CBS’ Margaret Brennan links Holocaust to free speech: Bias Breakdown

[Karah Rucker]

WELCOME TO BIAS BREAKDOWN.

I’M YOUR HOST – KARAH RUCKER.

CBS NEWS – IS TAKING HEAT FROM THE POLITICAL RIGHT –

OVER AN EXCHANGE DURING ITS SUNDAY MORNING SHOW –

TO WHICH CBS ANCHOR MARGARET BRENNAN SUGGESTED “FREE SPEECH WAS WEAPONIZED” BY ADOLF HITLER IN GERMANY.

AND THE CRITICISM PILED ON FOR THE NETWORK –

AFTER A “60 MINUTES SEGMENT” AIRED THAT EVENING – SHOWCASED GERMAN POLICE – RAIDING RESIDENTS’ HOMES OVER ALLEGATIONS OF “POSTING HATEFUL SPEECH ONLINE.”

THE FULL CONTEXT YOU DESERVE –

AND THE CONTRAST IN NEWS COVERAGE OVER THE CONTROVERSY –

THAT’S THE FOCUS OF TODAY’S BIAS BREAKDOWN.

WHILE YOU MAY HAVE SEEN A SNIPPET HERE OR THERE ON SOCIAL MEDIA OVER THIS VIRAL CBS CLIP –

WE’RE GOING TO START FROM THE BEGINNING TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE FULL CONTEXT.

THAT MEANS TAKING YOU BACK TO VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE’S SPEECH IN MUNICH – WHICH FIRST IGNITED THE CONVERSATION ABOUT GERMANY’S POLICIES OVER POLICING SPEECH.

HERE’S THE VICE PRESIDENT.

“The threat that i worry most about Vis-à-vis europe, is not russia, its not china, it’s not any other external actor. What I worry about is the threat from within the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America.”

JD VANCE – IS REFERRING TO THE PRINCIPLES OF FREE SPEECH UNDER A DEMOCRACY.

VANCE POINTS TO POLICE IN GERMANY – AND OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES – USING SPEECH LAWS TO ARREST CITIZENS OVER WHAT AUTHORITIES FIND TO BE “MISINFORMATION” OR “DISINFORMATION” – WORDS VANCE SAYS ARE BEING USED TO CENSOR CITIZENS.

HERE’S VANCE AGAIN FROM HIS SPEECH FRIDAY.

“in Britain and across Europe, Free speech, I fear, is in retreat.”

“Many of us on the other side of the atlantic – it looks more and more like old entrenched interests hiding behind ugly soviet era words like misinformation and disinformation who simply don’t like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion.”

FAST FORWARD A FEW DAYS TO CBS’ SUNDAY MORNING SHOW – FACE THE NATION –

WITH ANCHOR MARGARET BRENNAN – INTERVIEWING SECRETARY OF STATE MARCO RUBIO – ASKING HIM ABOUT VANCE’S SPEECH.

HERE’S THE EXCHANGE – IT’S ABOUT 50 SECONDS LONG – TAKE A LISTEN.

“He was standing in a country where free speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide and he met with the head of a political party that has far right views and some historic ties to extreme groups, the context of that was changing the tone of it and you know that, the censorship was specifically about the right.”

“No i have to disagree with you on that. Free speech was not used to conduct a genocide. The genocide was conducted by an authoritarian nazi regime that happened to also be genocidal because they hated jews and they hated minorities….there was no free speech in nazi germany. There was none. So that’s not an accurate reflection of history.

THIS BACK-AND-FORTH MADE HEADLINES AMONG RIGHT-LEANING NEWS OUTLETS.

TAKE THE WASHINGTON TIMES, THE DAILY WIRE, AND THE NATIONAL REVIEW –

THEIR HEADLINES READ “CBS HOST MARGARET BRENNAN “RIPPED” FOR CRAZY CLAIM ABOUT FREE SPEECH FUELING THE HOLOCAUST.”

“CBS HOST “SLAMMED OVER CLAIM”

AND “READ A HISTORY BOOK, MARGARET.”

NEWS OUTLETS THAT ARE CONSIDERED LEFT-LEANING ARE LARGELY SILENT ON THE CRITICISM OVER THE CBS ANCHOR’S REMARKS.

THAT INCLUDES NBC NEWS, THE NEW YORK TIMES, WASHINGTON POST, AND ABC NEWS TO NAME A FEW.

AS OF THIS RECORDING – THERE ARE NO WRITE-UPS ON THEIR WEBSITES OVER THE EXCHANGE.

WHICH MEANS IF YOU WERE TO ONLY CONSUME NEWS FROM ONE OF THESE OUTLETS, YOU WOULD’VE MISSED THE STORY.

OVERSATURATION OF A STORY BY ONE POLITICAL SIDE – AND AN OMISSION OF THE STORY BY THE OTHER – IS CONSIDERED A TYPE OF MEDIA BIAS.

WHAT LEFT-LEANING OUTLETS DID REPORT ON – WAS VANCE’S SPEECH – CALLING IT AN ATTACK ON ALLIES.

HERE’S A FEW HEADLINES FROM NEWS OUTLETS ON THE LEFT –

CNN WROTE “VANCE turns on European allies in blistering speech that downplayed threats from Russia and China.”

NPR WROTE “Vance scorches European allies in Munich speech, lecturing them about democracy.”

AND THE GUARDIAN WROTE “JD VANCE STUNS MUNICH CONFERENCE WITH BLISTERING ATTACK ON EUROPE’S LEADERS.”

THE CRITICISM CARRIED OVER ON LEFT LEANING NETWORKS LIKE MSNBC.

He was talking about the enemy within – the same language hitler used to justify the holocaust. After the speech he went to the old nazi party headquarters in munich to meet with the leader of the modern day neo nazi party. This is a very very dangerous administration.” 

SOME OF THE CRITICISM OF VANCE’S SPEECH CAME FROM GERMANY’S DEFENSE MINISTER –

WHO SAID “If I understood him correctly, he is comparing conditions in parts of Europe with those in authoritarian regimes. That is unacceptable. In our democracy, every opinion has a voice and it makes it possible for parties that are partly extremists such as the AfD, and they can campaign just as any other party.”

THIS TAKES US TO CBS’ SECOND BOUT OF CRITICISM FROM CONSERVATIVE OUTLETS OVER THEIR SUNDAY NEWS COVERAGE.

THIS TIME FROM “60 MINUTES” – 

WHERE THEIR CREWS FOLLOWED ALONG WITH GERMAN POLICE – AS THEY ARRESTED CIVILIANS OVER ALLEGATIONS OF HATE SPEECH ONLINE.

TAKE A LISTEN.

“IT’S 6:01 on a tuesday morning and we were with state police as they raided this apartment in northwest apartment.”

“Prosecutors say those electronics could have been used to commit a crime. The crime? Posting a racist cartoon online.”

SOME RIGHT LEANING NEWS OUTLETS SAID IN THEIR COVERAGE – 60 MINUTES’ JOURNALIST “SHARYN ALFONSI” HELD A  QUOTE “SYMPATHETIC” AND “FRIENDLY” INTERVIEW – AS DESCRIBED BY THE NATIONAL REVIEW AND FOX NEWS – SHOWCASING THE GOVERNMENT CRACKDOWN. 

HERE’S A CLIP OF THE REPORTER INTRODUCING THE PIECE.

IN THE UNITED STATES most of what anyone says sends or streams online, even if its hate filled or toxic, is protected under the first amendment as free speech. But germany is trying to bring some civility to the worldwide web by policing it in a way most Americans could never imagine.” 

NETWORKS ON THE RIGHT – HONED INTO THE CRITICISM OF CBS IN THEIR COVERAGE.

“Vance was in germany, told the chancellor to knock off the censorship and american media sided with the germans and called vance hitler.”

“Cbs celebrated an armed raid in germany because a guy posted a cartoon.”

10:56- “cbs is defending germany, a country that started two world wars that cost millions of lives.”

CBS NEWS HAS NOT RESPONDED TO THE RECENT CRITICISM HIGHLIGHTED IN RIGHT-LEANING NEWS COVERAGE.

IN SUMMARY –

THE POLITICAL BIAS IN THIS STORY – IS EVIDENT IN THE MEDIA’S COVERAGE – OR LACK THERE OF.

LEFT-LEANING NEWS OUTLETS HAVE LEFT OUT THE CONTROVERSIES SURROUNDING CBS ANCHOR MARGARET BRENNAN’S REMARKS –

AND THE 60 MINUTES EPISODE ON THE GERMAN POLICE RAID.

THERE’S BEEN LITTLE REACTION FROM THE POLITICAL LEFT – MATCHING A MUTED RESPONSE IN LEFT-LEANING MEDIA.

RIGHT-LEANING NEWS OUTLETS – **ARE REPORTING ON THE CRITICISM SURROUNDING CBS – 

CRITICISM THAT IS LARGELY COMING FROM THE POLITICAL RIGHT.

AND THAT’S YOUR BIAS BREAKDOWN.

AT STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS –

WE WANT OUR AUDIENCE TO GET A FULL PICTURE OF THE NEWS AROUND THEM.

THAT’S WHY WE COVER STORIES THAT ARE BEING CONSPICIOUSLY UNDER-REPORTED BY LEFT **AND RIGHT LEANING MEDIA.

WE DON’T SELECT OUR STORIES BASED ON ISSUES THAT MATTER TO US –

BUT BASED ON ISSUES THAT MATTER TO YOU.

REMEMBER –

YOU CAN FIND OTHER EPISODES BY SEARCHING FOR “BIAS BREAKDOWN” WHEREVER YOU LISTEN TO YOUR PODCASTS.

A BIG THANKS TO MY VIDEO EDITOR IAN KENNEDY FOR VISUALLY BRINGING THESE EPISODES TO LIFE.

HE WORKS HARD AND DESERVES A LOT OF CREDIT.

THANK YOU FOR WATCHING BIAS BREAKDOWN –

AND I’LL SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!