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Allergic To The 'So-Called Freedom Convoy'
Townhall.com ^ | February 25, 2022 | Tim Graham

Posted on 02/25/2022 4:12:26 AM PST by Kaslin

Something caught my ear in the car, listening to a radio simulcast of the Feb. 21 "PBS NewsHour." Anchor Judy Woodruff dryly reported that "Canadian police have arrested more than 190 protesters and issued 389 charges in connection with the so-called Freedom Convoy."

The "so-called Freedom Convoy." It's a journalistic term, the use of which can be interpreted as distancing themselves from something that's not true. After 9/11, we heard about the "so-called War on Terror." Democrats hated that term. Dan Rather used to get out the 10-foot pole and report on "the Republican political lobbying group that calls itself, quote, the 'Christian Coalition.'" This could be described as "so-called journalism."

So, I decided to put this term "so-called Freedom Convoy" into the Nexis news database to see how often it cropped up on television. The answer was quite a lot. It began as soon as the protests began on Jan. 29.

CNN's Jim Acosta was barking: "Canadian officials say they were sickened to see protesters dancing on that country's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This all began as the so-called Freedom Convoy of truckers who drove across the country for several days before arriving in Ottawa yesterday..."

If Acosta thinks it's a disreputable protest, then it's probably about "freedom." This is the same operative who fought with White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany in June of 2020, suggesting Trump rallies were COVID-19 superspreaders. When she suggested the media were incoherent, that they didn't feel Black Lives Matter protests were unhealthy, he lamely shot back: "But these are protesters protesting against injustice, against racism and police brutality. This is a rally, a political rally."

Liberal protests are for justice, so they weren't superspreaders. It's "science."

CNN really hated the Canadian protesters. On Feb. 8 at midnight, anchor John Vause wasn't holding back. "Freedom from truth, freedom from civility, freedom from reality. Canada's so-called Freedom Convoy. The truckers' protest over all pandemic restrictions galvanizes far-right groups worldwide."

It turns out that CNN hated the Canadian protests so much that I found the term "so-called Freedom Convoy" used in 62 different hours of CNN coverage. There were 12 of them on Feb. 12 alone, in half the hours of that day.

Let's stipulate that CNN offers pretty much its entire day of transcripts for the database, and plenty of these were in the overnight hours, when the news is more international.

Every other liberal network used this term, too, but much less. MSNBC only used it four times in the Nexis sample (but they put fewer hours into the system). ABC used it on six programs, CBS on five, NBC on four, and PBS only two.

On MSNBC's "Deadline White House," substitute host Alicia Menendez warned of "the so-called Freedom Convoy, crippling the U.S. and Canadian economy, raising security alarms about copycat protests. So why is the U.S. right wing cheering them on?"

Now try to imagine the sometimes-violent rioting and looting in the summer of 2020, which the networks described with positive terms, like "racial reckoning." Would anyone ever refer to "so-called Black Lives Matter protests"?

I searched CNN for "so-called Black Lives Matter," and there was one record. It was live coverage of the 2020 Republican National Convention on Wednesday night, Aug. 26. It wasn't an interview, just an open mic. Jack Brewer of Black Voices for Trump was saying the media "ignore the so-called Black Lives Matter organization that openly, on their website, called for the destruction of the nuclear family."

On this protest story, CNN sounded a bit like White Voices for Trudeau.


TOPICS: Canada; Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: canada; coronavirus; freedomconvoy; justintrudeau; wuhancoronavirus

1 posted on 02/25/2022 4:12:26 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

So the right fires back by always referring to MSM journalists as so called journalists and so called news organizations.


2 posted on 02/25/2022 4:17:19 AM PST by BiglyCommentary
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To: Kaslin
Communists and globalists (NPR, PBS etc) hate freedom, it's that simple.


3 posted on 02/25/2022 4:21:13 AM PST by Travis McGee (EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
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To: Kaslin

On Date June 4, 2020. CNN’s Chris Cuomo: “Please, show me where it says protesters are supposed to be polite and peaceful.”


4 posted on 02/25/2022 4:21:19 AM PST by griswold3 (When chaos serves the State, the State will encourage chaos)
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To: Kaslin

Good article...


5 posted on 02/25/2022 4:32:48 AM PST by rlmorel (The concept of a "cashless society" is simply a vector for the exercise of tyranny.)
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To: Kaslin

We all sat and watched for several weeks as antifa and BLM were encouraged and supported by those in power now and no one was investigated or brought to justice, just the January 6th so called insurrectionists on an illegitimate coup residing in the WH


6 posted on 02/25/2022 4:35:53 AM PST by ronnie raygun
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To: rlmorel

When conservatives protest by occupying a city it is food banks, clean, dancing and family friendly when liberals occupy it is rape, drugs, feces, violence and flames.


7 posted on 02/25/2022 4:36:25 AM PST by cnsmom
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To: Kaslin

Its weird that this whole thing boils down to immplenting a personal QR code that will eventually track your ESG score.

The Media have their marching orders and they’re too dumb to investigate the truth. Besides, that is all “Conspiracy Theorys” and “speculation” and not “Real News”.

Real news would be investigating Klaus Schwab’s comments about owning Justin Trudeau’s cabinet.

Its all for “Sustainability” and a “better world” so tracking everyone’s ESG score is good.


8 posted on 02/25/2022 4:43:21 AM PST by UNGN
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To: Kaslin

Its weird that this whole thing boils down to immplenting a personal QR code that will eventually track your ESG score.

The Media have their marching orders and they’re too dumb to investigate the truth. Besides, that is all “Conspiracy Theorys” and “speculation” and not “Real News”.

Real news would be investigating Klaus Schwab’s comments about owning Justin Trudeau’s cabinet.

Its all for “Sustainability” and a “better world” so tracking everyone’s ESG score is good.


9 posted on 02/25/2022 4:43:21 AM PST by UNGN
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To: Kaslin

We need to start using their rhetoric back against them.


10 posted on 02/25/2022 5:04:01 AM PST by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith….)
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To: UNGN

I used to think Soros was the worst man on earth, but Klaus Schwab beats him easily. He is evil personified. He owns a lot of our politicians & government agencies. We must fight hard against his WEF plans, or prepare ourselves for a 666 chip. They will sell it as a useful economic tool but it leads to the gates of hell.


11 posted on 02/25/2022 5:25:06 AM PST by WWG1WWA (Beware the fury of a patient man. - John Dryden )
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To: BiglyCommentary
So the right fires back by always referring to MSM journalists as so called journalists and so called news organizations.

I like it.

12 posted on 02/25/2022 7:11:51 AM PST by Sans-Culotte (11/3-11/4/2020 - The USA became a banana republic.)
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