Topic: Yellow Journalism

A 1961 news report by Edwin Newman regarding Ernest Hemingway's death is analyzed for its lack of transparency, as it initially labeled the suicide an "accident" while cleaning a shotgun. The hosts discuss the era of "authoritative" male news anchors like Walter Cronkite and Tom Brokaw, contrasting it with the modern, more casual style of news presentation. They argue that media manipulation has always existed but has become more sophisticated with behavioral science.

MSNBC's Joy Reid and other pundits are criticized for characterizing President Trump's post-acquittal speech as a "rage." The hosts argue the speech was actually a standard thank-you session and that the media uses "neutral language" to mask their own bias, contrasting modern journalism with the "yellow journalism" of the early 20th century.

Ben Carson discussed media unfairness with Bill O'Reilly, claiming the press has abandoned its constitutional duty to be objective. The hosts dispute the notion that the press was ever objective, citing the history of "yellow journalism" and the explicitly partisan names of early American newspapers. They argue that modern journalism schools were created to mask inherent biases rather than eliminate them.

CNN senior correspondent Ben Wiedemann is criticized after a hot-mic moment captures him joking with a producer during a "scary" report from Gaza. The hosts trace Wiedemann's career from a local fixer in Jordan to the reporter who originally broke the debunked story about "yellow cake" uranium in Libya. They argue that many high-level correspondents lack traditional journalistic credentials and function as state mouthpieces.