Comedian Ryan Long exploits comic themes few of his peers will touch. Think Identity Politics, the woke revolution and clickbait media outlets. The latest example? Long plays a fear-mongering reporter in “man on the street” mode.
Why is this funny? Because media outlets, particularly during the pandemic, propagate fear to boost ratings. It’s a variation of the local TV news story, “Coming up next…what’s in your fridge could kill you.”
Consumers knows this all too well, especially during the extended pandemic. Long shrewdly played on that awareness. Dr. Drew Pinsky noticed this disturbing trend, too, except he’s not amused.
The doctor, co-host of The Adam and Dr. Drew Show, told listeners about a fresh media trend now that COVID-19 deaths could be declining. The mainstream press, he argued, is suddenly pushing death totals from other, more conventional areas of life – think old age, for example.
“That’s their preoccupation now. So we gotta getcha, gotta getcha going,” Dr. Pinsky said, tying the shift to larger issues of distrust tied to the pandemic.
Regular Adam and Dr. Drew listeners know the hosts rail against both government and media inaccuracies tied to the pandemic. Even Dr. Pinsky, a much cooler voice than Carolla, can’t help criticizing how both bodies have let Americans down.
“Isn’t the press really the problem? As you’re saying, the leaders made mistakes, made bad decisions…but isn’t, really, the enemy of the people the press? Isn’t that the problem that’s making the mass formation psychosis?”
The latter phrase came into vogue after Dr. Robert Malone, the co-creator of the mRNA vaccine platform, used the term on The Joe Rogan Experience. The medical expert described how the press, government and Big Tech teamed to peddle false narratives related to the pandemic.
- The pandemic absolutely didn’t start in that Wuhan Lab
- Children are at risk of COVID-19 just like adults
- Cloth masks are an effective, nay essential, barrier against the virus
Twitter subsequently banned Dr. Malone, forcing him to move to GETTR. YouTube similarly yanked Dr. Malone’s recent interview with Rogan, heard by the podcaster’s massive Spotify audience.
Of course, President Donald Trump famously uttered the phrase, “The press is the enemy of the people,” regarding the Fake News wave that crested during his presidency. That resonated with people across the political spectrum, witness recent polling showing a massive mistrust in mainstream news.
Carolla quickly weighed in on Dr. Pinsky’s comments, adding a notable twist.
“It is the press, but you still have to blame the leaders, because the leaders want to be portrayed by the press in a certain way,” Carolla said.
“The Fourth Estate, they’re here to help us,” Dr. Pinsky said in a mocking tone about the decade’s old nickname for journalism. “The Fourth Estate needs a revolution … and it might be Joe Rogan. He might end up the head of the Fourth Estate,” he added with a chuckle.
Carolla picked up on that theme, acknowledging how reporters take an adversarial tone against Republican politicians.
“If you’re [Republican Gov.] Ron DeSantis of Florida, you’re already on the wrong side of all the news outlets, so you get to operate with impunity because you’ve already run afoul of them,” Carolla said, noting the 2020 “60 Minutes” hit piece on the Florida governor.
“Fox [News] is gonna leave him alone, and then there the other 19 [news outlets], and they’re going after him,” he said. That, curiously enough, allows him to govern in a way Democrats can’t quite mimic, he suggested.
“He gets to go, ‘well, I can do whatever policy I want because I’ve already run afoul of these people. It doesn’t matter.’ Gov. Newsom [of California] doesn’t want to run afoul of these people, and neither does anyone who heads up a blue state. They go, ‘I got all these guys on my side. I don’t wanna run afoul of them, I have elections coming up.’ They then put their policies that would not run afoul of the Los Angeles Times which are the wrong policies, but, ‘I need the Los Angeles Times.'”
Dr. Pinsky reminded listeners that Gov. Newsom initially balked at giving President Donald Trump’s vaccine, assembling his own advisory panel suggesting the now widely hailed treatments could be problematic. That act alone would get him labeled an anti-vaxxer and likely removed from social media.
“What happened to that panel?” he asked of Newsom’s panel.
“What happened to Kamala Harris saying she wasn’t gonna take Trump’s vaccine?” Carolla added, something mainstream media outlets memory holed as the current Vice President continues to push vaccine use.
The duo also discussed CNN’s New Year’s Eve coverage, featuring an obviously drunk co-host, Andy Cohen, further blackening the network’s name.
Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen take shot in honor of Betty White
“I’m not sure CNN did themselves any favors on New Year’s Eve,” Dr. Pinsky said.
“I think America caught on to CNN,” Carolla said of the network’s ratings free fall.
Pinsky noted a larger, more disturbing trend. The public no longer trusts news outlets to be fair and honest.
“It used to be the news would report something, and you’d go, ‘OK,’ and you consume it. Now, you go, ‘all right, we’ll see.’ Always. Everything.”
Carolla brought up the deluge of Fake News tied to the Kyle Rittenhouse case as a prime example of modern media corruption.
“They lied. We caught on, and a certain percentage of people understand that,” Carolla said.
[Cross-posted from Hollywood In Toto]
