If anyone knows the danger of a hot mic you'd think it be a journalist - but, apparently not. Earlier this week, a group of reporters at a Romney presser provided another tasteless example of why less and less Americans are turning to the mainstream media to get their news.
Wednesday, Mitt Romney issued a statement on the recent attacks on U.S. embassies in the Middle East and how the White House is handling the situation. Shortly after, National Review Online, noted that all of the questions reporters asked the presidential candidate, except for one, had to do with his "tone" and his thoughts on criticizing the administration's initial response to the attack on the Cairo embassy.
NRO's Katrina Trinko reported:
"I’ve long been critical of how few press conferences Romney has held, both in the primary and in the general election. Sure, the media can be biased. But 1) I think it’s good for a presidential candidates to be available to the press, to be subject to tough questions, and to be asked about a variety of matters; and 2) I think that a Republican candidate should prove he can deftly handle biased questions — it’s not fair, but it’s the reality of what he will face as president day after day.But today’s press conference was really an example of how the media sometimes just doesn’t deserve that access. Let political consultants talk about the timing and tone of the statement. The candidate should be grilled on policy, on issues, on what he thinks is the right course going forward, not politics and strategy."
Not long after the press conference The Right Scoop posted a video taken prior to Romney taking questions. In the video you can hear audio of reporters in a private discussion that was picked up by a hot mic. The reporters were planning what they were going to say, what they would ask. Glenn played the audio this morning on radio.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: …pointing out that the Republicans… *unintelligible* …Obama….CBS REPORTER: That’s the question.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: *unintelligible*
CBS REPORTER: Yeah that’s the question. I would just say do you regret your question.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Your question? Your statement?
CBS REPORTER: I mean your statement. Not even the tone, because then he can go off on…
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And then if he does, if we can just follow up and say ‘but this morning your answer is continuing to sound…’ – *becomes unintelligble*
CBS REPORTER: You can’t say that..
**Later**
CBS REPORTER: I’m just trying to make sure that we’re just talking about, no matter who he calls on we’re covered on the one question.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you stand by your statement or regret your statement?
"That's amazing," Glenn said.
"And think about, these guys never understand what we talk about when we talk about the free market," Stu added. "Well, these are supposed to be competing news organizations. And here they are getting together to make sure the exact same question gets asked."
Glenn, who has been in the broadcast business for years, noted that he had never heard anything like this before.
"If that reporter worked for me, he'd be fired today," Glenn said.
He noted that it is a reporters job to be independent , to stand on your own - not be part of a mob.
"It's really amazing. And what's even more amazing the fact that they did this is that they never do this with ‑‑ they didn't do it with Solyndra, they didn't do it with the Gulf, they didn't do it with Libya. They're not doing it with Egypt. They didn't do it with Occupy Wall Street. They haven't done this on any question. They haven't done it on the banking. They haven't done it on the real story of GM," Glenn pointed out.
Despite all of that, these reporters still claim to be unbiased. Just last week, a reporter from the Media Research Center asked George Stephanopoulos was asked if he believed there was any liberal bias in the media.
WATCH:
His response: "I don't."
The more the media ignores and denies their bias, the more disenfranchised the American people become with them.
"Let me tell you something, these people are not going to be able to ignore you," Glenn said.
Three years ago on 9/12, Glenn told his audience: "we surround them," and over the years this statement has become more and more true despite the medias continuous mocking.
"They're going to continue to play this game and they are going to continue to dismiss and they are going to continue to mock, but they're done," Glenn told listeners. "I do this for a living. We have stood against all odds, all odds we've stood. And we keep getting bigger. And there's going to come a point, there's a house of cards. When you tell lies, when you engage in propaganda, there are enough people that it will come down like a house of cards."
