The AP headline was intended to make Vance look insensitive, and Harris' campaign took the hint and ran with that spin. 

The Associated Press did exactly what you would expect: after a huge backlash, they deleted the original tweet and put up a more balanced one, but only after it got millions of views and provided the Harris campaign the opportunity to smear Vance. 

Which, of course, was the point. You are naive to the point of being a toddler if you believe that this was not intentional or if you don't think they do this sort of thing all the time. Headlines are where impressions are made--most people consume most of their news through headlines, and few ever read past the first few paragraphs of a story. 

The ideological capture of The Associated Press is far more damaging than that of The New York Times or The Washington Post. People have a sense that these outlets lean Left, and that mitigates the harm. 

The Associated Press, though, is for most people anonymous and their pieces are often anonymous and presented as straight news. But as the news media as a whole deviated from "just the facts," the Associated Press took a hard left turn that now infects even the most scrupulous outlets, who depend on the AP to provide the basic facts for stories written by their own reporters. 

Every American institution has been corrupted, and that is largely down to the elevation of academia in every corner of American life. Americans have been taught to believe that college is necessary for economic success, and colleges teach students that America is fundamentally evil. 

Hence, people who want to get ahead adopt leftism. And leftism has become the norm in professional circles and the MSM. 

So, while it is certainly true that you don't hate the media enough, it is even more true that you don't hate academia enough. It is a cancer on America.