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I agree with all comments especially the comment about Hillary Clinton and her involvement that's not even mentioned in this interview. I find that very disappointing. I really feel journalists have insulated themselves so much so they can't see the error of their ways. Unfortunately not many of them were able to get past their "outrage" over Trump being elected. They were willing to commit Journalistic malpractice and convince themselves it was the right thing to do. I have lost complete trust in the system.

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Matt, this is the most blatantly blind and gutless essay you have written since joining Substack - I am incredibly disappointed. You and Barry Meier are analyzing this as if you have an unbiased media who were simple duped, or were a bit lazy in their reporting. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME! The last 5 years of journalism has been one giant and shameless RESISTANCE movement trying to get Trump impeached - and d conservative ideology in general discredited.

The media is not interested in facts, they are interested in DELIBERATELY advancing a bull-shit progressive, WOKE narrative and demonizing all conservatives. They did not scrutinize this story just like they have not scrutinized any story that advanced their religiously tinged political ideology. You and Glenn (Glenn more aggressively than you, to be honest) have spent much of the last 4 years pointing out example after example of how the far left mob has advanced lies and suppressed truth in the advancement of their radical ideology.

Have you suddenly lost your nerve? Are you tired of not getting invited to liberal parties?

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If the media decides to reform (and they won't) thinking they can just bury the past and start over fresh, they are mistaken. They have lost the trust of the American people and they will not be able to get it back.

New outlets such as Substack are replacing the discredited media and none too soon.

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I think there is a simple answer to the series of question Mr Meier asks at the end of your interview “ Why didn’t we demand to see the evidence? Why didn’t we demand to be introduced to Steele’s source? Why didn’t we demand to know more about him, even if we weren’t being introduced to him? Why did we accept these things on faith, and without scrutinizing them? ”. And the answer is that their motivations will not be best served by seeking answers to these questions. And that is depressing.

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Excellent interview. Sadly I believe that this practice of taking info from " authoritative sources- --with or without a British accent " befalls every area of life where a narrative is being constructed for the public to heavily buy into. Our COVID/ jab narrative uses the same methods-- no evidence --just believe the "authorities" -- e.g. non-elected public health officials with skin in the game and money/power to be gained.

I love this short "shit detector" set of criteria (not sure where I got it -clearly British based);

"I have five questions that I ask people who have power, and I recommend them to the House. If I see someone who is powerful, be it a traffic warden, Rupert Murdoch, the head of a trade union or a Member of Parliament, I ask myself these five questions: "What power have you got? Where did you get it? In whose interests do you exercise it? To whom are you accountable? How can we get rid of you?" That last question is crucial."

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Fusion GPS was a well known smear merchant and the character of the politician whose dirty work they were doing was even worse. Any “journalist” that bought this story wanted to believe it and should resign in disgrace as they have no credibility. No refunds.

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Thank you Matt - I have a major quibble with this interview. Meier talks about how positively his journalism colleagues have responded to his book. If Meier had done his job they would be publicly apologizing to the American public on the front pages of all these newspapers. But Meier is just one more member of The Club of False Narratives who chastises his fellow members but not enough to get ousted. He's more Deep State than a Deep Thinker.

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So Clinton funded this little excursion to Smearville? That probably means that the Democratic Party also knew that the provenance of the Russia story was tainted to its core. Yet that didn't stop Hillary & her sidekick Big Nance the P from harping on Russia for 4 fucking years.

I seem to remember Big Nance specifically saying, "Mr. President, with you, all roads lead to Russia." While in reality, she should have said, "Mr. President, with me, Big Nance, all roads lead to bullshit."

All I can say is, if the Democrats are this inept at running a smear campaign, why would I think they could run a country?

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"Throughout the Trump years, it made sense that reporters chased sexy-sounding Russia stories. What journalist with a pulse wouldn’t?"

This is being extremely charitable.

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The imperial media never acknowledges its mistakes and outright lies. Those people are paid to mislead the public. Whether it’s the foreign interventions (invasions), false flags or rigged elections, we are not allowed to peer into the real agenda of the ruling class. Why do you think independent journalists are being de-platformed? Why is Julian Assange being tortured in a British prison? The only thing keeping them living like lords and ladies is narrative control.

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When are we going to demand to see the evidence? That’s the same thing here. Why didn’t we demand to see the evidence? Why didn’t we demand to be introduced to Steele’s source? Why didn’t we demand to know more about him, even if we weren’t being introduced to him? Why did we accept these things on faith, and without scrutinizing them? These are the questions we have to ask.

Ooh! Strong, strong statement from Trump-deranged covidiot and "Biden-Harris" team and NYT supporter Barry Meier. He has no legitimacy and it's sad Taibbi pretends he does. Oh right, Matt's an insider too, as the loyal opposition.

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The idea that journalists as a class are terrified of getting anything wrong is laughable. Maybe they're terrified of being criticized, which is something else. Almost every time I actually know the details of a "story" in a newspaper (let alone on TV), the "journalist" gets a lot wrong. I think if you ask your friends, they will say the same. What isn't outright wrong is weirdly distorted.

Basic PR training includes the information that when a "journalist" asks a question, he's often trying to get an answer that he's already formulated in his mind. Say what you want, and don't give him what you want, and your answer will disappear in smoke. Say what he wants, and your answer will be included, in some form or the other.

Do Matt's subscribers have different experiences? Have you been the subject, or has your firm or school or team or whatever been the subject of a newspaper article that didn't get anything important wrong? I'd love to see a global poll on that one.

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"I’m afraid that for some people it just bounces off of them, it’s not their fault.... That would worry me, if I thought it was a generational thing."

Face it, most of the new generation are exactly what the oligarchs want them to be, as can be seen by the voices that the oligarchs promote, incl. in places like the WaPo (e.g. Suzanna Walters) and the NYT (e.g. M.E. Dyson).

Maybe Meier needs to brush up, e.g. on Matt's book on Hate Inc., and w/ Koppel's thoughts of a few years ago, at https://www.theblaze.com/news/ted-koppel-liberal-media-out-to-get-trump .

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Yes -- so much time was wasted on "investigating" the Steele Dossier. It came at the expense of tough-minded investigative journalism into what the Trump administration was really doing with its power. We got a lot of prurient talk about pee tapes and so forth even as Trump was enriching the already rich and advancing his own insane version of nepotism. I still wince at Jared leading the "process" for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.

The Steele Dossier was a great distraction from reality -- once again, thank you, Hillary Clinton, for your savvy and smart politics! :-)

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I look forward to Barry Meier furthering his investigative work and look at the Mueller report with the meticulousity he has exhibited in "Spooked".

I'm interested in particular in Konstantin Kilimnik claim that there are factual errors in the Mueller report concerning his visa and a trip he allegedly made to Madrid (cf interview with Aaron Mate).

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Et tu Matt? You are helping "journalists" whitewash this whole event. Most of these writers are spooks themselves, they don't report anything but what their masters tell them too. If a few here and there report the actual truth we then hear "that's not a REAL news reporter, that's not a REAL news outlet". Wake up & look around, you are being played.

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