In case you missed it …
New CNN CEO Chris Licht told staff in an email that layoffs are coming. The email said most of the layoffs will be of paid contributors to the network.
Elon Musk is promising to release Twitter’s internal censorship files. He tweeted that “the public deserves to know what really happened …”
PBS NewsHour reported that “climate racism” is hurting minorities. Your tax dollars at work.
Dear Friends,
Glenn Greenwald has a new show.
If you’re unfamiliar with Glenn, he’s an attorney and co-founder of The Intercept, a liberal website. He left the publication after they censored an article in which he was critical of then-presidential candidate Joe Biden.
He’s no conservative, but he is an advocate for free speech and is passionately against censorship. His Substack, System Update, is a must-read around here, and I highly recommend it.
He’s now starting a show on Rumble, and shared a sneak peek of a show where he discussed free speech and Twitter. Unsurprisingly, the guy willing to walk away from a career over being censored had some stuff to say.
Glenn mocked the MSM freakout over Elon Musk vowing to bring free speech back to the platform. He pointed out that WaPo reported Taylor Lorenz talked to a handful of pro-censorship “experts” and wrote a piece headlined, “‘Opening the gates of hell’: Musk says he will revive banned accounts.”
In an accompanying Substack article, Glenn points out that
These preposterous media employees are just the sideshow. But what they are doing, unwittingly or otherwise, is laying the groundwork for far less frivolous and more serious people to use the attacks on Musk to further fortify the regime of censorship they have been constructing: the limitlessly demonizing language heaped on him, the success they have already had in driving away many if not most corporate advertisers from Twitter, the threats to once again abuse the monopoly power of Google and Apple to destroy Twitter or at least cripple it if Musk does not comply with their censorship orders (as they succeeded in doing last year to the free speech site Parler when it became the most-downloaded app in the country and refused to censor on demand).
He pointed out that only petty tyrants consider free speech dangerous, and theorized that journalists are frightened. He also argues that because the mainstream media wants to preserve the power structure as it is and not question it, free speech is actually dangerous to them.
Glenn’s show will air Monday through Friday live on Rumble at 7 p.m. Eastern Time. It’s one of several live shows in which Rumble is investing (Russell Brand is hosting another one.) If it’s like Glenn’s other projects, it promises to be insightful and perhaps to get you to look at things from a different angle.
Meanwhile, you can check out a preview show here and see what you think.
Be careful with guys like Glenn. He's a classic contrarian. At his core he's a liberal, but his MO is to take an incendiary stance on a controversial issue and use it to gin up outrage, clicks, subs, social media engagement, and whatever else passes for cachet in the digital age. That's great for his personal brand, but it also contributes to political division and polarization. So sure, listen to Glenn. But then read a few straight news articles and do something fun with your family to lower your blood pressure and maintain some perspective.
When people tell you who they are - like the pearl-clutchers freaking out over Elon - believe them.