The Italian journalist under fire online for a controversial #MeToo and Black Lives Matter question at the Venice Film Festival is now defending herself.
Federica Polidoro sat down with “After the Hunt” stars Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, and Ayo Edebiri for an interview to promote the project. One moment from the conversation, posted to the ArtsLifeTV YouTube channel, has gone viral, with critics accusing Polidoro of being “racist” for directing one of her questions specifically to Roberts and Garfield, who are white, while being accused of excluding Edebiri, who is black.
“Now that the #MeToo era and the Black Lives Matter are done, what do we have to expect in Hollywood and what we lost, we lost something with the politically correct era?” she asked.
Despite the question not being directed at her, Edebiri jumped in to answer it.
“I know that that’s not for me, and I don’t know if it’s purposeful that it’s not for me, but I just am curious,” the star of “The Bear” said.
She went on, “I don’t think it’s done. I don’t think it’s done at all,” as Roberts chimed in with her agreement.
Edebiri went on: “I think maybe hashtags might not be used as much, but I do think that there’s work being done by activists, by people, every day, that’s beautiful, important work that’s not finished, that’s really, really, really active for a reason, because this world is really charged. And that work isn’t finished at all. Maybe if there’s not, like, mainstream coverage in the way that there might have been, daily headlines in the way that it might have been eight or so years ago, but I don’t think it means that the work is done. That’s what I would say.”
Garfield chimed in, agreeing that the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements “are still absolutely alive, as you say, just maybe not as labeled or covered or magnified as much.”
The exchange triggered widespread backlash online, with many commenters accusing Polidoro of asking an insensitive question while being dismissive of the only black actor participating in the interview.
Following the resulting backlash, Polidoro took to Instagram to defend herself in a lengthy post.
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“I am not aware of any protocol that dictates the order in which questions must be asked in an interview,” the journalist wrote in part. “Censoring or delegitimizing questions considered ‘uncomfortable’ does not fall within the practice of democracy.”
“To those who unjustly accuse me of racism, I would like to clarify that in my work I have interviewed people of every background and ethnicity, and my own family is multi-ethnic, matriarchal, and feminist, with a significant history of immigration,” she continued. 
“I have collaborated for over 20 years with numerous national and international publications of all political orientations, always approaching my work with openness and professional rigor. In my view, the real racists are those who see racism everywhere and seek to muzzle journalism, limiting freedom of analysis, critical thinking and the plurality of perspectives.”
“After the Hunt” is a psychological thriller about a college professor (Roberts) whose student (Edebiri) makes an accusation against one of her colleagues (Garfield). The film’s tagline is, “Not everything is supposed to make you uncomfortable.”

Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, and Ayo Edebiri

Reporter Under Fire For Directing BLM Question Only To White Actors Says Backlash Is Censorship

Black Lives Matter

Entertainment

Hollywood

Journalism

Media

MeToo

Racism

World

As anti-ICE rioters began to swarm Los Angeles on Friday, former PragerU personality-turned-independent-journalist Aldo Buttazzoni was right there to greet them.
Buttazzoni captured the escalating situation with photos and video footage, dedicated to painting a more accurate picture of the riots than he knew the mainstream media would. He documented the activity on his X <a href="https://x.com/AldoButtazzoni">feed</a>, where hundreds of users have shared his photos, including tech titan Elon Musk.
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This is my photo! Thank you for sharing Elon! <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@elonmusk</a>
&mdash; Aldo 🌞 (@AldoButtazzoni) <a href="https://twitter.com/AldoButtazzoni/status/1931900528390492556?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“I love independent journalism,” Buttazzoni told The Daily Wire. “I was in Houston after the Uvalde shooting. I was in D.C. right after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. When there’s stuff going on, I like to be there because I know how much disinformation there is. To be quite honest, I trust myself to get that news out and get the stuff that other people might not.”
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Protests clashed with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers on Friday, June 6, The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/anti-ice-activist-run-over-as-protests-over-raids-get-ugly?author=Virginia+Kruta&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=81&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Anti-ICE+Activist+Run+Over+As+Protests+Over+Raids+Get+Ugly">reported</a>. Many hardline Democrats sided with the protestors, with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass saying she was “deeply angered” by the ICE raids.
On Saturday, Buttazzoni spent the entire day in Paramount, which is on the border of Compton, and said that was the first day the rioting started.
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NOW: Current scene in Paramount, CA between protestors &amp; LAPD <a href="https://t.co/Mo9IwTGlbE">pic.twitter.com/Mo9IwTGlbE</a>
&mdash; Aldo 🌞 (@AldoButtazzoni) <a href="https://twitter.com/AldoButtazzoni/status/1931480149209559506?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“We have good gear, so I personally don’t feel like I’m in imminent danger, but it is scary,” he admitted. “It’s definitely jarring when there’s explosions going off next to your ear. [As] a public figure, the most dangerous and scariest part is having your face out there. On Friday, before things even got really bad, I was surrounded by a mob of protestors and assaulted.”
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NOW: Anti-ICE protestors surrounded me &amp; attempted to grab my belongings while documenting the protests. 
They accused me of being an agitator &amp; “infiltrator” despite me wearing a name tag. I never hide who I am when filming protests like I have done countless times. <a href="https://t.co/vST8pLdOls">pic.twitter.com/vST8pLdOls</a>
&mdash; Aldo 🌞 (@AldoButtazzoni) <a href="https://twitter.com/AldoButtazzoni/status/1931198649008054755?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“[Saturday was] when I really saw the damage. The street was damaged, dumpster fires, empty lots caught on fire, graffiti, vandalism. … I would say the mile-radius of immediate damage was Hill Street to Temple to Central Avenue. It was relatively small, but that doesn’t discount the amount of damage they were able to do in such a small area.”
Buttazzoni said personal politics should not matter in situations where the law must be enforced, especially when violence is involved.
“President Trump is not taking over. He’s doing the bare minimum job that the citizens elect people to do, which is to keep their cities safe. … On Sunday, I witnessed rioters tearing up sidewalks and hurling twenty to thirty pound rocks off an overpass while shouting, ‘Aim for the heads, aim for the heads!’ That’s all that needs to be said. There was violent intent, not just violent outcomes.”
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🚨BREAKING: Rioters are tearing up the side walk &amp; collecting ROCKS to throw at law enforcement. LAPD continues to show incredible restraint despite multiple of their vehicles being destroyed.
Graffiti &amp; destruction is widespread with no sign of stopping. <a href="https://t.co/igkbnVrzdw">pic.twitter.com/igkbnVrzdw</a>
&mdash; Aldo 🌞 (@AldoButtazzoni) <a href="https://twitter.com/AldoButtazzoni/status/1931897508185416123?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Despite having documented multiple protests and riots, Buttazzoni said these are the worst he’s ever seen and that the rioters&#8217; brazenness is the most disturbing part of it.
“The protests and the riots I’ve been to, there’s always a sense of fear. Or, at least, there’s a sense that people are on alert that they’re going to get caught. On Sunday, I don’t think I’ve ever seen protestors act with such impunity and such confidence that law enforcement was going to do nothing — or could do nothing.”
Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has come under fire for his mishandling of the riots, yet refuses to take responsibility, blaming President Donald Trump for escalating the situation by sending in the National Guard.
“Donald Trump has manufactured a crisis and is inflaming conditions,” Newsom said in an X <a href="https://x.com/GavinNewsom/status/1931916595628237077">post</a>.
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Donald Trump has manufactured a crisis and is inflaming conditions.
If he can’t solve it, we will.
To the bad actors — Violent acts will not be tolerated. You will be arrested. You will be prosecuted. You are doing more than just damage to buildings and property. You are… <a href="https://t.co/VMLqdUDS56">pic.twitter.com/VMLqdUDS56</a>
&mdash; Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) <a href="https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom/status/1931916595628237077?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Buttazzoni disagrees, saying the National Guard “absolutely needed to come in.”
“I want to stress this — yesterday was the least violent of all of the three days, and I think a big reason for that was because the National Guard was deployed. They were stationed at the Federal Building very early on in the day, and what we saw throughout the day was a significantly increased presence of LAPD on the street.”
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This is the least violent / least amount of altercations of the last 3 days (so far). Possibly due to it being the work week &amp; increased media presence.
&mdash; Aldo 🌞 (@AldoButtazzoni) <a href="https://twitter.com/AldoButtazzoni/status/1932247654584684967?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 10, 2025</a></blockquote>
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According to Buttazzoni, on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, LAPD presence on the street lasted only until nightfall because they did not have the manpower to protect the federal buildings at the same time. He said that when the National Guard came in, LAPD made more arrests than the prior three days combined.
“They corralled a big group of rioters. Maybe 150 people were in that group. I was detained, but that large scale arrest was the first I had seen of the last four days.”
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All is well. LAPD detained &amp; released me after verifying my information.
Thank you for the well wishes. <a href="https://t.co/f1xRjO1jYV">https://t.co/f1xRjO1jYV</a>
— Aldo 🌞 (@AldoButtazzoni) <a href="https://twitter.com/AldoButtazzoni/status/1932293485325078763?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 10, 2025</a></blockquote>
Buttazzoni went on to criticize the higher-ups for choosing to complain about President Trump’s involvement instead of welcoming it.
“When you’re the governor of a state and the downtown area is being destroyed — people are losing businesses and people are getting injured and the taxpayer is going to have to foot the bill for this. So, for them to not do their job and then get upset at a person higher than them saying they’re going to do their job for them … it’s ridiculous.”
As an independent journalist, Buttazzoni pays for much of his own expenses and is <a href="https://tr.ee/MitolNAC3K">accepting donations</a> toward his continued activity.

LA Riots

Independent Journo Documents Carnage In Los Angeles: ‘I Was Surrounded By A Mob’

Gavin Newsom

Los Angeles

Organized crime

PragerU

Riots

U.S.

A German-language daily newspaper that caught heat for publishing a birthday tribute to Clint Eastwood that included decades-old quotes has issued a statement after it was accused of being fake news. 
The controversy kicked off earlier this week when Eastwood, 95, referred to the article in Kurier as false. The actor released a statement to <a href="https://deadline.com/2025/06/clint-eastwood-assails-austrian-interview-in-austrian-kurier-entirely-phony-1236420771/">Deadline</a> to “set the record straight” and asserted that he “never gave an interview to an Austrian publication called Kurier, or any other writer in recent weeks, and that the interview is entirely phony.”
In the statement, the outlet noted that the writer they contracted for the piece, Elisabeth Sereda, used old quotes from Eastwood that created the perception that she had just interviewed the iconic film legend. In reality, Sereda used a mashup of quotes from Eastwood lifted from different interviews dating back to 1976.  
“There was no immediate reason to doubt that she had interviewed Eastwood,” a translated version of the Kurier statement <a href="https://kurier.at/kultur/medien/clint-eastwood-interview-hollywood-kurier-in-eigener-sache/403047088">said</a>. Outlet reps noted how Sereda had a long history of interviewing celebrities and was a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
The statement went on to note that Sereda had spoken to Eastwood 18 times during roundtable discussions and that none of the quotes were altered. However, the outlet admitted that framing the article as an interview rather than a tribute did mislead audiences. 
“Even though no quote is fabricated, the interviews are documented, and the allegation of falsification can be refuted, we will no longer work with the author in the future because transparency and our strict editorial standards are paramount to us,” the statement concluded.
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The outlet has since removed the interview from its website. 
Sereda defended her actions in a statement to <a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/news/is-clint-eastwood-interview-real-old-quotes-1236417323/">Variety</a>, again claiming it was enough that only real quotes were used.
“Quotes from Mr. Eastwood cited in the story are culled from several of those 14 press conferences I attended and covered,” Sereda told the outlet.
The original birthday tribute, which appeared on Kurier, got the most attention for being critical of remakes and franchises. 
“I long for the good old days when screenwriters wrote movies like ‘Casablanca’ in small bungalows on the studio lot. When everyone had a new idea,” Eastwood is quoted as saying. “We live in an era of remakes and franchises. I’ve shot sequels three times, but I haven’t been interested in that for a long while. My philosophy is: do something new or stay at home.”
Variety noted that this particular quote might have come from the mid-1980s. 
Eastwood is also quoted as saying he didn’t plan on retiring “for a long time,” despite being five years shy of triple digits.
Eastwood has established a reputation in Hollywood as a conservative and supporter of GOP politicians, including presidential candidates Mitt Romney and the late John McCain. In 2012, he made an appearance at the Republican National Convention, where he made headlines for addressing an empty chair that represented then-President Barack Obama.

Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood Calls Out ‘Entirely Phony’ Article About Him; Writer Responds

Clint Eastwood Calls Out 'Entirely Phony' Article About Him; Writer Responds

Celebrities

Germany

An AI-generated list of recommended reading for the summer, published by the Chicago Sun-Times, included several books that don’t exist.
Per <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/05/20/nx-s1-5405022/fake-summer-reading-list-ai">NPR</a>, at least one edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer used the same flawed list, titled “Summer reading list for 2025.&#8221; Suggested titles included “Tidewater Dreams,” purportedly authored by Chilean American novelist Isabel Allende, which was described as her &#8220;first climate fiction novel.&#8221; Allende is a real person, but the suggested novel is not a book she or anyone else published.
Another suggestion was “The Rainmakers,” which is described as a story set in a &#8220;near-future American West where artificially induced rain has become a luxury commodity.” This faux novel was said to be written by 2025 Pulitzer Prize winner Percival Everett.
The outlet noted that only five of the 15 books suggested were real titles. 
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The Chicago Sun-Times printed a &quot;summer reading list&quot; featuring real authors but mostly made up books, generated by a freelancer using AI.
This comes two months after the newspaper cut 20% of its staff. <a href="https://t.co/TLMbDxuey0">pic.twitter.com/TLMbDxuey0</a>
&mdash; Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) <a href="https://twitter.com/nick_kapur/status/1924999492824399991?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;We are looking into how this made it into print as we speak,&#8221; Victor Lim, marketing director for the Chicago Sun-Times&#8217; parent company, Chicago Public Media, said in a statement. He also noted that the content did not come directly from the newspaper’s staffers. 
&#8220;This is licensed content that was not created by, or approved by, the Sun-Times newsroom, but it is unacceptable for any content we provide to our readers to be inaccurate. We value our readers&#8217; trust in our reporting and take this very seriously. More info will be provided soon as we investigate.&#8221;
The article&#8217;s author, Marco Buscaglia, addressed the error, writing in an email to NPR, &#8220;Huge mistake on my part and has nothing to do with the Sun-Times. They trust that the content they purchase is accurate and I betrayed that trust. It&#8217;s on me 100 percent.&#8221;
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The paper also <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/press-room/2025/05/20/chicago-sun-times-response-to-may-18-special-section">issued a response</a> to subscribers, noting that the person responsible for the error had been terminated and promising the mistake would not happen again. They said subscribers would not be charged for the premium edition and said more care would be put into checking for AI-generated content in the future.
“We are in a moment of great transformation in journalism and technology, and at the same time our industry continues to be besieged by business challenges. This should be a learning moment for all journalism organizations: Our work is valued — and valuable — because of the humanity behind it,” the statement said.
“At Chicago Public Media, we are proud of our credible, independent journalism, created for and by people. And part of the journalistic process is a commitment to acknowledging mistakes. It is unacceptable that this content was inaccurate, and it is equally unacceptable that we did not make it clear to readers that the section was produced outside the Sun-Times newsroom.”

Chicago Sun-Times

Chicago Sun-Times Published A.I.-Generated Summer Reading List With Books That Don’t Exist

Chicago Sun-Times Published A.I.-Generated Summer Reading List With Books That Don't Exist

Artificial Intelligence

Books

Chicago

Legacy Media

Newspaper

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A Pulitzer Prize administrator mocked a conservative journalist and member of its nominating jury for questioning why the group gave an award to an anti-Israel journalist who downplayed Hamas&#8217;s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Eliana Johnson, editor-in-chief of the Washington Free Beacon, was invited this year to serve on the five-member jury for the Pulitzer Prize&#8217;s National Reporting award. But after the Pulitzer&#8217;s Commentary award went to Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha — who objected to the media describing an Israeli victim of  the October 7 massacre as a hostage — Johnson <a href="https://freebeacon.com/media/occasionally-we-misjudge/">had questions.</a>
As she wrote in the Free Beacon this week, Johnson asked Pulitzer Prize administrator Marjorie Miller several questions about the prize, most notably, whether or not &#8220;members of the Pulitzer board themselves aware of Abu Toha’s public statements?&#8221;
The statements in question had to do with Emily Damari, who was taken hostage at Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7 and held by Hamas for 471 days.
“How on earth is this girl called a hostage? (And this is the case of most ‘hostages’),” Abu Toha wrote just before the Pulitzer deliberations began. “This is Emily Damari, a 28 [year-old] UK-Israeli soldier that Hamas detailed [sic] on 10/7… So this girl is called a ‘hostage?’ This soldier who was close to the border with a city that she and her country have been occupying is called a ‘hostage.’”
“Imagine for a moment a Pulitzer going to an extremist Israeli settler poet who had minimized and mocked the suffering of civilians in Gaza; who put ‘Palestinian’ or ‘innocent civilian’ in quotation marks the way Abu Toha does ‘hostages,’&#8221; Johnson wrote. &#8220;You can’t, because it would never happen.”
In response to Johnson&#8217;s query, Miller — whose social media accounts are littered with pro-Kamala Harris and anti-Trump posts — delivered what Johnson called a &#8220;non-response response about the board’s commitment to recognizing &#8216;excellence in reporting.'&#8221;
Johnson then began querying other members of the Pulitzer committee, prompting Miller to allege that Johnson’s emails violated the confidentiality agreement she had signed upon joining the jury.
Miller ended her email by noting that, while jurors are selected “for their character, expertise and integrity…Unfortunately, we occasionally misjudge.”
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<div>
“She and her colleagues have misjudged, starting with the minor issue of what the confidentiality agreement actually says,” Johnson noted.
“As part of providing my services to the Pulitzers, I agreed not to discuss deliberations over the National Reporting category, nor to reveal the finalists before the winner was announced,&#8221; Johnson wrote. &#8220;I did not agree to refrain from reporting on a separate category in which I had no role.
&#8220;The Pulitzer board’s position that any reporter who participates on one of its many juries is prohibited from doing any reporting about the organization itself—even when one of its awards has become an international news story—is preposterous.”
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<div>
Other jurors on the board with Johnson included Zeba Khan, the founder of Muslims for Obama; Jon Allsop, who has accused the Israel Defense Forces of deliberately targeting journalists; and Julia Preston, who has stated that President Donald Trump is “an existential threat to our democracy.”
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Damari slammed the Pulitzer board, saying they had rewarded a voice that denies truth, erases victims, and desecrates the memory of the murdered.
</div>
<div>
&#8220;How to use language is precisely a journalist’s job—and a poet’s, too,&#8221; Johnson noted. &#8220;It’s not outlandish, then, to believe that Abu Toha meant exactly what he said and said exactly what he meant: No mercy for the men, women, and babies Hamas kidnapped on Oct. 7.&#8221;
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MixCollage-16-May-2025-11-56-AM-55

Pulitzer Prize Official Mocked Juror For Questioning An Anti-Israel Writer’s Award

Hamas

Israel

October 7

Palestinian

Pulitzer Prize

Washington Free Beacon

Daily Wire investigative reporter Spencer Lindquist took home a 2025 Media Research Center Bulldog Award for excellence in conservative media.
The Media Research Center (MRC) presents the <a href="https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nb-staff/2025/05/06/mrc-announces-fourth-annual-bulldog-award-winners-sowell-musk-kelly" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bulldog Awards</a> to conservative journalists, columnists, and podcast hosts each year as an alternative to the left-leaning Pulitzer Prize. Lindquist received the MRC Bulldog Award for Outstanding Blogger for his reporting on Colony Ridge, a housing development in Texas that advertises to illegal immigrants and has become a hotbed of illegal alien crime.
Lindquist has “documented rising crime in the greater Colony Ridge area, including a child abduction, drug overdoses, drug trafficking, drunk driving, murders, and hideouts for criminal illegal immigrants,” the MRC announced this week.
“Despite that, Lindquist reported that developers view mass immigration as a business opportunity, including the systematic targeting of illegal immigrants by allowing them to purchase land without a Social Security number.”
The MRC further notes that “thanks to Lindquist’s reporting, Colony Ridge has been put squarely in the crosshairs of the Trump administration, including immigration operations that have nabbed over 100 illegal aliens and MS-13 gang members.”
Other Bulldog Award recipients this year include the economist Thomas Sowell, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award; Elon Musk, who was named Outstanding Social Media Personality; the Wall Street Journal’s Kimberly Strassel, Outstanding Columnist; and CNN contributor Scott Jennings, who was honored for Outstanding Achievement Behind Enemy Lines.
Beyond Colony Ridge, Lindquist has reported on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/baltimore-judge-gets-in-the-way-of-another-trump-gang-member-deportation?author=Spencer+Lindquist&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=10&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Baltimore+Judge+Gets+In+The+Way+Of+Another+Trump+Gang+Member+Deportation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">judicial efforts</a> to stymie the Trump administration’s immigration policies and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-nearly-freed-a-twice-deported-illegal-alien-drunk-driver-now-newsom-is-backtracking?author=Spencer+Lindquist&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=12&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=California+Nearly+Freed+A+Twice-Deported+Illegal+Alien+Drunk+Driver+%E2%80%94+Now+Newsom+Is+Backtracking" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cataloged</a> instances of illegal immigrant crime. Just this week, he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-trump-dhs-partners-with-100s-of-police-departments-to-supercharge-deportation-campaign?author=Spencer+Lindquist&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=EXCLUSIVE%3A+Trump+Makes+Move+To+Super-Charge+Deportations+Using+Local+Cops" target="_blank" rel="noopener">broke the news</a> that the Trump administration was deputizing local law enforcement agencies to carry out certain ICE duties, including deportations.
Outside of immigration, Lindquist has also reported extensively on the transgender lobby and left-wing environmental policies, among other issues.
“As trust in left-wing media continues to collapse, independent news sources featuring fearless truth-tellers are on the rise,” MRC Vice President for Research and Publications Brent Baker said. “This year’s MRC Bulldog winners are replacing discredited leftists who claim to report the news, yet failed the American people when it came to stories like the Russiagate scandal and Joe Biden’s cognitive decline.&#8221;
Lindquist joins a number of his Daily Wire colleagues in the ranks of MRC Bulldog Award winners. Daily Wire editor emeritus Ben Shapiro and host Matt Walsh have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-daily-wires-ben-shapiro-and-kassy-akiva-win-conservative-media-awards" target="_blank" rel="noopener">each received</a> the Outstanding Podcast Award. Daily Wire White House correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan and video journalist Kassy Akiva have previously been named Outstanding Blogger. And Daily Wire investigative reporter Luke Rosiak was the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daily-wires-luke-rosiak-wins-award-for-outstanding-investigative-journalist" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first-ever recipient</a> of the MRC’s Bulldog Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalist.

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Daily Wire Investigative Reporter Spencer Lindquist Honored For Colony Ridge Reporting

Awards

Colony Ridge

Daily Wire

Media Research Center

Washington Post immigration reporter Maria Sacchetti earned herself a wave of backlash when she attempted to use Saturday&#8217;s Kentucky Derby winner — Sovereignty, ridden by Venezuelan immigrant Junior Alvarado — as a cudgel with which to dishonestly attack President Donald Trump and his administration&#8217;s policies on illegal immigration and mass deportation.
Sacchetti, like so many others in broadcast and print media, conflated Alvarado — a legal immigrant from Venezuela — with the millions of illegal immigrants in the United States, suggesting that it Trump was allowed to continue deporting criminal illegals, Alvarado and others like him would be among them.
&#8220;Trump officials, who have sought to expel hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, are celebrating the victory of Sovereignty at the Kentucky Derby. Sovereignty’s jockey, Junior Alvarado, is an immigrant from Venezuela,&#8221; Sacchetti posted via X.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Trump officials, who have sought to expel hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, are celebrating the victory of Sovereignty at the Kentucky Derby.
Sovereignty’s jockey, Junior Alvarado, is an immigrant from Venezuela. <a href="https://t.co/vbGAGh7GS3">pic.twitter.com/vbGAGh7GS3</a>
— Maria Sacchetti (@mariasacchetti) <a href="https://twitter.com/mariasacchetti/status/1918846076922007915?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Critics quickly pointed out the fact that Alvarado was in the United States legally — and Trump&#8217;s deportation policies were aimed primarily at those who were not only in the country illegally but had also committed additional crimes since their arrival.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon posted, &#8220;In America, legal immigrants are awesome and many serve in the Trump administration. I am one. Junior Alvarado is leading in sports. Many like Elon change the world. Stop conflating law-abiding citizens with criminal gangbangers, drug dealers, and human traffickers. We see you.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
In America, legal immigrants are awesome and many serve in the Trump administration. I am one. Junior Alvarado is leading in sports. Many like Elon change the world. Stop conflating law-abiding citizens with criminal gangbangers, drug dealers, and human traffickers. We see you. <a href="https://t.co/LX32GXPQwO">https://t.co/LX32GXPQwO</a>
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@HarmeetKDhillon) <a href="https://twitter.com/HarmeetKDhillon/status/1919047378327257130?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Great story, Maria. So the entire (dishonest) implication of your premise is that he entered the country illegally and Alvarado is now at risk of being deported. Except he came here legally,&#8221; Joe Concha added. &#8220;The &#8216;hundreds of thousands&#8217; of Venezuelans Trump is seeking to expel entered illegally.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Great story, Maria. So the entire (dishonest) implication of your premise is that he entered the country illegally and Alvarado is now at risk of being deported.
Except he came here legally. The “hundreds of thousands” of Venezuelans Trump is seeking to expel entered illegally. <a href="https://t.co/0lJPgGMOPn">https://t.co/0lJPgGMOPn</a>
— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeConchaTV/status/1919063938328572353?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;This article, shared by a Washington Post reporter, conflates illegal immigrants, foreigners with legal guest visas, and Latinos as a whole to pretend that cracking down on illegal immigration would exclude jockeys. An immigration attorney quoted in the article confirms there’s been no problem obtaining visas for foreign jockeys. I think these people actually believe their own propaganda,&#8221; Laura Powell said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
This article, shared by a Washington Post reporter, conflates illegal immigrants, foreigners with legal guest visas, and Latinos as a whole to pretend that cracking down on illegal immigration would exclude jockeys.
An immigration attorney quoted in the article confirms there’s… <a href="https://t.co/JGL9otuuUA">https://t.co/JGL9otuuUA</a> <a href="https://t.co/r8z2tC2BTu">pic.twitter.com/r8z2tC2BTu</a>
— Laura Powell (@LauraPowellEsq) <a href="https://twitter.com/LauraPowellEsq/status/1919089927884882373?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;This woman is allegedly an immigration &#8216;reporter&#8217; for the Washington Post and does not understand the difference between LEGAL immigrants and ILLEGAL immigrants,&#8221; Abigail Jackson posted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
This woman is allegedly an immigration “reporter” for the Washington Post and does not understand the difference between LEGAL immigrants and ILLEGAL immigrants. <a href="https://t.co/RfT6AWoMbN">https://t.co/RfT6AWoMbN</a>
— Abigail Jackson 🇺🇸 (@abigailmarone) <a href="https://twitter.com/abigailmarone/status/1919058565370704032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;I wonder if she understands that her assertion demonstrates that Trump supporters don’t hate people because of their ethnicity but instead want illegal aliens gone regardless,&#8221; Kurt Schlicter added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I wonder if she understands that her assertion demonstrates that Trump supporters don’t hate people because of their ethnicity but instead want illegal aliens gone regardless <a href="https://t.co/dcpNlC7BAM">https://t.co/dcpNlC7BAM</a>
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) <a href="https://twitter.com/KurtSchlichter/status/1919030326883430472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
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151st Kentucky Derby

WaPo Reporter Obliterated For Using Kentucky Derby To Bash Trump On Immigration

horse racing

Kentucky

Politics

Washington Post

Right now, the U.S. Supreme Court faces a crucial test: deciding whether states can criminalize undercover journalism simply because those in power dislike being recorded. At stake is more than just one organization’s right to expose wrongdoing — it’s about safeguarding free speech and transparency in an era increasingly defined by censorship and institutional distrust.
Project Veritas, known for undercover exposés revealing abuses within powerful institutions, recently petitioned the Supreme Court to challenge Oregon’s restrictive recording law. This statute demands that anyone recording in even the most public of places notify everyone else that they are being recorded. But there’s a rub: the state doles about permission slips making it easier to record some subjects, but not others. In short, Oregon law says you can easily record police abuse but not a school administrator admitting to indoctrinating students.
This arbitrary distinction represents precisely the kind of content-based speech restriction the First Amendment prohibits. It gives state authorities unchecked power to silence investigative efforts those in power dislike while permitting other investigations deemed politically acceptable.
Daily Wire readers should understand these implications clearly. The conservative movement has seen firsthand how selective enforcement of “privacy” laws punishes those uncovering inconvenient truths. Consider the notorious prosecution of David Daleiden and his investigation into Planned Parenthood. Instead of pursuing Planned Parenthood, California authorities, led by then-Attorney General Kamala Harris, targeted Daleiden himself.
Matt Walsh <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/walsh-california-prosecuting-journalists-doing-matt-walsh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aptly warned</a> at the time that such prosecutions could “criminalize all forms of undercover journalism.” Walsh was right: when governments can weaponize privacy laws against whistleblowers, corruption thrives unchecked. We’d like to stop that.
Project Veritas’s case underscores this danger. If Oregon’s law stands, it sets a precedent emboldening other states to enact similarly repressive measures. Such laws don’t merely threaten controversial groups like Project Veritas — they imperil every citizen-journalist, whistleblower, and parent aiming to hold those in power accountable.
Imagine parents secretly recording school officials implementing extremist curricula, or a VA hospital employee documenting abuse against veterans. Under Oregon’s model, these citizen-journalists become criminals rather than heroes. Balderdash.
Critics argue undercover journalism invades privacy. Yet, there’s a critical difference between personal privacy and public accountability. Recording private citizens’ truly private conversations — happening, say in someone’s home or a doctor’s office — is rightly protected against. But public officials and newsworthy figures talking about bad deeds or public policy in public must not be shielded from scrutiny.
The hypocrisy here is glaring. Legacy media applauded secret recordings like the Access Hollywood tapes or Greenpeace’s hidden-camera sting of Exxon executives because these aligned politically with their interests. Yet conservative-leaning investigations face condemnation and criminalization. Oregon’s law codifies this double standard into state policy, echoing Orwell’s chilling warning in &#8220;Animal Farm,&#8221; “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” The state now decides whose truths may be exposed and whose must remain hidden, a hallmark of dystopian control.
Today, Americans distrust legacy media precisely because traditional reporting methods often fail to reveal the full truth. In our digital age, audiences demand — and deserve — objective evidence. Hidden cameras have become essential tools for accountability journalism, offering unfiltered glimpses into realities otherwise obscured by spin, stonewalling, and hidden agendas.
If the Supreme Court allows Oregon to criminalize this essential method of truth-gathering, it cripples the First Amendment. Citizen-journalism, which Daily Wire audiences rightly value, becomes vulnerable nationwide. The justices must affirm a core constitutional principle: truth doesn’t need permission from those hiding it. Our American guarantee of free speech supports rigorous, bold investigations capable of exposing hidden abuses. In 2025, undercover journalism isn’t a fringe tactic — it’s a fundamental aspect of free inquiry and transparency.
It’s time the Supreme Court rejects Oregon’s unconstitutional censorship. America needs more citizen-journalism, not less. The freedom to expose wrongdoing must remain protected — even if it makes the powerful uncomfortable.
* * *
Benjamin Barr is a partner at Barr &amp; Klein PLLC where his practice engages in a variety of constitutional litigation nationwide. Along with his law partner, Stephen R. Klein, the firm represents Project Veritas in this matter.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Wire.

DALLAS, TX – NOVEMBER 29: James OKeefe, founder of Project Veri

Supreme Court Must Protect Citizen-Journalists From Oregon’s Censorship

Supreme Court Must Protect Citizen-Journalists From Oregon's Censorship

Censorship

interview

Oregon

Privacy

Project Veritas

SCOTUS

Whistleblowers

The following is an excerpt taken from the new book &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/How-Jester-Became-King-Unauthorized/dp/B0DV3W4QBN/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">How the Jester Became King: Dave Portnoy and the Real Unauthorized Story of Barstool Sports.</a>&#8221; by Charlie Stanton (Post Hill Press, December 2024)
* * *
October 2003
Dave was sweaty and beyond exhausted as he bent down to drop off a stack of newspapers next to his bin at the Alewife T-Station in Cambridge. Sporting his questionable goatee and a beat-up Red Sox hat, his skin reeked of the cigar he had smoked inside his maroon 1992 Plymouth minivan while he trudged from station to station. His breath was a mix of tobacco and the hot Italian beef sandwich he’d ordered in between stops. Portnoy needed a shower. As he leaned over to fill the bin, he paused. The sound of fabric ripping echoed across the brown quarry tiles that lined the floors and walls of the subway entrance. Commuters turned their heads at the noise, and their eyes fixated on Portnoy. He knew immediately what had happened:
<blockquote>“It might as well have been like a gunshot went off in Alewife Station. Everybody in Alewife and maybe all of Cambridge just froze. And I was reduced to doing the ‘Oh my god did I just split my pants?’ maneuver. This, of course, is when you have a glazed expression over your face as you feel your ass to see what the damage is. Honestly, it was like time froze for a couple minutes.”</blockquote>
It was an unseasonably warm fall afternoon, just a few months after Mike Portnoy had given his son his $25,000 blessing. Dave, who had quit his sales job and moved back home with his parents to save money, was now spending it hand-delivering his newspapers to more than 100 Barstool Sports bins he had placed around Boston — a job that made grad school look like Margaritaville.
After all of his bins were filled, Portnoy would begin handing out his newspapers to the public, aggressively. The streets of Boston weren’t for the faint of heart. “When we upgraded from black and white to color copies, I would be just screaming things like ‘We got color now! We’re so much better than these other (papers)!’ Whatever the hook was.” Like a vendor peddling overpriced beer at nearby Fenway Park, Portnoy would yell at – borderline berate – commuters to take a copy.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-889947 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/71YW4ed4iL._SL1500_-384x576.jpg" alt="" width="384" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/71YW4ed4iL._SL1500_-384x576.jpg 384w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/71YW4ed4iL._SL1500_-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/71YW4ed4iL._SL1500_-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/71YW4ed4iL._SL1500_.jpg 1000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px" /></div>
Portnoy was on his own when it came to distribution following Barstool’s first issue on August 27, 2003, when the temp company Labor Ready he hired to help him sent him mostly drifters, half of whom didn’t show up. “Let’s just say they weren’t the most dedicated workers to ever come down the pike,” Portnoy explained. And according to Portnoy, the outfit in Atlanta where he bought newspaper bins, Go Plastics, wasn’t able to deliver the bins on time for the day of the launch, which only compounded this calamity. Most commuters were unable to find Portnoy’s newspapers, as Barstool Sports sat inconspicuously inside plastic bags next to other competitors’ fully marked bins.
Of the 40 train stations where workers were supposed to hand out copies of Dave’s paper that day, only about 15 operated as planned. Portnoy would eventually hire local models to hand out his papers, which, to no surprise, worked better but were too expensive to continue with. “Chaotic and nearly disastrous,” is how Dave described his paper’s first days in existence. Unbeknownst to Portnoy, it was a phrase that would become the narrative of Barstool’s entire operation for the next 20 years.
At the start of Portnoy’s maiden voyage, he was able to produce several thousand copies of his weekly newspaper. This was dwarfed by the daily circulation of the 450,000 newspapers The Boston Globe printed, and the 300,000 distributed by both The Boston Herald and Metro Boston, the city’s largest free paper. But eventually Barstool would reach a peak of 40,000 issues every other week, which was on par with most other alt-weekly publications such as The Phoenix or The Improper Bostonian. Reaching this number was an unlikely development to everyone around Dave in those early days, including his production manager Erin Boyce.
Boyce worked at The Daily Item of Lynn, a neighboring town’s paper; she had extensive experience inside the publishing industry and agreed to help Portnoy after connecting through a friend of a friend. “I really only thought it would last six, maybe 12 issues. I’ve been in the newspaper industry for many years, and to start a publication in a dying industry is kind of unheard of. Little did I know 200 issues later, it would become part of my life for almost nine years.”
Boyce’s help was invaluable, but there was no doubt the 26-year-old was doing the work of five people just to produce the meager eight-page publication. Originally, Portnoy published his newspaper once a week. Mondays were the busiest in terms of writing, and Dave often stayed up past 2 a.m. finishing the last articles for that week’s issue. Tuesdays, Portnoy took his work over to the nearby graphic designer, who worked with Boyce to lay out the paper. Later that day, the layout was taken to Boyce’s printer, and once the thousands of copies were printed, Portnoy filled up his beaten-down minivan to the brim. “When I pick up Barstool Sports from our printer company, I swear I can hear her scream. I actually think the bottom of the car scrapes against the cement when it is fully loaded.”
Wednesdays started at 4:30 a.m. Portnoy made the 45-minute drive south down Route 1A to Boston, dropping his publication off at the bins he had placed inside various T-stations. “I had bins at T-stops I didn’t know existed before that,” Portnoy said of his paper route. He also stopped at select stores, bars, and restaurants he somehow convinced to take his newspapers, like the Grand Canal bar near The Boston Garden or Bayview Liquors in Southie.
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After emptying his van around 9:00 a.m., Dave headed to a T station and handed out copies of Barstool Sports to commuters. Around noon, he drove back to Swampscott to write; call potential advertisers (the paper had fake ones and real ones); or fix whatever part of the business was melting down that day. Around 4:00 p.m., he drove back into Boston to hand out papers again until returning home, well after dinner.
As for the rest of the week, Thursday was a repeat of Wednesday, while Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were reserved for writing. And Portnoy would spend each Monday just like the previous one, cramming in last-minute changes until the candle was burned at both ends. Unsurprisingly, this routine began taking a toll on his health, but as 2004 approached, people slowly began to read Portnoy’s paper. “It was always a good reception and when I judged it, it would be 10 people who took the paper and said they enjoyed it the first time I did it. The next issue would be 20 people, and the next issue would be 40, and the next 80. So, it always was slowly growing and there was something in my gut that was like I’m on to something here.”
* * *
This excerpt is taken from &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/How-Jester-Became-King-Unauthorized/dp/B0DV3W4QBN/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0">How the Jester Became King: Dave Portnoy and the Real Unauthorized Story of Barstool Sports.</a>&#8221; by Charlie Stanton. Published by permission of Post Hill Press. 
Charlie Stanton currently resides in New York City. Stanton graduated from Wake Forest University with Honors in Economics in 2012. In his free time, the author enjoys playing pickleball, paddle, tennis, running, skiing, and spending time with his three younger brothers.
The views expressed in this book excerpt are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Wire.

Milwaukee Bucks v Boston Celtics

The Grind Before The Glory: Dave Portnoy’s Sweaty, Cigarette-Stained Rise

Barstool Sports

Boston

Dave Portnoy

Social Media

Sports

Woke leftism is totally on the ropes.
The Democrats don&#8217;t know what to do about this, but their entire centralizing philosophy is on the ropes.
Jeff Bezos is the owner of The Washington Post. When he bought the Post, he said he would not get involved in the editorial side of the newspaper. 
Then, the newspaper decided to become the repository of the most radical woke nonsense in all of American media. By doing so, The Washington Post blew out its credibility more than any other major newspaper in the country.
It had been the paper of record. It had been the paper of Watergate. It had been the paper that broke an enormous number of serious scandals about the American government.
And then it turned into Salon.com. It was Jennifer Rubin whining about how Donald Trump was a mean, bad man. It was Eugene Robinson whining about how America was terrible. It was all the usual suspects saying the most radical, stupid things.
The number of Washington Post subscriptions began to seriously dip because they weren&#8217;t making any of the same smart business moves The New York Times was making. The New York Times also became a liberal fan paper, but they also decided to diversify into Wordle.
That did not happen with The Washington Post, who simply kept doubling down on the anti-Trump radical leftism and the suggestion that boys weren&#8217;t just girls, boys had to be girls. This had to be taught to kids — the idea that all politics could be boiled down to racial and sexual identity along with the idea that capitalism was, in and of itself, bad.
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But now there is a new middle in America, and the new middle is pro free market. It&#8217;s a middle that doesn&#8217;t like the leftist idea that the American economy is rigged on behalf of white people, rigged on behalf of men.
It&#8217;s an American middle that believes in the American dream and thus believes in the idea, generally speaking, of capitalism. It&#8217;s also an American middle that, while fairly liberal about what their neighbors do, is not completely liberal about what their neighbors do — meaning if their neighbors decide to open a porn shop next door, the answer is no. If their neighbors decide the local public school is going to be teaching gender-queer, the answer is no.
That&#8217;s the new middle in America.
So, what does that mean? It means there is now a real market possibility of newspapers like The Washington Post reorienting. Bezos is not a traditional Republican. He is not someone who believes in traditional conservative social values. He&#8217;s not somebody who, as far as I am aware, is particularly hawkish on foreign policy.
But Bezos does exist in the business world and in the world of semi-rationality. So yesterday, Bezos announced he will be reorienting (and remaking) the Post’s editorial board. It is worth sharing <a href="https://x.com/JeffBezos/status/1894757287052362088" target="_blank" rel="noopener">his statement</a> in full:
<blockquote>I shared this note with the Washington Post team this morning:
I’m writing to let you know about a change coming to our opinion pages.
We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets. We’ll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.
There was a time when a newspaper, especially one that was a local monopoly, might have seen it as a service to bring to the reader’s doorstep every morning a broad-based opinion section that sought to cover all views. Today, the internet does that job.
I am of America and for America, and proud to be so. Our country did not get here by being typical. And a big part of America’s success has been freedom in the economic realm and everywhere else. Freedom is ethical — it minimizes coercion — and practical — it drives creativity, invention, and prosperity.
I offered David Shipley, whom I greatly admire, the opportunity to lead this new chapter. I suggested to him that if the answer wasn’t “hell yes,” then it had to be “no.” After careful consideration, David decided to step away. This is a significant shift, it won’t be easy, and it will require 100% commitment —  I respect his decision. We’ll be searching for a new Opinion Editor to own this new direction.
I’m confident that free markets and personal liberties are right for America. I also believe these viewpoints are underserved in the current market of ideas and news opinion. I’m excited for us together to fill that void.</blockquote>
This is a sea change. It is a true recognition of the fact that The Washington Post never had a broad spectrum of opinion. The tacit recognition in Bezos’ announcement is that there might have been a time when The Washington Post was a sort of platform with a variety of opinions — Charles Krauthammer and George Mitchell used to write for The Washington Post —  but then something changed.
Once The Washington Post became the exclusive preserve of the radical Left on matters economic and social, it was no longer a platform. It became, in the most real sense, a publisher of only the content the editorial board wanted to publish.
So Bezos is now saying, “Listen, if that&#8217;s going to be the way this works, then I want the Post to publish things I want. I spent $100 million on this newspaper. I own this newspaper. I get to decide what&#8217;s in this newspaper.”
Good for him.
I think that we are exiting the era of “objective journalism” and moving toward the realization there is no such thing. The case can be made that there are journalists who do their best to remove their personal bias from situations, but the notion of there being an “objective news media” writ large was a lie and is a lie.
There&#8217;s a prism of politics through which the news is refracted at every one of these major publications. Everybody knows The Wall Street Journal editorial page tilts to the Right and The New York Times’ editorial page toward the Left.
I remember when Twitter (now X) was owned by Jack Dorsey — and when conservatives said that the standards that were being applied were unfair and that the standards Twitter professed to be applying were not actually the standards they were applying — people on the Left said, “Well, then, build your own.”
Then, Elon Musk bought it, and now the Left is whining about it.
The same is true here. When people complained about the editorial direction of The Washington Post, the Left said, “You don&#8217;t own The Washington Post. You don&#8217;t like it? Build your own.”
All of this is part and parcel of a radical sea change that is happening in American politics.
And it is driven by the Democrats, who are totally disconnected from reality.

Washington Post Shakes Up Leadership

The Washington Post Surrenders — To Reality

Ben Shapiro

Jeff Bezos

Opinion

Trump Derangement Syndrome

U.S. Politics

Woke Culture

With the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, the search for an American journalist who has been imprisoned for over 12 years has intensified.
Austin Tice, 43, was detained at a checkpoint while traveling from a suburb of Damascus to Lebanon in 2012. He was working as a freelance journalist for various publications including The Washington Post. A month after his capture, he appeared in a video sent to his family showing him with armed men, titled “Austin Tice is Alive.” It included no other information. It is believed that Tice escaped weeks after he was kidnapped but was recaptured by Syrian intelligence.
The toppling of Assad created new hope in the efforts to find Tice, as one of the rebels&#8217; first priorities was to break into Syria’s prisons and release political prisoners.
Western journalists and NGO workers are inspecting prisons, Israel is refraining from bombing areas where Tice may be, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he will get involved in the effort to find Tice, who U.S. intelligence officials believe is alive.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is currently offering a <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/kidnap/austin-bennett-tice" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$1 million reward</a> for information leading to Tice’s return home.
The U.S. government is operating under the belief that Tice is alive and was imprisoned by the Assad regime in one of its detention centers, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/12/18/netanyahu-austin-tice-israel-syria" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Axios reported</a>. Tice’s parents — who have been constantly fighting for his release — said they received assurances he is alive.
One prisoner, an American, appeared in initial videos following his release lying on a mattress, sparking speculation that he might be Tice, until it was later confirmed that he was Travis Timmerman of Missouri. <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/mother-american-journalist-imprisoned-syria-sees-hope-following-news-travis-timmermans-release" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mrs. Tice said</a> seeing Timmerman’s release felt “like a rehearsal” for her son’s future release.
&#8220;It was almost like having a rehearsal &#8230; an inkling of what it&#8217;s really going to feel like when it is Austin walking free,&#8221; she told NBC television&#8217;s &#8220;Meet the Press.”
<div id="attachment_847061" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-847061" class="size-large wp-image-847061" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2150698068-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2150698068-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2150698068-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2150698068-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2150698068-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2150698068-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2150698068-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/12/GettyImages-2150698068-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Debra Tice (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</div>
The rebel group — which is designated as a terrorist organization — led by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/who-is-syrian-rebel-leader-mohammad-al-jolani" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mohammad al-Jolani</a> (Ahmed Hussein al-Shara), has reportedly agreed to cooperate with the U.S. government in the search for Tice. Al-Jolani’s group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has been given a list of former Syrian officials who may have knowledge about Tice, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/18/us/politics/austin-tice-missing-syria.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported The New York Times</a>. The list was reportedly short because only a small group in Assad’s government were informed on Tice.
Since the fall of the Assad regime, Israel has launched air strikes to destroy Syria’s weapons and military infrastructure including its air defenses, aircraft, missiles, UAVs, radars, and more.
Mrs. Tice, worried about the bombing campaign’s interference in rescuing her son, sent Netanyahu a letter on Tuesday stating that she has “credible information” that her son might be in a prison near Damascus, and asked him to pause until Tice is rescued, Axios reported.
On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured Mrs. Tice that the Israeli Defense Forces are not targeting areas where her son may be located.
“In response to your letter, please rest assured that Israel and its intelligence agencies are fully coordinated with the relevant American authorities on the matter and that the IDF is not active in the area where Austin may be located,” Netanyahu wrote.
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Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu&#8217;s letter to Austin Tice&#8217;s mother.
&#8220;In response to your letter, please rest assured that Israel and its intelligence agencies are fully coordinated with the relevant American authorities on the matter and that the IDF is not active in the area where… <a href="https://t.co/pu72sF3HYQ">pic.twitter.com/pu72sF3HYQ</a>
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) <a href="https://twitter.com/KassyAkiva/status/1869776806858887411?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2024</a></blockquote>
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“I hope that you find a measure of comfort in that knowledge that your son’s courage and dedication as a journalist have not gone unnoticed,” Netanyahu added. “His commitment to the truth and to shining a light on the war in Syria have inspired so many people.”
Mrs. Tice spoke at the National Press Club earlier this month, stating that she was given reassurances that Tice is alive and has been treated well.
“We have from a significant source that has already been vetted all over our government that Austin Tice is alive. Austin Tice is treated well, and there is no doubt about that,” she said.
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Debra Tice: &#8220;We have from a significant source that has been already been vetted all over our government: Austin Tice is alive. Austin Tice is treated well, and there is no doubt about that.” <a href="https://t.co/Iqj5h971io">pic.twitter.com/Iqj5h971io</a>
— CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1865128039983497295?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 6, 2024</a></blockquote>
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NGO Hostage Aid Worldwide, <a href="https://x.com/HostageAid/status/1866195214865690881" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sent its president</a>, Nizar Zakka, to Syria to assist in the search for Tice.
During a press conference this week, Putin said he would ask President Bashar al-Assad — who fled to Russia following his regime’s collapse — about Tice’s whereabouts.
“I haven’t met with President [Bashar al-]Assad since his arrival in Moscow, but I plan to do so, I will definitely talk to him,” Putin said, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/19/europe/russia-putin-austin-tice-comments-conference-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported CNN</a>.
But Putin expressed doubt that Tice could be found, citing the lengthy time since his detainment.
“But you and I are adults, we understand, right?” Putin said. “12 years ago, a man disappeared in Syria, 12 years ago! We understand what the situation was there 12 years ago, there was active military action, and on both sides. Does President Assad himself know what happened to this American citizen, a journalist who was doing his journalistic duty in a combat zone? Nevertheless, I promise that I will ask this question to those people who control the situation on the ground in Syria today.”
Putin was asked the question following Mrs. Tice requesting his help in a letter, due to his strong ties to the Syrian government.
“The current situation in Syria compels us to ask for your help in finding Austin and safely reuniting our family,” she reportedly wrote in the letter. “You have profound connections with the Syrian government, which can be a great benefit for our unrelenting efforts to find our Austin and reunite our family.”
In August 2024, the twelfth anniversary of Tice’s abduction, Secretary of State Antony Blinken <a href="https://www.state.gov/12-years-of-captivity-for-austin-tice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reiterated the calls</a> for his release in a statement.
“For more than a quarter of his life, Austin has been separated from his family and kept in unknown conditions,” Blinken&#8217;s statement reads. “We know that the Syrian government has held Austin, and we have repeatedly offered to find a way to bring him home.”
In August 2020, on the eighth anniversary of his capture, President-elect Donald Trump issued a statement calling for Tice&#8217;s release and urged the Syrian government to assist in his return.
“There is no higher priority in my administration than the recovery and return of Americans missing abroad,” <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/DCPD-202000606/pdf/DCPD-202000606.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump wrote</a>. “The Tice family deserves answers. We stand with the Tice family and will not rest until we bring Austin home.”
The Tice family praised Trump for sending Kash Patel to Syria to open a dialogue about Tice’s return. The <a href="https://www.austinticefamily.com/family-statements/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">family said</a> they were closer than they “have ever been to having Austin safely home” at the time.
The family also met with President Joe Biden, who they said made “significant, encouraging commitments” in the efforts to bring Tice home.
A Houston native, Tice served as a captain in the Marine Corps, is an Eagle Scout, and graduated from Georgetown University. He has won several journalism awards, including the 2012 George Polk Award for War Reporting, the 2012 McClatchy Newspapers President’s Award, and the 2015 National Press Club John Aubuchon Freedom of the Press Award, <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/trending/article/captive-austin-tice-family-washington-19953579.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Houston Chronicle reported</a>.
Tice traveled to Syria to freelance in the summer of 2012 before his last year at Georgetown Law School. He is <a href="https://www.austinticefamily.com/#about" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> the longest-held journalist in captivity, according to the National Press Club.

OP-ED-USSYRIA-JOURNALIST-COMMENTARY-ADV25-FT

Inside The Search for Kidnapped American Journalist Austin Tice

Bashar Assad

Benjamin Netanyahu

Donald Trump

Syria

Vladimir Putin

Incoming White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt torpedoed The Washington Post over a media request the outlet sent to her, sharing screenshots of blatant attempts to tie President-elect Donald Trump to an act of racism.
Leavitt posted a photo of the email from The Washington Post on her X account, tearing into the outlet for attempting to use such a situation to foment racial division and then blame Trump for it, despite even admitting that Trump was not remotely connected to the event in question.
&#8220;I just received one of the most absurd emails EVER from the Washington Post,&#8221; Leavitt began. &#8220;This &#8216;reporter&#8217; is doing gymnastics to try and sow division and blame President Trump for something that he admits in his email has no trace to him whatsoever.&#8221;
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&#8220;This is exactly why NOBODY trusts the Fake News Media,&#8221; Leavitt continued, adding, &#8220;Jeff Bezos warned his staff before the election, and they’re still not listening to him!&#8221;
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I just received one of the most absurd emails EVER from the Washington Post
This “reporter” is doing gymnastics to try and sow division and blame President Trump for something that he admits in his email has no trace to him whatsoever
This is exactly why NOBODY trusts the Fake… <a href="https://t.co/IUhnsw58im">pic.twitter.com/IUhnsw58im</a>
&mdash; Karoline Leavitt (@karolineleavitt) <a href="https://twitter.com/karolineleavitt/status/1861544185192485258?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 26, 2024</a></blockquote>
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The email, sent by a reporter named Emmanuel Felton, was about a racially charged incident that took place in Lawnside, New Jersey, within days of the 2024 presidential election. A local resident had reported seeing spray-painted slurs using the &#8220;n-word,&#8221; and Felton wanted Trump&#8217;s team to respond to the following section of the report:
<blockquote>What happened in Lawnside was part of a wave of racial incidents that occurred in the days following Trump&#8217;s reelection. Around the time that Hines&#8217; fence was sprayed, black people across the country were receiving text messages that said they&#8217;d been &#8220;selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation.&#8221; And at the same time that Lawnside residents came together to discuss the graffiti on Hines&#8217; fence, a group of self-identified Neo-Nazis marched and shouted the same slur in Columbus, Ohio.</blockquote>
In the very next sentence, Felton gave away the game, however (emphasis added): &#8220;While none of these events can be traced directly back to Trump, experts say that his rhetoric has been tied to an increase in hate crimes across the nation.&#8221;

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