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When Misinformation Isn’t

The same people who said to shut up and put on a mask claimed it was disinformation and a wild conspiracy suggesting COVID was the result of a lab accident.
Andy Bloom

Published

2 weeks ago

on

The “majority” has to stop telling the actual majority their beliefs are misinformation. Time has proven that what begins as “conspiracy theories” may be the ultimate truth. There is no better example than the origins of COVID-19.

Since the pandemic began, suggesting the virus came from anywhere other than a wet market and anything but a bat or pangolin were greeted with taunts of “misinformation”, “disinformation”, “racist”, “conspiracy theorist”, “science denier”, or worse.

There is a lengthy list of people shunned by the “scientific community”, the media, and government officials, such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, or who had their social media accounts suspended or terminated for spreading “misinformation” about COVID-19. A surefire method to draw the ire of those in power or get a Twitter account canceled was to suggest COVID originated in a Chinese lab leak.

Shortly before concluding his tenure as Director of NIAID (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases), Fauci, arrogant to the end, was a guest on a New York Times podcast Sway with Kara Swisher. There he repeated his oft-made comment, “I feel, as do the overwhelming majority of scientists who have knowledge of virology and knowledge of evolutionary biology, that the most likely explanation for this is a natural leap from an animal reservoir to a human.”

In April 2020, at a White House press conference, Fauci said, “There was a study recently that we can make available to you, where a group of highly qualified evolutionary virologists looked at the sequences there and the sequences in bats as they evolve. And the mutations that it took to get to the point where it is now is totally consistent with a jump of a species from an animal to a human.”

During the press conference, Fauci referred to a paper titled “The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2,” published in Nature Medicine.

The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic recently released a memo exposing Fauci’s and others’ emails. It shows that Fauci failed to disclose a conference call in early February 2020, during which he commissioned the paper to disprove the lab leak theory. The emails also show Fauci had final approval of the work before publication.

In December, the Subcommittee issued a report stating COVID most likely occurred due to a lab leak.

The Wall Street Journal reported that in a classified document prepared for the White House and key members of Congress, the U.S. Energy Department concluded that the pandemic was most likely a result of a lab leak. That’s a shift for the department, which was previously undecided about the virus’s origins.

The Energy Department’s conclusion is the result of new intelligence. It’s significant because the department has considerable scientific expertise and oversees a network of U.S. national laboratories, some of which conduct advanced biological research.

Although the Department of Energy reports with low confidence, the FBI maintains that the lab leak theory is the most plausible explanation with moderate confidence.

“The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan,” FBI Director Christopher Wray recently said during an interview with Bret Baier of Fox News. “The FBI has agents, professionals, analysts, virologists, microbiologists, etc., who focus specifically on the dangers of biological threats, which include things like novel viruses like covid and the concerns that they’re in the wrong hands. Some bad guys, a hostile nation-state, a terrorist, a criminal, the threats those could pose.

“So, here you’re talking about a potential leak from a Chinese government-controlled lab that killed millions of Americans, and that’s precisely what that capability was designed for. I should add that our work related to this continues, and there are not a whole lot of details I can share that aren’t classified. I will just make the observation that the Chinese government seems to me has been doing its best to try to thwart and obfuscate the work here, the work that we’re doing, the work that our U.S. government and close foreign partners are doing, and that’s unfortunate for everybody.”

Wray and others strongly imply that if we don’t know where COVID-19 came from, it’s because of the Chinese government’s measures to hide the truth.

There is additional new research that demonstrates that for all the fuss made about wearing masks, they did little to stop the transmission of COVID. Failing to wear a mask was another societal no-no and also an easy way to get booted from social media for disinformation.

The same people who said to shut up and put on a mask claimed it was disinformation and a wild conspiracy suggesting COVID was the result of a lab accident.

Of course, they were the same people screaming “Russia, Russia, Russia,” and “collusion” for two years before the pandemic.

I’ve written at length about freedom of expression and the First Amendment. It has to be okay to have different ideas and to express them without fear of being ostracized or canceled.

My liberal friends talk about conservatives censoring because, somewhere in America, parents have taken control of their children’s education. Meanwhile, people were booted from social media for saying things that proved true in the light of day. People have been fired because they were silly enough to say, “all lives matter,” which made them “racist”.

The New York Times and Washington Post have yet to return their Pulitzer Prizes for reporting on Trump – Russian collusion, a charge for as of yet; nobody has been indicted.

The only misinformation about Hunter Biden’s laptop was from those who claimed it was fake and Russian disinformation to impact the election.

I’m waiting for all 40,000 hours of video at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th to be released before I decide if it was a “violent, deadly insurrection,” or “a bunch of tourists walking around”, or, as I suspect, not quite either.

Who knows? Maybe my children will discover that the Earth will survive the temperature changes that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez predicts will doom the planet in 12 years.

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1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. R. Katz

    March 16, 2023 at 6:42 am

    Mr. Andy Bloom,
    First, can I say, just purely as a writer (whether political or not, writing storytelling, I am FLOORED by your eloquence in positing tough questions with a true willingness to debate and discuss, in the great tradition of this country. I was quite nostalgic when you mentioned Ronald Reagan and Tip’Neal. Here’s what I want to ask and understand.
    -I may not agree with many friends who over the years have passionately argued for the GOP because they are ‘fiscal conservatives.’
    -This is NOT a steamrolling of that idea.
    -However, what is deeply disturbing is the perpetuation of – for example – putting quotation marks about the “violent insurrection.” In my humble view, this has to stop. It is so dangerous, and I believe, a massive danger to the Founding Fathers intentions, to CONTINUE the ‘big lie’
    -Reasonable and sophisticated people like you, offer people like me a genuine safe space to debate.
    -I understand raising AOC; I understand the extremity.
    -But every one of needs to take the time to do several things:
    ***I believe it is the duty of all Americans to **READ THE DEPOSITIONS IN THE DOMINION V. FOX” case.
    -Under the cover of being an ‘opinion show’, Tucker, Laura, Kilmeade ,LITERALLY talk about ‘hating Trump.’ They are texting each other in real time: “we have shut this down. it’s ridiculous. we have to get this f’ng guy out of our party.’ No one has suggested nor presented evidence that these were ‘tourists’ But Fox’s non-stop, recitations are terrifying. Can you imagine facing Officer Sicknick’s wife and children, and saying “a few bad apples, but it was just tourists.” Brian Sicknick is dead. The physical and emotional trauma is so severe, many people who were doing over desks, to save members of congress, suffer such PTSD as to no longer be able to function.
    -Does ANYONE really believe (*backed up by facts) that the 312% rise anti-Jewish violent hate crime is NOT connected? “There were good people on both siders.” I’m not here to laud or vilify antifa. However, the number of conservative Republican Police Chiefs across the country, are utterly horrified : they know, truth or no, whatever is spoon-fed is no longer opinion: it is received by eager viewers as FACT..
    -Look at the blueprints of congress. Look at the amount of ‘tourists’ who tactically new where every camera was. Look at text exchanges with the Proud Boys, the tiki march chanting “Jews Will Not Replace Us.” Just as I would denounce and Dem or Independent, why the f-ck are spineless folks like Kevin McCarthy literally choosing what I call the “OJ narrative.” OJ just had to tell himself over and over again, he didn’t murder anyone until he convince himself.y
    -The party of ‘values’ SEATS George Santos. The evidence is so overwhelming – not hearsay , hard evidence, that far beyond his lies, he criminally procured campaign funds for personal reasons. He exploited his donors and then ghosted them. People like to say ‘that guy’s nuts.’ No, that’s unfair to people with mental health issues. This is way beyond politics. ***Me and all of friends, immediately condemned the John Edwards mess. He was a beloved figure. But for me, if I’m ‘America First’ NOT ‘Party First’ (which I am), ALL OF US should recognize that a person who campaigned on his mother’s time in Auschwitz… and then apparently died AGAIN on 9/11 — this not FREE SPEECH. This, as we know, is why we fight for free speech, but no judges (left or right) will say it’s OK to yell ‘FIRE’ in a crowded theater.
    -i truly wanted to show an openness to GOP’s debt ceiling plan, medicare/medicate plans, moving more companies here at home, and investing in our labor force. ***HOWEVER, I WILL NEVER GET THAT FAR. Sadly, I can’t consider those things, when snake oil salesmen on Fox are LITERALLY texting each other – desperate to get the ‘maniac’ President to drop it. 7 mins later, as stated – in order to not make the audience me – KNOWING LIE about the ‘rigged, phony, election.’ 68 court cases thrown out – not a single one (heard by so many conservative judges) – found to have anything nearing evidence convincing to say the election was rigged,
    -These same people – we know now as FACT – were scrambling… begging people like Mark Meadows and Kevin McCarthy to open their eyes, and recognize, the murder of police officers CAN NOT BE DEMOCRATIC OR REPUBLICAN. Yet, Tucker/Hannity/Dobbs/Ingram, STILL **lied to their audiences about the most controversial election that was rigged, but literally at commercial stake, the same exact people PLEADING with the 45th president to help shut it down.
    -I call bullshit on a ‘few bad apples.’ The President literally said “January 6 will be wild.” Are we really going to sell ourselves that he ‘couldn’t have meant THAT.’ Of course he did. Just like all the ‘good people on both sides’ making me terrified , gleefully walking with torches “JEWS WILL NOT REPLACE US. The following IS NOT OPINION, IT IS FACT: before the Nazis first steps toward a ‘pure race,’ they’re started with a an intimidation. Walking through neighborhoods chanting ‘JEWS WILL NOT REPLACE US.’
    -;I am glad I have MANY GOP friends who thankfully and forcefully are speaking out about the GOP playbook. it is NOT about the debt ceiling, it is NOT about smaller government. My GOP friends openly express, ‘we know dog whistles when we hear them.’
    -I find it not on irresponsible (at best) that, Kevin McCarthy is so truly spineless, he was willing to yield to the extremists in his party, bc he was so desperate for POWER. Was he desperate to respect the constitution? Was he desperate to take a good hard look at the nearly 400% increase in VIOLENT HATE CRIME – toward Jews. toward gays. people of color..’ The thing about actual statistics, gathered by bi-partisan unervisty researches, are merely providing the data. DATA, does not need an opinion. As sure as the the sun will rise, DATA, is the best disinfectant.
    -There is an extraordinary falsity that also has to be called out: ‘Christian Evangelicals Unequivocally Back a shared interpretation of ‘Judeo-Christian values’ that ‘America was born into.’ How is it possible that certain American Jews buy into ‘Judeo-Christian values.’ The DATA does not bear out. Publicly, yes. Private, people MUST take their blinders off: the same people talking about the harmony of shared values are LYING. Read their unprepared statements. Hear them MOCK Jews both in America and Israel. It could not be more clear, the sanctimonious hyperbole about protecting Jews is 100% fabrication. When doors are closed, the very same people continue to talk about Jews going to hell. the farthest on the right, busted by dug old mails or tweets, lays out a pattern that is all about votes and ZERO principle.
    -The GOP has ***deliberatley chosen*** to make 2024 about the ‘CULTURE WARS.’ I tell you I would lean int if they said: 2024 is about fiscal responsibility, about reduction overregulation, taking a deep hard look at true government reduction. I’m sure where I would shake out, but there would be complete openness to hearing each side and deliberating.
    –However, the choice instead being to race bait, continually CLAIM people throwing bricks into Jewish children’s bedroom – on the side the bricks “ALL JEWS WILL DIE.”
    -Sadly, I believe, true Americans will recognize, the GOPs strategy (without f’g question) is to convince the blue and red states, about the impact of drag queens. Censoring James Bond books. Removing books like ‘MAUS’ – ‘not appropriate for a child.’ Oh really? Did you know, MAUS – being a graphic novel – according to polls has caused millions of children with White Christian Supremist list to go to their parents and say “You really think this Holocaust did not happen?”
    -The truly unAmerican, loathsome lying attempting to say the sudden uptick in drag queen legislation is ANY different that the two ignorant homophobes who lured Matthew Shepard to a field, beat him so badly he couldn’t speak or so, leave him hanging like a scarecrow on a wooden fence, only to be found in a coma – and DIE at 22 years old, because THE GOP WILL NOT NOT NOT NOT condemn murderous violence.
    -How can I consider the GOP alternative Omnibus (which I would), when every one of these bills — barely between the lines — is an endorsement and encouragement to beat the living shit out of drag queens, out of two girls holding hands at the prom.
    -How can Spineless McCarthy and almost the entire GOP conference, live with themselves, SEAT GEORGE SANTOS, and go on Fox and call it a ‘distraction.’ The people I see here in NYC and Queens – they are lifelong Conservative Republicans … those buses that went to DC were NOT filled with ‘liberals and antifa.’ Absolute lie. They were overwhelmingly filled Republicans who hold dear to them the Constitution, and now understand even vulnerable older people were bilked of money. Retirement savings ‘campaign donations’ that went to Santos personally.
    -Apparenty the GOP wants that vote NO MATTER WHAT. Even if that vote is a signal ‘you won’t be prosecuted’ to the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers.
    -A party can not ‘disavow’ racist anti semitic homophobic notions in a cozy interview, while simultaneously handing the arsonist a lighter an a week.
    -When will the GOP of old, the Reagan GOP, when will they have a voice:? Why is Mike Pence ONE OF THE ONLY GOP members who openly says he defied the President because the President was WRONG. I’m no fan of Pence, however his loyalty to his oath – regardless that it put him danger ‘Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence.’ HOW THE F-CK are GOP members – invested deeply the closely conservative Republicans — how can they staySILENT, Fox pundits —- in THEIR OWN WORDS – again this not a ‘liberal conspiracy.’ People simply need to read the texts and read the Murdoch deposition. How is that no one in the GOP going door to door to show the MAGA folks the the 45th President and Fox News are patronizing, text each other about how ‘unsophisticated their audience’ and sleep at night, perpetuating a ‘tourist group at congress’. Venezuela tapped voting machines. The real truth is – if you read those texts – the gaslighting by Fox hosts is about not losing shares. Is about counting on their audience being ‘somewhat trashy and uneducated.’
    -Woud John McCain seat George Santos? George w. Bush? Dick Cheney? Bob Gates. Would they seat a guy raising money by crying at a mic imagining his mother escaping Auschwitz, looking at the TV ‘knowing his mother was in the South Tower.’ HE CO-OPTED THE DEATH OF 4,00O AMERICANS IN 0RDER RAISE MONEY. HE USED AN EXTERMINATION CAM TO RAISE MONEY.
    -But goddam : this is a perfect answer to the INARGUABLE FACT, that the USA GOP encouraged the beatings;stabbings mugagings of Jews. The murders of gay people. have you looked at the stats on JEWS ASIANS and GAYS during ’45s reign? Numbers are numbers.
    -I BY NO MEANS feel that Biden is some perfect figure. Nor do I feel that the MANY shady Democrats get away with so much that the People don’t even know.
    **I realize this a very long rant. I want to say that MANY of us are open minded and NOT married to the Dem party line.
    -But we will not discuss or debate these issues until the muggings, beatings, bullying, and murders of Jews, Gay, People of color. recede and stop.
    -There have been a number of truly sincere R’s and D’s who genuinely want to make life better.
    -Endorsing white supremacy, violent anti-semitism (the exact prelude to the Holocaust in Berlin 1939), legally disallowing equal safety to gay americans – how can we have the luxury of scrutinizing both parties fiscal plans, UNTIL WE STOP HERO WORSHIPPING one man who LITERALLY CALLED THE GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE ‘I JUST NEED YOU TO FIND 11,000 VOTES.’ THERE IS NO NUANCE THERE, HE ACTIVELY TRYING TO COERCERE PEPLE TO JOIN HIM THIS LIE. Fake electors?
    —maybe the GOP should soul search and think about WHY THEY LOST instead of refusing to accept it.

    Reply

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BNM Writers

Tucker Carlson Sees Ratings Surge With January 6th Videos

The Mar. 7th edition (4.165 million) topped all cable telecasts in total viewers that week.
Doug Pucci

Published

3 hours ago

on

March 29, 2023

By

Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson Tonight has featured the host’s many polarizing claims. The ones made on the Mar. 6th and 7th editions of his show could be labeled as among the most controversial.

Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had granted Carlson exclusive access to over 40,000 hours of January 6th security camera footage. On his FNC show across those two aforementioned evenings, Carlson denied an insurrection had taken place at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021; instead, it was “mostly peaceful chaos”, most who were there were mere “sightseers”, and that the footage provided “conclusive” evidence “proving” Democrats “lied” about the events of that day.

On the Senate floor on the morning of Mar. 7, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called Carlson’s Mar. 6th show “one of the most shameful hours we have ever seen on cable television.”

The immense reach that Carlson’s rhetoric regularly attracts justified the high concern and swiftness of the condemnation and backlash. One glance at the ranks of the week’s top cable news programs at the end of this article, or any of this site’s past weekly news ratings items, can glean how highly popular Carlson is in, not only the cable news world, but also, the entire television landscape.

According to Nielsen Media Research, the Mar. 7th edition (4.165 million) topped all cable telecasts in total viewers that week and matched the live plus same-day total viewing figures for the 17th-ranked broadcast network show of the week ending Mar. 12, the CBS procedural East New York.

Carlson also took the week’s No. 2 and No. 3 spots on cable in total viewers; within the key 25-54 demographic, its Mar. 6th and 7th editions were tops for non-sports cable programs (it ranked 17th and 18th, respectively, in the demo with sports included, mostly from men’s college basketball conference tournament coverage on various outlets).

For Mar. 6-10, Tucker Carlson Tonight averaged 3.568 million total viewers, 469,000 with adults 25-54 and 312,000 with adults 18-49 — the program’s highest-rated week in all metrics since the week of the 2022 midterm elections (Nov. 7-11, 2022).

As a backdrop to all of this, it was revealed on Mar. 7 — due to the legal filings made public as part of Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News — that Carlson privately messaged colleagues he loathed Donald Trump and his presidency. (The release of that communication received no coverage at FNC.)

Cable news averages for March 6-12, 2023:

Total Day (Mar. 6-12 @ 6 a.m.-5:59 a.m.)

  • Fox News Channel: 1.359 million viewers; 172,000 adults 25-54
  • MSNBC: 0.673 million viewers; 71,000 adults 25-54
  • CNN: 0.408 million viewers; 81,000 adults 25-54
  • HLN: 0.155 million viewers; 41,000 adults 25-54
  • CNBC: 0.111 million viewers; 27,000 adults 25-54
  • Fox Business Network: 0.104 million viewers; 12,000 adults 25-54
  • The Weather Channel: 0.101 million viewers; 18,000 adults 25-54
  • Newsmax: 0.083 million viewers; 7,000 adults 25-54

Prime Time (Mar. 6-11 @ 8-11 p.m.; Mar. 12 @ 7-11 p.m.)

  • Fox News Channel: 2.237 million viewers; 274,000 adults 25-54
  • MSNBC: 1.088 million viewers; 108,000 adults 25-54
  • CNN: 0.443 million viewers; 95,000 adults 25-54
  • HLN: 0.199 million viewers; 53,000 adults 25-54
  • CNBC: 0.145 million viewers; 36,000 adults 25-54
  • The Weather Channel: 0.131 million viewers; 21,000 adults 25-54
  • Newsmax: 0.094 million viewers; 11,000 adults 25-54
  • NewsNation: 0.087 million viewers; 15,000 adults 25-54
  • Fox Business Network: 0.058 million viewers; 10,000 adults 25-54

Top 10 most-watched cable news programs (and the top programs of other outlets with their respective associated ranks) in total viewers:

1. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Tue. 3/7/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 4.136 million viewers

2. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Mon. 3/6/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.695 million viewers

3. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Wed. 3/8/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.622 million viewers

4. The Five (FOXNC, Tue. 3/7/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.300 million viewers

5. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Thu. 3/9/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.289 million viewers

6. The Five (FOXNC, Wed. 3/8/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.187 million viewers

7. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Fri. 3/10/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.099 million viewers

8. The Five (FOXNC, Mon. 3/6/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.004 million viewers

9. The Five (FOXNC, Thu. 3/9/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.982 million viewers

10. The Five (FOXNC, Fri. 3/10/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.911 million viewers

24. Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC, Mon. 3/6/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.253 million viewers

170. Real Time With Bill Maher (HBO, Fri. 3/10/2023 10:01 PM, 58 min.) 0.765 million viewers

178. Erin Burnett Outfront (CNN, Tue. 3/7/2023 7:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.698 million viewers

334. The Daily Show “Mar 8, 23 – Marlon Wayans” (CMDY, Wed. 3/8/2023 11:00 PM, 30 min.) 0.408 viewers

359. Last Week Tonight (HBO, Sun. 3/12/2023 11:05 PM, 34 min.) 0.348 million viewers 

388. Varney & Company (FBN, Fri. 3/10/2023 10:00 AM, 60 min.) 0.297 million viewers

392. Forensic Files (HLN, late Fri. 3/10/2023 12:30 AM, 30 min.) 0.290 million viewers

441. Fast Money Halftime Report (CNBC, Mon. 3/6/2023 12:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.241 million viewers

478. Heavy Rescue: 401 “(511) No Other Choice” (TWC, Sat. 3/11/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.221 million viewers

492. Newsnation: Rush Hour (NWSN, Mon. 3/6/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.215 million viewers

Top 10 cable news programs (and the top  programs of other outlets with their respective associated ranks) among adults 25-54:

1. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Mon. 3/6/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.565 million adults 25-54

2. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Tue. 3/7/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.556 million adults 25-54

3. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Wed. 3/8/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.467 million adults 25-54

4. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Thu. 3/9/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.395 million adults 25-54

5. Tucker Carlson Tonight (FOXNC, Fri. 3/10/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.365 million adults 25-54

6. The Five (FOXNC, Tue. 3/7/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.363 million adults 25-54

7. Hannity (FOXNC, Tue. 3/7/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.361 million adults 25-54

8. The Five (FOXNC, Thu. 3/9/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.341 million adults 25-54

9. The Five (FOXNC, Wed. 3/8/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.340 million adults 25-54

10. Gutfeld! (FOXNC, Tue. 3/7/2023 11:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.330 million adults 25-54

39. Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC, Mon. 3/6/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.219 million adults 25-54

74. The Daily Show “Mar 8, 23 – Marlon Wayans” (CMDY, Wed. 3/8/2023 11:00 PM, 30 min.) 0.179 million adults 25-54

102. Low Country: Murdaugh Dynasty “2. Something In The Road” (CNN, Sat. 3/11/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.152 million adults 25-54

165. Real Time With Bill Maher (HBO, Fri. 3/10/2023 10:01 PM, 58 min.) 0.115 million adults 25-54

195. Forensic Files (HLN, late Fri. 3/10/2023 1:00 AM, 30 min.) 0.105 million adults 25-54

222. Last Week Tonight (HBO, Sun. 3/12/2023 11:05 PM, 34 min.) 0.097 million adults 25-54

344. Shark Tank “Shark Tank 1102” (CNBC, Mon. 3/6/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.070 million adults 25-54

498. Heavy Rescue: 401 “(508) This Aint Gonna Be Pretty” (TWC, Sat. 3/11/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.047 million adults 25-54

505. Kudlow (FBN, Fri. 3/10/2023 4:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.045 million adults 25-54

552. Newsnation Prime (NWSN, Sun. 3/12/2023 7:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.039 million adults 25-54

Source: Live+Same Day data, Nielsen Media Research

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BNM Writers

Jayme West Grew From Small-Town Arizona Reporter to KTAR Anchor

“I think my radio job was paying $4 bucks an hour. You did not make a lot of money in a small town. I was always broke.”
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Published

12 hours ago

on

March 29, 2023

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It’s natural for a young reporter to dream of being part of that huge story. You hope to cover the monumental event that puts your mark on journalism. Jayme West is a news anchor and co-host with Jim Sharpe on Arizona’s Morning News on 92.3FM KTAR. West learned there are stories embedded in your mind, details that will never diminish. The most memorable story for West was the aftermath of 9/11.

West traveled with Phoenix firefighters to New York. The first flight out of Phoenix after the terrorist attack was ten days out. As they drove down Lexington Avenue near the armory, every available light post was covered with posters of the faces of missing people. It was horrible, but I am honored to be part of that historic event.

“We went to ground zero and it was an incredible experience,” West said. “In the taxi from the airport to Manhattan, every available space was covered with an American flag. I’d just been to the top of the Trade Center three years before. To see it all reduced to a ten-story rubble, so compacted, it was disturbing.”

West remembers grabbing a cup of soup from one of the many food trucks that were feeding those on the ‘pile.’

“I was about to sit down on the threshold of a door, and I wiped the cement.  Then it hit me. The ashes from the seat could have been ashes of a human life.”

Delivering her 9/11 stories to Phoenix was difficult at times, but she had a job to do. West was there to relate to listeners what the Red Cross from Phoenix was doing. She talked with firefighters on the ‘pile.’ West described what was taking place at the Javits Center. To help listeners visualize what was going on.

West’s family moved to a small town, Pinetop-Lakeside. In high school, she always listened to the radio. In her bedroom was a record player with a microphone. West pretended she was running a radio station, spinning records, introducing songs.

When West finished high school, there were very few jobs for women in radio in town. “I played 45s,” she said. “I was not allowed to play two female artists in a row at the station. I learned everything there. We didn’t get free concert tickets. It was such a small town we didn’t get concerts.”

Spinning records was fine, but once she started doing news she loved it for several reasons.

“My parents were always behind me,” West said. “I think my radio job was paying $4 bucks an hour. You did not make a lot of money in a small town. I was always broke. Only one time did my father ask me if radio was the right career. But he never discouraged me from being in radio.”

While searching for news each morning, West said Twitter can be a solid source.

“I trust Twitter for news that is happening right at that moment,” West said. “With all the technology the news is right there. We won’t report on all of it, only what we can confirm. I started with a teletype. Ripped stuff off the AP wire. It’s amazing how much easier it has made my job.”

West said she does miss being out on the streets working on stories. Working leads with other reporters.

“I’m not out in the field anymore,” she said. “I monitor government agencies and law enforcement agencies.”

After thousands of stories, West has a few she can easily recall.

“British Airways was announcing their new Boeing 777,” she said. “We flew to London on a 747 and came back on the new 777. When we got to the airport they had the fire engines spraying water arches when we came through.”

West talked her way into the trip by telling her bosses she was doing a story on Yuma lettuce. Describing to listeners how the leafy vegetable made the trip from Arizona to the shelf in London the following day.

“While I was there we visited Piccadilly Square. We’d ask Londoners what they thought Arizona was like. One woman told us it’s where people cook beans, like in western movies. ‘It’s so hot there,’ they’d tell me. ‘If you don’t have an air conditioner you’ll die.’”

West didn’t attend college, but she could have. What she wouldn’t get in the classroom she made up for on the job.

“My experience came from life. From moments in history. I’ve met historical figures. I don’t regret missing college at all.”

West covered serial killers roaming the valley in 2008, the Serial Shooters. Two men were killing people at random. West spent time embedded with the Phoenix Police Department homicide division. She was with a detective from the initial call of a murdered woman. 

“I went to the crime scene,” West said. “The woman was a waitress at Denny’s. She won $1,200 at the casino and drove home where she was robbed and killed. I went to her autopsy, and we searched for bullet fragments in her car. We notified the family. It took a couple of years to catch the murderer.”

She was asked to witness an execution at a prison. She declined the invitation.

“That’s one of those unforgettable moments in life,” West said. “I realize they do need media witnesses, but I did not want that memory in my brain. I had the chance to fly with the Blue Angels but didn’t do it. No way I was going to barf on a fighter jet.”

For 20 years West has hosted Silent Witness on KTAR. This is a show that covers unsolved crimes and asks the public for help.

“I’ve been told it has been successful, but they can’t tell us specifics,” West said.

West and her husband purchased a cabin two hours north of Phoenix in Strawberry, Arizona. “When we want an escape, that’s where we go.”

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Media Turns Attention to Mississippi After Deadly Tornadoes

Rick Schultz

Published

1 day ago

on

March 28, 2023

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As most Americans were winding down their work week in anticipation of a restful spring weekend, many unsuspecting Mississippi residents were hit with a blow of destruction that will change their lives forever.

Just after sundown on Friday, deadly tornadoes tore through the Magnolia State, taking the lives of dozens and causing massive damage through a 100-mile path across the state.

Hours later, Griff Jenkins detailed the emerging story on Saturday’s Fox News Live.  He welcomed Rev. Franklin Graham, President of the humanitarian aid group Samaritan’s Purse, and the two discussed the natural disaster and the immediate needs of the impacted citizens. 

“We have people on the ground right now, we have equipment en route, we will be set up this time tomorrow. We’ll be taking volunteers, trying to help people find their things and try to recover as much as they can,” Graham began. “But Griff, the most important thing right now is prayer. As the Governor, Tate, has said, the devastation will be felt forever in these communities. As is the loss of life, 23 people and the number will probably go up.” Sadly it has, in the few days since.

Since 1970, the world has grown accustomed to Samaritan’s Purse quickly offering assistance in times of trouble, both domestically and abroad. The group models its mission around Jesus’ command to “Go and Do Likewise,” after the Samaritan helped the hurting man that others had passed by in Luke’s Gospel.

“People need prayer that God would just comfort their hearts and He’d put his loving arms around them during this very difficult time,” Graham said. “The houses can be rebuilt after time. Businesses will come back after time. Those things can be fixed with time. But the loss of life, that’s so difficult and it’s going to be felt for a long time, as the Governor said, forever. And I agree with Governor Tate, we need to pray for the people.”

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) earlier had issued a statement which said, in part, “please pray for God’s hand to be over all who lost family and friends.”

For his part, Jenkins seemed to understand that God can often be heard best during times of tumult and difficulty.

“Prayer so important for people facing a very uncertain future,” Jenkins noted, as he recalled encountering Samaritan’s Purse in other disaster-ridden parts of America over the years. “If you can for our viewers, explain the challenges of getting in there and dealing with the destruction, and how you can help people.”

“First, we go in and we meet with the local officials, FEMA. We want to get their input and we don’t want to go down and get in people’s way,” Graham said. “We want to go to an area that certainly needs our help, where people haven’t gone. There will be other volunteer groups going in – Convoy of Hope and people like that will be responding – and so we all coordinate and we all work together.”

Graham said his organization basically spreads out and helps people in the most pragmatic ways possible.

“We’ll just go in and assess it and start helping,” he said. “We bring in volunteers. If a person’s house has been flattened, they’re looking maybe for a wedding ring or for pictures. Things that can’t be replaced. And our volunteers we’ll go in and help go through the rubble of the home, trying to find the valuables.

“Houses that just lost a roof but are still standing, we’ll have tarps so we can get the house back in the dry to keep it from being further damaged. The list just goes on and on, but we’ll take work orders and we go and help people that are asking for help. And we’ll be there. We’ll be there for some time, Griff. This is a bigger storm. You know, over a hundred miles and it’s just massive.”

Fox rolled footage of the destruction from Rolling Fork, Mississippi, which showed bridges, homes, roads and vehicles utterly destroyed.

“The first thing, for the local officials, this is search and rescue,” Graham said, noting that Samaritan’s Purse has been helping in similar conditions in Turkey since last month’s earthquake. “You’ve got to try to find people that may still be alive under the rubble. So you have to just stay out of the way and let the local authorities do what they do.

“And tomorrow things will begin to open up where we can come in and start helping the homeowners. But right now it’s search and rescue, and we need to pray for them. That if there’s somebody alive that God would direct them to them and get them out of that rubble right now, because time is very important.”

“SamaritansPurse.org if you want to try and help and support Samaritan’s Purse. They are among the best in situations like this. And certainly bringing a lot of relief to those who need it the most right now ,” Jenkins concluded. “And of course, as you said Reverend – prayers, prayers for this community and all of those affected in this hundred mile path.”

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