Monday, Joe Rogan released the latest episode of his podcast, with guest, Matt Taibbi, journalist and bearer of all things Twitter Files. The conversation got off to a swift start, diving into the cozy relationship Twitter, the government, and mainstream media figures share these days.
Taibbi and Rogan discussed the major partisan blind spot in our culture when it comes to freedom of speech. They pointed out that the people currently pushing for censorship and speech restrictions have a tendency not to think about those same rules being used against them.
Rogan said; “I’m just astounded by the lack of ability to see the future, you know the lack of ability to see where all of this goes, in letting this happen, in not being outraged, in letting the government creep into every aspect of your life in this way. There is no net positive.”
Rogan continued, “When you have mainstream news outlets going along with what appears to be propaganda, with no pushback at all, where is journalism?”
When the press and government interests are working in concert and not in tension, the press is not doing its job, believes Taibbi.
“There is supposed to be tension there, what you see now is there is no tension at all, there is a seamless community of people that all think the same way, whether its Rachel Maddow, or Don Lemon, or some Biden administration official, they see themselves as one group, but the press has to have its own mission, or it is not journalism.”
Rogan gave Taibbi credit for years ago equating Rachael Maddow to Bill O’Reilly, saying they are the exact same people on the left and the right. Taibbi explained the concept of audience capture that many media figures have adopted; “You identify an audience, you give them things you want to hear, wash rinse repeat. It’s a dangerous thing to fall into but people do it.”
