Ryan Long is a comedian who explores funny themes many of his peers won’t touch. You can think Identity Politics and the clickbait media. What is the most recent example? Long plays a fear-mongering reporter in “man on the street” mode.
Is this really funny? Media outlets propagate fear in order to increase ratings, especially during pandemics. It’s a variation of the local TV news story, “Coming up next…what’s in your fridge could kill you.”
This awareness is especially acute during extended pandemics. This awareness was long exploited by the shrewd. Dr. Drew Pinsky noticed this disturbing trend, too, except he’s not amused.
Co-host with the doctor Dr. Drew and Adam ShowHe spoke to listeners about the new media trend that COVID-19 deaths might be decreasing. The mainstream press, he argued, is suddenly pushing death totals from other, more conventional areas of life – think old age, for example.
“That’s their preoccupation now. So we gotta getcha, gotta getcha going,” Dr. Pinsky said, tying the shift to larger issues of distrust tied to the pandemic.
Maintain regular Dr. Drew and AdamThe hosts are known to criticize both the government and media for their inaccuracies regarding the pandemic. Even Dr. Pinsky, a much cooler voice than Carolla, can’t help criticizing how both bodies have let Americans down.
“Isn’t the press really the problem? As you’re saying, the leaders made mistakes, made bad decisions…but isn’t, really, the enemy of the people the press? Isn’t that the problem that’s making the mass formation psychosis?”
This phrase was popularized by Dr. Robert Malone who co-created the mRNA vaccination platform. Joe Rogan Experience. According to the medical expert, Big Tech and the government conspired to spread false information about the pandemic.
- The pandemic absolutely didn’t start in that Wuhan Lab
- Children are at risk of COVID-19 just like adults
- Cloth masks are an effective, nay essential, barrier against the virus
Twitter then banned Dr. Malone. He was forced to leave for GETTR. YouTube similarly yanked Dr. Malone’s recent interview with Rogan, heard by the podcaster’s massive Spotify audience.
Of course, President Donald Trump famously uttered the phrase, “The press is the enemy of the people,” regarding the Fake News wave that crested during his presidency. People across political parties found that this statement resonated. Recent polls show a huge distrust of mainstream news.
Carolla quickly weighed in on Dr. Pinsky’s comments, adding a notable twist.
“It is the press, but you still have to blame the leaders, because the leaders want to be portrayed by the press in a certain way,” Carolla said.
“The Fourth Estate, they’re here to help us,” Dr. Pinsky said in a mocking tone about the decade’s old nickname for journalism. “The Fourth Estate needs a revolution … and it might be Joe Rogan. He might end up the head of the Fourth Estate,” he added with a chuckle.
Carolla recognized that the tone of reporters against Republican politicians is adversarial and picked up this theme.
“If you’re [Republican Gov.] Ron DeSantis of Florida, you’re already on the wrong side of all the news outlets, so you get to operate with impunity because you’ve already run afoul of them,” Carolla said, noting the 2020 “60 Minutes” hit piece on the Florida governor.
“Fox [News]is going to leave him alone and then there are the 19 other 19. [news outlets], and they’re going after him,” he said. That, curiously enough, allows him to govern in a way Democrats can’t quite mimic, he suggested.
“He gets to go, ‘well, I can do whatever policy I want because I’ve already run afoul of these people. It doesn’t matter.’ Gov. Newsom [of California] doesn’t want to run afoul of these people, and neither does anyone who heads up a blue state. They go, ‘I got all these guys on my side. I don’t wanna run afoul of them, I have elections coming up.’ They then put their policies that would not run afoul of the Los Angeles Times which are the wrong policies, but, ‘I need the Los Angeles Times.’”
Dr. Pinsky reminded the listeners that Governor. Newsom initially balked at giving President Donald Trump’s vaccine, assembling his own advisory panel suggesting the now widely hailed treatments could be problematic. He would be labeled an antivaxxer for that act alone and removed likely from social media.
“What happened to that panel?” he asked of Newsom’s panel.
“What happened to Kamala Harris saying she wasn’t gonna take Trump’s vaccine?” Carolla added, something mainstream media outlets memory holed as the current Vice President continues to push vaccine use.
The duo also discussed CNN’s New Year’s Eve coverage, featuring an obviously drunk co-host, Andy Cohen, further blackening the network’s name.
Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen pose for a photo in memory of Betty White
“I’m not sure CNN did themselves any favors on New Year’s Eve,” Dr. Pinsky said.
“I think America caught on to CNN,” Carolla said of the network’s ratings free fall.
Pinsky observed a more alarming trend. Public distrusts news media outlets for being fair and truthful.
“It used to be the news would report something, and you’d go, ‘OK,’ and you consume it. Now, you go, ‘all right, we’ll see.’ Always. Everything.”
Carolla cited the “deluge” of fake news linked to Kyle Rittenhouse as an example of corruption in modern media.
“They lied. We caught on, and a certain percentage of people understand that,” Carolla said.
[Cross-posted from Hollywood In Toto]
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