By Bryn Lauer
Sometimes I am afraid to dangle my feet off the edge of my bed. I don’t know where this irrational fear comes from, most likely lingering childhood fears from the fascinating brain of a young girl. Kid or not, when it comes to things of the unknown, man has a God-given gift of discernment. Just as something inside me warns that the darkness under my bed contains unforeseen dangers, humanity fears the unseen. You should be scared as well, because the danger that I am referencing exists. There is a monster under your bed, and I bet some of you have been reluctant to dangle your feet over the edge as well. I am here to justify your fear, as that monster is none other than media giant CNN. We have heard the term “fake news” tossed here and there, but hard evidence has left it unfounded. Luckily for us, Project Veritas has swooped in, ripped the bed apart, and shined light on the biased and therefore dangerous conglomerate that is CNN.
Project Veritas, headed by James O’Keefe, recently released a three-part exposé on the politically motivated underpinnings that champion CNN, a media network which claims to be the “most trusted name in news.” In essence, thanks to the fearless work of whistleblower Cary Poarch, CNN has been found hiding its agenda from viewers. While touting that Fox News is “destructive” for America, numerous conversations between CNN staffers claim that the Network is “totally left-leaning” in covering objective news. Project Veritas revealed clips during daily morning calls with CNN President Jeff Zucker, where he can be heard calling for complete coverage of the POTUS impeachment story whilst ignoring others. Staffers admit to an “anti-Trump crusade,” and that Zucker’s personal vendetta against Trump seeps into news coverage, resulting in constant negative coverage of President Trump. For instance, in one of Poarch’s recordings, Zucker can be heard advising staff to skip an important Department of Homeland Security while blasting the latest negative coverage of Trump’s impeachment and immigration stances.
The bias does not end with POTUS. In a two-part video-series, CNN Media Coordinator Christian Sierra admits that the network resorts to racially imbalanced articles. Sierra cites two examples where, in one case a white boy is shot at Princeton, and another where three black boys are shot in Newark, CNN will only cover the death of the “precious little white boy.” Moreover, shootings which occur in minority communities will not be covered in relation to their white neighborhood counterpart. Other blatant disregard for journalistic integrity can be seen in Democratic versus Republican interviews, where one staffer claims that Democrats receive “softball interviews” in comparison to Republicans. At one point, Sierra recounts an interview with Kellyanne Conaway and Jake Tapper, where Zucker “…orders Tapper: ‘Keep going, keep going, keep going!” and at one point commands, “Just f*cking nail her!” while expanding the 7-minute interview to 25 minutes.
While Fox News has not “independently confirmed” the footage, the implications of Project Veritas are far-reaching. CNN claims that, regarding the leaks, “No one really cares about this.” Nonetheless, they have failed to address the recordings in any way besides dismissing them wholly. Any network that claims to be objective but falls short in doing so, be it CNN or Fox, is not a credible nor a reliable source of information. Biases belong in Opinion sections, but disguising sentiments under selective coverage is appalling. Twisting reality to fit a worldview does nothing but polarize the public over an issue which does not exist. In other words, incomplete information creates unfounded arguments, which are a danger to public discourse. Thus, to every CNN critic who was skeptical of hanging their feet over the edge of the bed, you can breathe a sigh of relief. You can officially consume CNN knowing that there is bias without fear of ridicule for unfounded beliefs. Media is arguably more powerful than the government, and no matter your political leanings, a media with a hidden agenda is, in fact, a monster under our beds.