Posted on 12/30/2017 12:20:43 PM PST by Kaslin
Some media observers say overseas reporters cover U.S. politics better than stateside scribes.
It’s a case-by-case situation, of course. It’s not far from the truth, though. We saw a great example of it recently courtesy of the BBC.
The Post, out in select theaters now and going wide January 12, stars Meryl Streep as Katherine Graham, The Washington Post publisher circa 1971. Graham approved the publication of The Pentagon Papers under great duress, a watershed moment in journalism. Tom Hanks co-stars as editor Ben Bradlee, and Oscar winner Steven Spielberg is behind the camera.
Talk about heavy hitters.
The story itself is both true and significant to U.S. history. That’s catnip to Oscar voters. It doesn’t hurt to have the legendary trio of Hanks, Streep and Spielberg fueling the film. Together, they account for nine Academy Awards.
Stateside reporters are fawning over The Post as if it’s the most important drama of the hour, if not the minute. Why?
In Trump’s America, good journalism matters … more than ever. Or so we’re told. What’s left unsaid? How the era of fake news and monumental MSM gaffes shattered our already shaky trust in news outlets. That’s a subject few, if any, U.S. based reporters will throw at the trio.
What a shame.
Yet one reporter did his homework and asked an equally tough query.
Meet Husam Sam Asi, a BBC TV host and founder of ukscreen.com. Asi recently interviewed The Post stars on a range of subjects captured in the following 10-minute clip.
Asi, a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) since 2010, wasn’t satisfied with throwing the screen legends softballs. He hunkered down and challenged them with more substantial queries.
For example, he reminded Streep and Spielberg that President Barack Obama flexed his might against journalists via the Espionage Act. Here’s how Jake Tapper put it:
“The Obama administration has used the Espionage Act to go after whistleblowers who leaked to journalists … more than all previous administrations combined.”
That doesn’t take into account Obama’s war against Fox News or how he spied on Fox News’ James Rosen.
How did Streep and Spielberg, hardcore Democrats who supported Obama during his two presidential terms, react? Let’s just say each has a potent political career awaiting them given their fancy footwork.
Here’s Asi’s corker:
“If you look at the numbers, there were more prosecutions under the Espionage Act during the Obama administration than any other administration. Yet no one in Hollywood was urged to say something about it, or do something about it…”
What do Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks think of Edward Snowden?
What about Streep?
The video doesn’t directly connect the question and answer, although given Streep’s response it’s apparent she’s attempting to answer it without actually doing so.
“I think it’s good that that is exposed now. I think we have to hold not only people that we have adversarial political views from to task but I think we also have to hold our friends and our compatriots, people who follow a line of policy that we agree with, we have to hold them to the same standard. I think that’s absolutely valid and important. And that’s sort of what the film is about.”
Asi asked a tough, but fair, question to these A-list stars. He deserves plenty of credit for that … even if the stars couldn’t fairly fire off a response.
This film may backfire.
People may demand that the media provide coverage of government malfeasance. Not Trump — he’s been looked at hard and long. He’s clean as a whistle.
But Clinton? Huma? Podesta? The Pakistani IT guys? Lerner? Comey?
The Truth will come out. Trump will ensure it. And the public will be hungry. It might even sell a few newspapers. The Liberal media will be constantly scooped, unless they bite the bullet and start to cover the news.
Spielberg, Hanks, Creep, Graham, Bradlee . . .?
Uh, NO THANKS
Not even on cable. EVER
Streep: “Thats too bad...ain’t it sad”
Hanks: “I’ve got to find Bubba!”
It will play in blue states and they’ll give each awards for being so brave.
'The stars say => FLOP.'
Harvey Weinstein enablers....
I am sure it will be an Oscar darling. Meryl will get her millionth academy award. So predictable. Although she is a phenomenal actress, she is an awful human being.
I think you’re right.
Just another pebble thrown by a streaming mad left. Who really cares?
The Post is about the publication of stolen documents from the US government nicknamed The Pentagon Papers.
The Wikileaks publication of the stolen DNC emails has been blamed on Russia although the publisher says that his source was not Russia, strongly implying an internal leaker at the DNC.
Here’s what the US media had to say about the content of those emails:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/zorn/ct-wikileaks-dnc-emails-russia-media-ethics-zorn-perspec-0729-md-20160728-column.html
When media publish WikiLeaks documents: Legal, but is it ethical?
...Hackers are criminals. The data files they pry loose are nothing more than stolen goods. Illicitly obtained email chains are equivalent to personal journals burglarized from locked desk drawers, yet because they’re in electronic form and easily reproduced, the journalistic community regards them as fair game.
Outlets that would never countenance their own reporters breaking the law or even concealing their identities to obtain information seem to think nothing of feasting on the poisonous fruits delivered by hackers.
We don’t have to look back very far for proof. On July 22, WikiLeaks published nearly 20,000 emails that had been copied off internal servers of the Democratic National Committee. The most provocative of them showed that ostensibly neutral party officials conspired during the primary season to boost the Clinton campaign and tamp down support for the insurgent candidacy of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
The emails were undeniably interesting and undeniably relevant, even though Sanders, who finished a close second to Clinton in the delegate race, had all along been accusing the DNC of having its thumb on the scale for Clinton. The party convention started Monday and had as a major goal bringing disaffected Sanders supporters into the Clinton fold.
And it was undeniably legal for news organizations to publish excerpts, as nearly all did. In 2001, the United States Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Bartnicki v. Vopper that media outlets are within their rights to publish transcripts of phone calls that were illegally intercepted by a third party.
But was it ethical? The DNC is a private organization — as is Sony Pictures Entertainment, whose hacked emails similarly became grist for the journalistic mill in 2014 — and its internal communications aren’t government records and aren’t subject to the Freedom of Information Act, no matter how interesting, relevant, juicy or piquant we may find them...
The press doesn’t like having their own evidence of collusion and coverup exposed.
So the Hollywood leftists are doing yet another sack dance for taking down Nixon?
Trying to relive the glory years, huh?
I wonder if any films will be made about the takedown of DingleBarry for his unprecedented corruption of the DoJ and FBI? But why ask? Of course no such films will be made.
It’s like the Russians continuing to harp on “The Great Patriotic War”, since that was about the only good thing Russia did last century, was to help bring down Hitler.
The media was “scooped” on Fornigate/Monica because they wanted to be. The story was dumped in file13 (trash).
There are stories that the DNCMSM refuses to cover for the good of The Party.
And then there are false stories that they push for days (sometimes even tanking the stock market) because of their successful propaganda campaigns against those they perceive to be enemies.
The media did a Bullstalin job of dramatizing the forged National Guard memos that Dan Ratherbiased put on SeeBS News and AssPress ran in print.
The media sat on the sidelines for days unwilling to even bring up doubts that rose up the first day of the report.
But rather than tell that story, they stuck by “fake but accurate”.
FUHBOTimeWarnerTurnerCNN
...“The Obama administration has used the Espionage Act to go after whistleblowers who leaked to journalists … more than all previous administrations combined.”
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3618158/posts
Ben Bradlee had no redeeming qualities. He censored any criticism of JFK so that he would stay in the sought-after White House social circle. Yet he went after Nixon for less offenses and threw out all balance.
Bradlee was married to JFK’s mistress’ sister. When the mistress, Mary Pinchot Meyer, was murdered on the C&O Canal towpath less than a year after JFK’s assassination, Bradlee helped remove/destroy her diary and thus erase its contents from history.
linda and monica story film rights going to amazon
http://variety.com/2017/film/news/monica-lewinsky-linda-tripp-movie-amazon-1202454458/
Twisting the record by the Soros/Obama/hillary/Brock/MSM RICO criminal conspirators
They shoul make Juanita Broderick’s movie first, then Paula Jones, and Monica’s deal can be the third in the trilogy. Assbackwards to make her story the central focus.
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