With All Due Respect, David Chalian Is Not A “Nice Guy’

Posted by in Blog on August 29, 2012 4:28 pm / 6 comments

As first reported by Newsbusters.com, last night during a webcast of the RNC, David Chalian was caught by a hot mic saying this:

“They aren’t concerned at all,” Chalian can be heard on the live broadcast. “They are happy to have a party with black people drowning.”

This was a vicious statement. This was also said by the now-former Washington Bureau Chief for Yahoo! News. It wasn’t some techie or staffer, it was the guy who was in charge of running Yahoo! News’ political coverage across all their platforms. He also teaches journalism at Georgetown.

To Yahoo! News’ credit, he was fired pretty quickly. But in the aftermath some “journalists” came out in defense of Chalian. The most notable one being Gwen Ifill from PBS who tweeted:

God’s gift to political journalism? Seriously? This guy, when he thought only a few people were listening, actually suggested that Republicans were unconcerned with black people drowning (in New Orleans because of the flooding from Hurricane Isaac). 1) No one was drowing. 2) It’s a patently false statement since the attendees had made mention of the storm several times throughout the day.

By the way, did Chalian make a similar remark – off mic when he thought no one was listening – about the fact that Obama was campaigning during this storm? Doubt it. But I’m open to someone who heard it correcting me in the comments below. (I won’t hold my breath.)

Back to the defenders of this vile individual. The all had a similar version for their defense of this indefensible comment. Basically, “I don’t understand why he’d say this but he’s a nice guy!” No, he’s not a nice guy. Nice guys don’t say stuff like this. Ever. Period.

This is the problem with media bias. It’s not that they are biased, per se. It’s that they are biased in secret – when they don’t think anyone is listening. This way they can shape their preferred narratives under this cloak of “neutrality” and it is delivered as legitimate news. And guys like Chalian, who operate behind the scenes, make the editorial decisions on what gets covered and how it gets covered.

Did you know he was part of the team, along with Charlie Gibson, that went to Alaska and produced the now-famous “gotcha” of Sarah Palin? Now you do. Chalian has been all over the alleged “neutral” press. He was the political editor for PBS New Hour. Are you trying to tell me his bias never factored into the editorial decisions he made there? Nonsense.

Chalian is now a proven leftist hack who has been portraying himself as a “straight news” guy for years. Sorry, he’s not a nice guy. Either he’s fooled a boatload of people or they’re trying to perpetuate the provably false notion that leftists aren’t overwhelmingly in control of the “mainstream” media.

I know there’s bias in the media. You know there’s bias in the media. There would be no problem if they just came out and admitted it. But admitting it would allow the public to consider the source, and they can’t have that. It would ruin their ability to shape their pro-Democrat narrative.

 
 

6 Comments

  1. billy says:
    August 29, 2012 at 5:37 pm

    It’s ok that Gwen Ifill said what she did because most liberals hate God.

  2. Bill Owen says:
    August 29, 2012 at 6:03 pm

    You don’t sound “nice” either. Can I fire you? What hackery. What nonsense, what a storm in a teacup.

    Obviously politically motivated.

    The “leftist media”? You’re insane.

    Oh, that wasn’t nice either! Too bad I can’t be fired.

  3. jon maxwell says:
    August 29, 2012 at 6:43 pm

    Yes, he is a liberal or leftist, venting his prejudices when he thought no one was listening in. But the solution is not to fire him; the person who replaces him will have the same views. Instead, make sure you have a mix of conservatives and Republicans on your team, along with liberals, Democrats, independents, and moderates. If everyone is challenged, and they know there are people with different views around them, they will be less likely to vent views like this. It might have saved the man’s job.

  4. Carrie Talick says:
    August 29, 2012 at 6:49 pm

    I tend to agree that it is wrong for Chalian to pose as “neutral” in front of cameras when he clearly has picked a side. That’s a valid reason to lose his job.

    But the truth is this: If he had replaced “black” with “poor”, it wouldn’t have been considered a joke, it would have been a fact.

    And since when do we expect newspeople have to be ‘nice guys’? I expect impartial and fair. Chalian clearly isn’t. But his comment reflects what the 99% think about Romney and Tea Party Republicans. They are the true enemy of the poor.

  5. Rational says:
    August 29, 2012 at 10:39 pm

    Enemy of the poor? So would you think advocates of the poor are ones who ensure their dependence on government welfare? Ones who hinder creation of jobs that could employ the poor? Are the poor better off today than 4 years ago?

  6. Bo says:
    August 30, 2012 at 8:31 am

    Rational, don’t argue with Carrie, she has a mental disease as do all liberals. We (you & I) , are SUPPOSED to work 2 jobs and pay taxes for the POOR. Let 48% of the NON-TAXPAYERS sit on their collectice rumps and wait for their next hand out. (while driving their suv’s and talking on their top of line cell phones). Please, be tolerant!

Post a Comment