In my past Twitchy VIP articles, I have written about language often, specifically how the left tries to distort, manipulate, and control language to maintain power. I call it a form of Marxism because that's what it is.
But there is another way for the left to control language, and that is by controlling who gets to use it. The media loves to tell us that THEY are the arbiters of truth and information, not us. Nowhere has this been more evident than the collective panic and outrage they showed when Elon Musk took over Twitter and opened up the platform with his favorite Latin expression: 'Vox populi, vox dei.'
This weekend, Musk posted a brief clip from an interview he gave back in April on this very subject:
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 22, 2024
This is exactly correct. The media can no longer control the narrative -- a narrative that often has no relationship with the truth -- as much as they used to and it INFURIATES them.
As if on cue, media consultant David Clinch immediately responded, not by congratulating Musk for opening up a platform to free speech and MORE investigative journalism, but by denying that 'citizen journalists' even exist.
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There is no such thing as citizen journalism and asking the people to “determine the truth” without equipping them with the skills and tools to do so on this platform is irresponsible and dangerous. Everyone is entitled to a voice and an opinion, but that is not journalism. https://t.co/fMWjlY0Xy4
— David Clinch (@DavidClinchNews) June 22, 2024
Here is a little information about Clinch. He does have a strong background in journalism. He worked as a reporter for 30 years, starting at CNN's international desk. If you do the math, that includes years when CNN was not a complete joke and hadn't become simply the official PR firm for the Democrat Party. So, he's not just some fly-by-night pundit. However, Clinch is not a reporter anymore. He founded his consulting firm Media Growth Partners in 2023, specifically designed to help traditional media outlets grow audience and revenue.
In other words, Clinch -- outside of any ideology -- has a financial interest in denouncing citizen journalism.
Always follow the money.
Clinch's problem, of course, is the same problem the legacy media itself faces. People have eyes, ears, and the ability to think critically. Over the past several years, everyone has been able to see how wrong the legacy media and the journalists with 'skills and tools' (as Clinch put it) have been on nearly every subject of importance, from COVID to international wars to ... well pretty much every narrative they have pushed about the Biden administration, including the most recent narrative that videos showing Joe Biden's mental decline are 'cheap fakes.'
On the other hand, citizen journalists have been RIGHT about so many of these issues:
- Alex Berenson is a seasoned New York Times reporter, but right now, he is a citizen journalist, working for himself. He was so 'right' about the misinformation that the government and their media lapdogs were pushing regarding COVID that the Biden administration tried to have him deplatformed and silenced.
- No one has exposed more about the fraud of DEI than Christopher Rufo, who never went to journalism school and never worked for a major newspaper or network. He is changing the corrupt landscape of American education.
- The popular Twitter user Billboard Chris has exposed the fraud of 'gender-affirming care' simply by going and standing with a billboard in public places and filming his interactions with people. Sorry, Mr. Clinch, but that IS journalism.
- Chaya Raichik, who famously created Libs of TikTok, and Matt Walsh, who doesn't even have a college degree, have exposed the destructive nature of 'family-friendly drag shows' and the illegal surgeries on minors at hospitals across the country.
- James O'Keefe and his army of citizen journalists have used undercover video to expose corruption at companies ranging from IBM to Disney, as well as within the government.
- Corey DeAngelis did not go to J-School, but he has exposed more fraud in teachers' unions than anyone else in the country.
I could go on and on with so many more accounts, including Twitchy favorites like End Wokeness, James Lindsay, Drew Holden, Wokal Distance, Ian McKelvey, and others, most of whom probably would not even refer to themselves as journalists. But they are citizens and they are providing more honest reporting than you will ever see on CNN or MSNBC, or read in the pages of The Washington Post or New York Times or ... Rolling Stone (sorry, I included that last one just for a laugh).
Obviously, Clinch took it on the chin from Twitter for his (attempted) gatekeeping of journalism. Here is just a small sampling:
"Only us gatekeepers, who have been thoroughly trained in the art of 'advocacy journalism', from the elite J-schools across the world, are equipped to inform the great unwashed on how they are supposed to feel about the information we feed them" - Regime propagandists LARPing as… https://t.co/OWZ2LM2T3m
— Ordnance Jay Packard, Esq. (@OrdnancePackard) June 23, 2024
Shorter @davidclinchnews: Thou shalt be of the anointed few, and of the anointed few only, to pass into this sacred cloister. https://t.co/upNhbXZI45 pic.twitter.com/npr2ucEaCf
— Captain Kahuna 🤙🏽 (@Captain_Kahuna) June 23, 2024
It's absolutely ridiculous to say that there's no citizen journalism. Of course there is. More & more we are seeing the value & necessity for citizen journalists.
— KarenJewel (@KarenJewel) June 23, 2024
Especially as we see paternalistic professional journalists, smugly talking down to us & lying out of activism. https://t.co/OPc4l1euZQ
The citizen journalists do a far better job than the so-called professionals these days. Take that up with your colleagues. 🤷♀️ https://t.co/ljMfRsikjB
— Texas Courtney (@AlaskanCourtney) June 23, 2024
Citizen journaliats fact-checking "expert journalists" have uncovered a multitude of blatant lies, deception, and "staged" events.
— 𝓐𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓷 𝓡𝓪𝔂 42 (@2CynicAl65) June 23, 2024
It's not a journalists job to "determine the truth" but to inform people of facts so THEY can determine the truth. https://t.co/vH3MEgfLea
And that last tweet is EXACTLY why media consultants like Clinch hate the idea of citizen journalists and hate Twitter. THEY are the ones supposed to be doing the fact-checking. No one is supposed to be able to fact-check THEM.
Has anyone seen legacy media fact-checkers like Daniel Dale or Glenn Kessler lately? Or are they still on their four-year vacation during the Biden administration?
"There is no such thing as citizen journalism. There is only the official narrative that will not be questioned." https://t.co/uPxCPH6dmE
— Aldous Huxley's Ghost™ (@AF632) June 23, 2024
The problem is not even so much how Orwellian Clinch's position is, it's how he has absolutely no concern with how Orwellian it is.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
— Charles X Proxy™ (@Charlemagne0814) June 23, 2024
That is Latin for, "Who watches the Drunkards like this dude, Clinch here?" https://t.co/pAsrSRNX6H
I had to include that one just for another laugh.
I don't want to be too dismissive and say that anyone can be a journalist. But, kind of, anyone can be a journalist. It's not like saying, 'I am a citizen neurosurgeon' or 'I am a citizen astronaut' (though Musk might make that second one a reality in our lifetime).
Yes, citizen journalists do need to report with integrity and professionalism, and yes, we do need to hold them accountable when they are wrong. But the best part about citizen journalists, unlike the legacy media, is that in general, they are FAR more willing to admit when they've made a mistake.
How many networks or newspapers have admitted fault for saying that Hunter Biden's laptop was 'Russian disinformation' or that Ivermectin was 'horse de-wormer'?
Nor am I saying that there is no place anymore for traditional, honest, trained journalists. Just this weekend, a local reporter in the D.C. area where I live, Nick Minock, won THREE Emmy awards for local reporting. Do you know why Minock is such an accomplished and respected reporter? Because he goes after the story and does not care if there is a (D) or an (R) next to the name of the person or people about whom is is reporting.
How many journalists working for national outlets can we say the same about? Count them on one hand and you'll still have a few fingers left over.
Ultimately, it really does not matter what gatekeepers like David Clinch try to say. Citizen journalism will not only continue, but it will continue to grow and expand.
That is a good thing for America. And if it upsets Clinch, all he needs to do is watch CNN for a single day to understand why it is happening.
