When comedian and UFC fan Joe Rogan launched his podcast, he had no way of knowing that he’d ultimately end up with a target on his back, put there by journalists of all people.
But here we are.
I think the issue with Rogan's show when it comes to misinformation isn't that he's indifferent to the truth. It's that the way the show works, with guests able to fire claim after claim after claim, makes it impossible for even a well-informed host to fact-check in real time.
— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) January 31, 2022
Go look at the transcripts of the Robert Malone and Peter McCullough interviews. They're floods of dubious (and often downright false) assertions, citations to studies and sources Rogan didn't have in front of him, oblique references to anecdata.
— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) January 31, 2022
In that environment, there's no way for Rogan – or a listener – to know what's reliable in what the person is saying or not, what has a firm (even if contested) grounding in evidence and what's not. It's a perfect environment for spreading fear, uncertainty, and doubt.
— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) January 31, 2022
“In that environment.” Please. In theory, any environment could allow for people to be exposed to misinformation. Environments like CNN, for example.
My experience as a guest was that he's not averse to firing off his own very dubious assertions.
He's a charismatic guy, fun personality, easy to see why he's been a successful host in a variety of mediums — but not a careful journalist or a disciplined thinker. https://t.co/dSk1xCvTlW
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) January 31, 2022
We’d like Matt Yglesias to tell us when Joe Rogan ever claimed to be a careful journalist. As for the disciplined thinker part, the best thinkers are willing to ask questions and acknowledge that there might be other thinkers out there who might know more than they do.
Glenn Greenwald is a journalist by trade, but unlike so many other journalists, he understands that journalists don’t know everything. Maybe that’s why he’s an independent journalist these days: he can’t in good conscience be part of a media with no self-awareness or capacity for introspection.
The way so many smug media figures are uniting in condescending denunciation of Joe Rogan serves the same purpose as when they do it toward Trump: it's to whitewashes all the radical flaws in establishment journalism by letting them scorn someone to whom they all feel superior. https://t.co/rtPY43e260
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 1, 2022
That’s it in a nutshell, yeah.
Look at this flamboyantly patronizing mockery of Rogan by @allisondmorrow of CNN: the network which has spread far more disinformation, far more harmfully, than anything Rogan could dream of. Instead of asking why he's popular and trusted and CNN is hated, this is what they do: pic.twitter.com/Q2PL0tNis4
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 1, 2022
The House of CNN is riddled with broken glass, but they just can’t stop throwing stones.
The liberal activist group MoveOn (remember them? Google: "Clinton impeachment, 1998") is circulating a petition to demand Rogan be booted. Yes, its real goal is just to collect emails for fundraising scams, but it shows the ethos of liberal culture:https://t.co/t5OTWETFvc
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 1, 2022
What is Rogan accused of that corporate media doesn't do routinely and far more harmfully?
Those outlets are dissent-free zones. To work at a large media corporation means rarely talking to anyone who tells you you're wrong. Rogan constantly airs dissent and acknowledges error.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 1, 2022
We can count on one hand the number of journalists who demand respect for their expertise while taking no responsibility for their mistakes.
Many journalists are, in fact, rewarded for their malpractice. Greenwald cites MSNBC’s Joy Reid as one of the most egregious examples:
While all Good and Serious Media are united in concern over Rogan, let's recall that @JoyAnnReid got caught making up an outright lie – a time-traveling hacker wrote her bigoted blog posts – and then got *promoted* by NBC News shortly after.
Corporate media has no standards. pic.twitter.com/zG4NFU2bJc
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 1, 2022
Or, rather, corporate media would have no standards if not for double standards.