"Pekary, who described herself as an "integral member" of the MSNBC primetime show "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell," used the "cancer" analogy to describe MSNBC's coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and the racial unrest in recent months, writing: "The model blocks diversity of thought and content because the networks have incentive to amplify fringe voices and events, at the expense of others… all because it pumps up the ratings."
"This cancer risks human lives, even in the middle of a pandemic. The primary focus quickly became what Donald Trump was doing (poorly) to address the crisis, rather than the science itself. As new details have become available about antibodies, a vaccine, or how COVID actually spreads, producers still want to focus on the politics. Important facts or studies get buried," Pekary explained. "This cancer risks our democracy, even in the middle of a presidential election. Any discussion about the election usually focuses on Donald Trump, not Joe Biden, a repeat offense from 2016 (Trump smothers out all other coverage). Also important is to ensure citizens can vote by mail this year, but I’ve watched that topic get ignored or 'killed' numerous times."" Foxnews
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Yes I know, this is from Foxnews, MSNBC's main competitor. pl
https://www.foxnews.com/media/msnbc-producer-ariana-pekary-letter
At the risk of basing a judgment on personal experience —
I’ve been dealing with cancer since 2018, when I underwent 3 surgeries to remove what was supposed to be a “simple” skin cancer. It recurred late in 2019, whereupon a fourth surgery was scheduled for the next available date — Mar. 10, 2020.
It was touch-and-go whether that procedure would go forward, in the wake of the just-emerging “pandemic.”
In the interim, the cancer spread dramatically, and the surgery that did take place involved removal of salivary gland, much of an ear and ear canal. Radiation was prescribed in an attempt to ensure against another recurrence. Beginning of the 7-weeks regimen of radiation was stepped up — instead of the expected 6 to 8 weeks of recovery from surgery, radiation began after 4 weeks.
Ironically, radiation involved use of a form-fitting mask, a plastic mesh devise heat-formed to my face-head and used to immobilize my head to the treatment platform for each of 33 treatments.
The equipment used to deliver radiation costs upwards of $10 million; altogether, my bout with this “simple” cancer cost about $125,000. Thank you, American taxpayers: you underwrote the largest share of that cost. Cancer centers are big business, and cancer treatment centers are proliferating across the country.
Cancer is the number 2 killer of Americans each year (heart disease is Number 1, by a very slim margin): 1.7 million Americans will be diagnosed and treated for cancer; 30% to 34% of them will die — about 600,000 Americans die each year of cancer. Those numbers do not include the “simple” skin cancer that I was treated for: basal cell cancers are not registered with the National Cancer Institute that tracks this disease. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/statistics
While it’s close to impossible to determine what caused my cancer, it is known that overexposure to sun is a major suspect: my doctors have encouraged me to wear a scarf while driving to protect the side of my face. It makes sense — far more sense than wearing a cloth or other quasi-surgical “mask” to protect from a “novel” virus that so far is claimed to have cost the lives of .000004 % of the US population.
Those of you who claim that “science” supports mandates to “wear a mask” and shut down the US or any other economy in order to deal with Covid:
1. saying the word Science is not the same thing as applying the methods of science.
2. so far, Covid has not approached the death rate of cancer, a rate that applies to the very young, to people in the prime of their lives, and also to older Americans.
3. That said, I am not a scientist and do not have the span of knowledge necessary to assess whether the increasing prevalence of cell phones with their ever-expanding demand for increase in the ElectroMagneticField (EMF) correlates with an increase in cancers. Based on my limited exploration of the topic that included listening carefully to a talk by Dr. Devra Davis (below), I believe it does. I suspect investors do as well: see above: “Cancer treatment centers are proliferating across the country”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwyDCHf5iCY&feature=emb_logo
In addition to protecting myself from overexposure to sunlight, i.e. while driving, I do all I can to limit carrying a cell phone on my person or holding one close to my face-ear when using it.
My experience with this cancer is one of several real-world observations that has persuaded me that this pandemic is media-driven, politically motivated, and with an unfathomably malign, long-term totalitarian political and financial agenda underlying it.
Artesmesia, first of all, wishing you the very, very best.
At the risk of basing a judgment on personal experience —
I’ve been dealing with cancer since 2018, when I underwent 3 surgeries to remove what was supposed to be a “simple” skin cancer. It recurred late in 2019, whereupon a fourth surgery was scheduled for the next available date — Mar. 10, 2020.
Skin cancer isn’t a ‘simple cancer’. Not sure, I understand. There are some assumed to be less dangerous. True.
But, the fourth surgery was delayed due to corona? And that you feel, were told that delay caused the ‘simple’ cancer mutated into a very, very dangerous one?
Artemesia – I wish you luck with your fight.
Yes, this is the pattern. Politics always determine the story’s spin – if Trump supports the use of HCQ it must be based on poor science – because Orange Man Bad. I hear exactly the same pattern in international news where other right wing politicians are the subject; Bolsanaro, Duterte and so on. I presume this is down to leftist editorial group-think.
2016 sent the liberal media into a fit of insanity from which it is yet to recover. I can no longer watch/listen to mainstream news. OANN and predominantly conservative Twitter accounts that are free from the liberal & woke madness are all I can bear. Colonel you have my sympathy for forcing yourself to watch all those cable news shows.
COVID fever has made the problem even worse this year. The MSM has given this one story wall to wall coverage out of all proportion to its relative importance. The result is a widespread mass delusion, panic and fear – far more than this low lethality virus justifies.
Ms. Pekary’s resignation letter is a refreshing read, as was Bari Weiss’. But of course the system won’t be fixed by the departure of right-thinking people from the industry. I honestly think the only solution is for people to vote with their eyes and ears. This broken industry lives by ratings and it must also die by ratings. Let us see ‘alternative’ news outlets like OAN thrive and let natural selection do its thing. Who knows, one day a news outlet may arise that is able to acknowledge the legitimacy of opinions from both sides of the ideological chasm, I live in hope.
I saw this on Pekary’s website. So itseems that Fox News has nothing to do with her story.
Artemesia
IMO, everything is seen through the lens of partisan politics as far as the media is concerned. For many years elections are nothing but a horse-race in the eyes of the media and pundit class. There’s nary a discussion on policy, partly because there’e not much of a difference between the parties. They are both bought and paid for by the uber wealthy class.
Science and statistics are just spin for whatever agenda and narrative is desired by whoever is peddling it. Distraction and division of the populace is by design.
Blue,
“There’s nary a discussion on policy….”
There’s plenty of such discussion. In 2017-18 we were treated to two straight years of Russia Collusion policy differences. Once the criminal conduct of the FBI/DOJ and others became apparent that coverage shifted to other stories, including Ukraine, which turned out to be another con job. Which “wealthy class” bought Trump? I don’t recall seeing much support from the Davos crowd, Hollywood, or the lefty elites. Have Paul Ryan’s backers suddenly changed sides? Mitt Romney’s?
Fred,
I don’t think the Russia Collusion hoax was a policy difference. It was a naked power play. Trump was screwed over but neither did he do much of anything to cut it at the pass when he had the power to do so..
Agree completely with you that the Party of Davos is opposed to Trump despite Trump feeding their hand at an even bigger rate than anyone before. The wealth disparity between the top 1% and the bottom 90% has grown further under the Trump administration. How much has the Fed printed up for Wall St interests during his term? And even well before the Wuhan virus lockdown, his administration has been ramping up the federal government debt by a trillion dollars annually. How much of the lockdown “relief” appropriated by Congress went to benefit the top 1% compared to the bottom 90%? Why did Kodak, where the Chairman get’s a huge stock grant a day before the announcement get a several hundred million loan and not someone else? You’re ok with the government picking winners & losers in a “free market”?
It seems that the only “wealthy class” that paid to take the risk on Trump’s 2016 campaign are Israel Firsters like Sheldon Adelson.
The question I have for you, is Trump actually running his administration?
blue peacock:
Another thing you did not mention is Trump’s attempt to destroy the Chinese company TikTok for the benefit of Facebook. It’s mind blowing to me that he would take action to help a virulently left-wing and anti-American company in this way. A company that actively promoted the Russian meddling/Russian collusion fabrication and is anti-deplorable to its core. Trump claims he’s doing this for security reasons just as he did with Huawei. Total bullshit. Chinese tech companies are beginning to out-compete American tech companies just as Russian defense companies have been out-competing American defense companies. I cannot fathom the reason for his actions unless once again he is acting on behalf of the tribe. The Chinese should respond to this by banning Apple products in China. This should have been done after Trump targeted Huawei.
Donald J. “Samson” Trump.
Chapter 16, Book of Judges:
[[ And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.]]
This is a metaphor for our president, and what may come.
They all out to destroy him, and he, bringing down on their heads, and his, and ours, since justice is denied him, a prisoner even as he is president.
Whatever Trump’s faults and failings and there are many, and his poorest decision perhaps killing the leading Iran general Jan. 2 of this year [that Col. Lang said if I remember correctly: the general in charge of giving president the list of options, it is on that general for having kept that option on the menu].
The obviousness of the betrayal of Trump in the Iran issue, by that general — also a metaphor of his presidency.
For the curious ones, read again Rosenstein’s “scope memo” to himself May 17, 2017 appointing Mueller.
And ask yourself, where is justice and how could that Rosenstein act ever be righted?
Rosenstein lied to the nation, to the president, his boss — he wrote: . . . . and Russia and coordination with Trump campaign, find crimes and prosecute them Mueller.
In fact, and this may sound like beating a dead horse, but the principle is important, in fact Rosenstein ordered Mueller to investigate Donald J. “Samson” Trump.
This fact now beyond dispute.
Would this have made a difference had Rosenstein been straightforward, told us the truth, instead of lying May 17, 2017?
Their lie was the conspiracy.
All they had was lies lies and more lies. And this continues. . . .
As Aristotle said, the truth is one, the falsehood, infinite.
And this pattern, of every ass hole and their brother in government lying to Trump. Betraying him and thus their country. How is this fixable?
I don’t know if Trump will or is doing a Samson on the rest of us, but he is a prisoner and is president, and that is a strange and unstable combination, that few seem willing to wrap their head around.
For all his faults, one thing he was spot on about: Sessions recused himself while AG; Trump said Session should not have and had no reason to because there was no crimes.
Who was right on this, the DOJ who told Sessions to recuse, or Trump, the supposedly dumbell idiot? Trump was spot on.
There are 25 pages of mostly blank [redacted] pages from Mueller’s investigation, 25 pages of the 302 form showing just a bit of the Sessions investigation by Mueller.
They are sickening to read, the little that is not whited out.
On the face of it this is also preposterous.
Rosenstein in his role as acting DOJ chief, i.e., Acting Attorney General, starts an investigation of the president, for no reason at all; but says [lies] that it is not about the president and says it is a continuation of what Comey had began. .. . and Russia / coordination / Trump campaign / blahblahblah.
Mueller, in his role as Co-Acting AG, for all intents and purposes, / so Mueller calls the actual AG, Sessions, on the carpet — to potentially charge the actual AG with crimes.
And don’t say these things did not happen, right in front of us, without shame.
Donald J. “Samson” Trump is on the Orient Express — and they are all criminals and/or liars, riding this train — he is surrounded by them.
They ARE OUR government.
And. . . when and if things . . . this storm worsens and worsens. . . and states exit the Union, and cities and towns exit the individual free states. . . should it get to this and it may. . . will a Napoleon come along?
That would be a most optimistic outcome, if that makes any sense.
As this assumes Union would somehow stay intact or fall apart but Humpty Napoleon Dumpty could put it back together again.
What would Samson say?
“And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me,
I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes”
-30-
John from Michigan
IMO, all Chinese apps and tech companies should be banned in the US until reciprocity is achieved.
It would be good to recall the Alipay deal with CCP’s Jack Ma when it was stripped from Yahoo. Pay attention to what’s happening to ARM in China.
One admirable action by Trump is to challenge the totalitarian CCP. Every politician before from both parties sold out to the CCP. They wouldn’t be where they’re today if Clinton, Bush, Obama had stood up for the working and middle class.
hm….