By Daria Nastasia: One conservative commentator suggested that the Biden administration should leave jailed WNBA star Brittney Griner in a Russian prison until she publicly repudiates her stance on the national anthem.
Publication: A Righting Original
Rumble Draws Millions to Unfiltered Videos Rich with Misinformation
By Jaden Satenstein: Rumble’s looser content moderation policies have right-wing personalities like Alex Jones, Sean Hannity, and Representative Matt Gaetz flocking to the video-sharing site. They and other prominent personalities view Rumble as a refuge from cancel culture.
J6 Hearings May Kill Trump Book Bump
By J. Max Robins: After the Jan. 6 committee wraps up its drama-filled run, will there really be that much to read about that we haven’t learned already? The golden orange sales glow from Trump titles has already already begun to fade with losers like “Here’s the Deal: A Memoir”, by Kellyanne Conway. I have to wonder if publishers watching the hearings have already cut back press runs on high-profile Trump-related titles due this fall.
Ambitious News Website El American Targets Conservative Hispanics
By Beatriz Colón, Howard Polskin: The two-year-old venture is the most ambitious launch of a conservative news site since at least 2017. It could serve as a pipeline into Spanish-speaking communities across the USA which would then help shape opinion and improve the outlook for right-leaning candidates.
Summer Travels in the Right Wing Mediasphere
By Kevin Howley: In the short time I’ve spent reading right wing media, I’ve come to realize that it is not, as former FCC chairman Newton Minow once described US commercial television, a vast wasteland. Rather, it is the fountainhead of vitriol and demagoguery laying waste to democratic principles and the rule of law.
The Budding Romance Between Murdoch and DeSantis
By J. Max Robins: The Murdoch-powered Trump takedown is in lockstep with Fox News’ full-throated support of DeSantis. With the radically Right governor firmly established, Murdoch is putting his entire media empire into unseating Trump atop the GOP.
No Major Film or TV Series for Conservative Radio Giant Rush Limbaugh
By Paul Colford: Left/Right tensions in the entertainment industry may be one reason that no big Limbaugh project has gotten any traction. But whether you loved him or loathed him, perhaps a balanced examination of the radio giant’s career will help us understand how we became the divided country we are today.
California News Site Keeps Close Tabs on the Far Right
By Michael Lovito: Left Coast Right Watch, which was founded by Abner Häuge, has become a go-to resource for readers and activists looking to keep tabs on an increasingly violent and extreme corner of American political life.
For Women of Color, a Barrage of Racist Slurs from the Far Right
By Jaden Satenstein: To say that this coverage of high-profile figures like Kamala Harris, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and MSNBC anchor Joy Reid is overwhelmingly racist seems obvious and redundant. Still, to ignore the enormity of the issue simply because it is so blatant only normalizes this pattern.
Nixon Had Gas Pains Too
By Jon Friedman: Right-wing media and GOP politicians point an accusatory finger at out-of-control gas prices at the pump, as if the Biden administration wants to celebrate this domestic crisis. But history intrudes, for it seems that the U.S. experienced a similarly debilitating gas-price crisis at the height of the Watergate investigation.
With America Teetering, Oprah Must Speak Out Against Dr. Oz
By J. Max Robins: Oprah may have seen her earlier non-endorsement of Dr. Oz as sufficient, and in keeping with her desire to let voters decide. Now, with so many of our personal freedoms at stake, and especially after Friday’s Supreme Court ruling, that stance doesn’t cut it.
Baseball Anthem Protest Did Not Sink the Republic
By Jon Friedman: In May, San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler announced his intention not to honor the national anthem. Predictably, however, many pundits on the Right recoiled in horror. Weeks later, nothing bad has happened. The Republic didn’t crumble. After an initial flurry of news bulletins, the world yawned at Kapler.
The Documentary “2000 Mules” Pulls Up Lame at the Box Office
Michael Lovito: A steep second weekend drop-off and a chilly reception from would-be fans has put a damper on whatever excitement the film hoped to generate.
Jan. 6 Hearings Grab ’em by the Eyeballs
J. Max Robins: The hearings built on a steady anti-Trump drumbeat from the Right, where a growing number of fellow travelers had grown weary of his trigger-happy behavior.
Fired by Fox, Chris Stirewalt Talks to Jan. 6 Committee
By Jon Friedman: He is a stone in Fox News’ shoe – and the highest-rated cable news network can’t seem to remove it. Stirewalt’s dramatic appearance this week during the congressional hearings about the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol cemented his reputation.
How Would Fox News Have Covered Watergate?
By Jon Friedman: Conservative media would have given Richard Nixon plenty of coverage after he resigned in disgrace in August 1974. He would have had ample opportunity to defend himself and his administration, and to criticize the Left wing media…
The Midas-Touch Producer Behind the Jan. 6 Hearings
By J. Max Robins: James Goldston, the savvy producer brought in to produce the “Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the United States Capitol,” comes to this megawatt TV news event with quite the CV. And he’ll need every bona fide he’s got.
This Tireless Anti-Vax Crusader Never Stops Working
By Michael Lovito: Dr. Joel Hirschhorn Hirschhorn is one of the most extreme voices in the anti-vax, anti-mask, anti-Fauci, anti-you-name-it chorus that has dominated the right wing media since the coronavirus arrived in January 2020.
Tom Brady for President Is No Hail Mary
By J. Max Robins: Years spent watching Rupert Murdoch build a media empire, often by seeing hidden value in costly deals with sports franchises and major talent, leads me to believe he envisions a much bigger future for Brady beyond superstar brand ambassador.
The Newsmax Chief’s Curious Support of Biden
By Jon Friedman: Did you find it peculiar that Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy, a lion of the right and a scourge of the left, recently made a show of giving President Joe Biden high marks for his handling of Ukraine?