Free Republic

In the wake of the riot on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021, a groundswell built in Washington to rein in the onslaught of lies that had fueled the assault on the peaceful transfer of power. Social media companies suspended Donald Trump, then the president, and many of his allies from the platforms they had used to spread misinformation about his defeat and whip up the attempt to overturn it. President Joe Biden’s administration, Democrats in Congress and even some Republicans sought to do more to hold the companies accountable. Academic researchers wrestled with how to strengthen efforts to monitor...

In settling with Dominion Voting Systems, Fox News has avoided an excruciating, drawn-out trial in which its founding chief, Rupert Murdoch, its top managers and its biggest stars would have had to face hostile grilling on an embarrassing question: Why did they allow a virulent and defamatory conspiracy theory about the 2020 election to spread across the network when so many of them knew it to be false?

To better understand Ms. Reade’s tumultuous journey to the roiling center of the presidential campaign, The New York Times interviewed nearly 100 friends, relatives, co-workers and neighbors and reviewed court records. What emerged was a shambolic life in which Ms. Reade, through her own pluck and smarts and powers of persuasion, overcame an unsettled and abusive childhood to find opportunities on the big stages of acting, politics and law. She won praise for what friends took as a sincere commitment to helping other abuse victims and to animal rescue.

RUSH: Folks, you have to hear this. Our old buddy Jim Rutenberg. Now, you’ve heard me mention Rutenberg. When I first heard of Jim Rutenberg, he was a media columnist at the New York Times. And he was one of the few reporters at the New York Times which reported on me, Rush H. Limbaugh III, and this program not just fairly, but accurately and honestly. That is so unusual that we always note it when it happens in the Drive-By Media. And Rutenberg has always been, when I have made it into stories that he has written, I’ve always...

Federal prosecutors are reviewing Mr. Bezos’ claim that he has been extorted, according to two people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to discuss it publicly. And those prosecutors have planned a meeting with Mr. Bezos’ representatives, one of those people said. If American Media is found to have broken a law — any law — it would be in violation of a [previous] deal with federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York.

Sunday’s New York Times featured the latest installment in easily-freaked media reporter Jim Rutenberg’s crusade against President Trump: “Trump’s Undermining Reporters May Haunt Republicans.” The online headline foreshadowed Rutenberg’s unlikely attempt to enlist Republicans in defense of the press and against Trump: “Will the Real Democracy Lovers Please Stand Up?” while the text box delivered an empty threat: “This strategy could push Republicans into a corner later.” Rutenberg made no acknowledgement of the increasingly unconcealed anti-Trump partisanship displayed by the media, including his own newspaper. Rutenberg’s own infamous front-page column from August 2016 argued that the rules of journalistic objectivity...

How about telling the truth? Nah . . . Let me introduce you to Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times, because he is not just a liberal Timesman. Those are a dime a dozen. Rutenberg is different because of this. He wrote it over the summer, and in it, he unapologetically urged the news media writ large to abandon all pretense of objectivity in covering Donald Trump, for the express purpose of defeating him: If you’re a working journalist and you believe that Donald J. Trump is a demagogue playing to the nation’s worst racist and nationalistic tendencies, that...

The congressman speaks with Jim Rutenberg about the “I-word” and showing Gov. Chris Christie the ropes in Iowa. Your outspoken nature has drawn national attention, especially on Twitter. You and your wife have had some fun reading the nastier tweets in public. Any favorites? One said I smelled like “mothballs and dusty Bibles,” or something like that. (SNIP) We picked up 15 seats in the House and maybe nine in the Senate. That’s the kind of punishment I can handle. (SNIP) Whatever kind of crisis emerges, the agenda that they have long advocated for magically becomes the silver bullet for...

Palin Hairdresser: NYT Was Lying About "Hair Thinning" Claim By Tim Lindell Chalk this up as Stupid Palin Meme of the Week: In a July 12th hit piece published on the front page of the New York Times, reporters Jim Rutenberg and Serge Kovaleski (assisted by Kim Severson and William Yardley in Alaska) made the following claim: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Friends worried that she appeared anxious and underweight. Her hair had thinned to the point where she needed emergency help from her hairdresser and close friend, Jessica Steele. “Honestly, I think all of it just broke her heart,” Ms. Steele said in...