I have been a fan of Scott Jennings on CNN since I first saw that Scott Jennings was on CNN.
I've made no secret of that since I wrote pieces about him and used his video clips all the time. Every day, he is the sole voice of reason on panels dominated by lefties whose idea of argumentation amounts to scoffing at others. It's a treat to watch because Scott is unflappable, brings the goods, and is the one person who relies on reason and facts.
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Most of us in his situation would get frustrated; I know I would because I would make the mistake of thinking that my audience was the people in the room and not the people watching the debate. No matter how reasonable or even obvious Scott's arguments are, the people sitting at the table will never acknowledge that Scott has a point.
It's always five against one. But Scott, as the one, always gets the better of it because the five are usually peddling talking points, not persuasive arguments.
This gets us to this: the owner of The Los Angeles Times--an extraordinarily liberal paper that has been roiled by controversy over the owner's diktat that the paper not endorse in the presidential race--has decided to bring Scott on as an editorial board member.
Dr. Pat Soon-Shiong is making the Los Angeles Times a powerhouse again. Scott Jennings on the editorial board is a great pick. https://t.co/2Uab0g84z9
Soon-Shiong has been dealing with a revolt in his newsroom over his decision not to endorse Kamala Harris, rather than giving in to the toddlers holding corporations hostage. In newsrooms and editorial boards around the country, staff revolts have driven media outlets farther and farther left, undermining the already crumbling media credibility.
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The revolt over the non-endorsement of Harris likely pushed Soon-Shiong over the ledge--rather than giving in, he is replacing the board with a hand-picked, ideologically diverse group--starting with Scott.
I wish I could buy stock in Scott Jennings because there’s not really anyone else like him right now:
1. He debates 5 on 1 basically all the time. He never complains about being ganged up on.
2. He doesn’t lose his cool or resort to cheap shots. He debates aggressively and… https://t.co/azVodofF5D
The lurch leftward in wokeward has led to a total collapse in trust in the media. While many outlets are doubling down, insisting that the problem is that too many Americans are racist, fascist, and intolerant thugs, it appears that the LA Times will try to recalibrate to serve its audience better.
The New York Post has a story about Soon-Shiong's encounter with a former CNN reporter over the issue. In what was supposed to be an interview, Oliver Darcy showed exactly what is wrong with the media today. He was invited to interview Soon-Shiong but wound up arguing that Jennings was a liar, Trump uniquely evil, and that hiring him was an affront to all that is good.
Soon-Shiong had the perfect response: implying that Darcy wasn't a journalist and shutting down the interview.
The phone interview would be on the record and there would be no restrictions, according to Status. A summary of the article was reported by Mediaite.
“The interview began warmly enough,” wrote Darcy. “I thanked Soon-Shiong for his time and asked him what he intends to do with the Times’ editorial board.”
Darcy pressed Soon-Shiong over his decision to hire CNN commentator Scott Jennings to serve on the Times editorial board.CNN
Soon-Shiong replied that he wanted a revamped editorial board that he would build “from scratch” so that it would represent “all voices” that would include “some truly critical thinkers, thoughtful people, onto the board” who “can voice opinion, but I’m hopeful that people voice opinion based on the facts.”
The Times owner praised Jennings for his “interactions” on CNN where he often is outnumbered “five to one” against “the left.” Soon-Shiong said he was impressed with how Jennings was “respectful” and “thoughtful” in expressing his point of view on the air.
But Darcy took issue with Soon-Shiong, saying that it was “very debatable” whether Jennings was “respectful to his fellow panelists.”
Darcy then blasted Jennings for his “dishonest” commentary. He wrote that Jennings’ career “hinges on defending a politician (President-elect Donald Trump) who subjects the populace to an endless stream of lies and conspiracy theories.”
“It was when I attempted to broach this topic with Soon-Shiong that our conversation grew combative,” Darcy wrote.
According to Darcy, Soon-Shiong said it was the reporter’s “opinion” that Trump “lies more than other politicians.”
Darcy wrote that Soon-Shiong “didn’t apparently appreciate” his claim that “the depths of [Trump’s] dishonesty have been well-documented by fact-based news organizations.”
According to Darcy, the Times owner “scolded” him for making “a statement.”
“If you want to talk about Donald Trump, that’s not the conversation I started with,” a “clearly annoyed” Soon-Shiong is reported to have told Darcy.
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This interaction shows exactly why media outlets need to be rebuilt from scratch. "Journalism" is not about berating somebody into agreeing with you but about finding out what the subject thinks and why.
Darcy, who noticed that the interview “had without a doubt gone sideways,” sought to “get things back on track” and to “reel it back in.”
But Soon-Shiong “interjected once more” and slammed Darcy as a “so-called reporter,” according to Darcy.
When Darcy then asked Soon-Shiong about “MAGA voices” that could be added to the editorial board, Soon-Shiong’s spokesperson, who was listening in on the conversation, interjected: “I think we have pretty much answered all the questions that you have.”
“No, to be honest, you haven’t answered all the questions I have,” Darcy reported that he told the spokesperson.
But Soon-Shiong’s rep “ended the interview, signaling to [his boss] to hang up the phone.”
Darcy told The Post: “It takes a lot more than a weak insult to bother me. Clearly, my questions were getting under his skin and so he resorted to tossing an insult. I think it actually revealed quite a bit about him.”
Soon-Shiong has obviously learned the lesson, and hiring Scott was a first step in what I hope is a large-scale plan to revamp the newspaper. The inmates have been running the asylum, and that has to stop.
Jeff Bezos is probably getting the same message loud and clear. When he stopped The Washington Post from endorsing Harris his newspaper started running hit pieces on Bezos.
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The left has overreached, and if Harris had won, it would have encouraged them to go farther. That they lost after putting 110% of their credibility into her campaign has created an opening for the world to heal.
It's too soon to predict the outcome, but the conditions for reform at a few media outlets at least now exist. It may be a very few, but the collapse of credibility, the arrogance of the "journalists," and the dire financial straits of the media all point to at least a few undergoing real reform.
Scott Jennings may be a unique talent, but other papers will be looking to add new voices to their stale and failing editorial boards and looking to diversify the talent in their newsrooms. Anybody in the news business no doubt has noticed that The Free Press now rivals major news outlets in subscribers and that podcasts from independent journalists are doing well.
Economic pressures alone dictate that news outlets experiment with the concept of objectivity, intellectual diversity, and, God forbid, honest reporting.
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