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The Associated Press loses its way

Posted: September 12, 2023 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
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By Christopher Harper

The Associated Press, a critical news operation and one-time bastion of political neutrality, has turned leftward in its coverage.

In recent months, the evidence has mounted that the AP no longer stands above the political fray. For example, a recent AP article said that the U.S. Supreme Court had “tossed out the heart” of the Voting Rights Act, when in reality, the court ruled that nine southern states would no longer have to “pre-clear” election law changes with the federal government. The AP lamented in another story that “far-right conservatives” in Tennessee were elected to city council seats. Another news report said that “GOP election tactics” intentionally disenfranchised black voters in Wisconsin.

As a result of these and other stories, AllSides, a group that tracks media bias, has changed its rating for the AP from “center” to “leans left, citing an increase in “word choice bias” and “bias by omission of views” in AP coverage. AllSides said it closely monitored AP content because the organization is “broad and far-reaching.” The AP is by far the largest news organization in the world, with more than 3,000 employees around the globe in nearly 100 countries. The AP provides news and information to more than 1,300 news organizations.

What has changed? 

Last year, the AP announced a series of partnerships to subsidize reporting of climate change, race, and democracy. The Washington Free Beacon reviewed the list of donors, which showed the vast majority funded left-wing political causes. For example, the Ida B. Wells Society, founded by Nikole Hannah-Jones and the suspect “1619 Project,” gave money for “more inclusive storytelling.” The AP is also taking money to fund coverage in its “democracy journalism initiative” and “the intersection of race and voting.” The donors include the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, which also backed Stacy Abrams, the leftist Georgia politician. The AP also got money from Take Back the Court, which advocates expanding the number of U.S. Supreme Court justices.

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation spent $2.5 million on the AP’s climate and education reporting initiatives and $400,000 on its democracy journalism initiative. The foundation also funds Planned Parenthood and Advocates for Youth, which promotes transgender ideology. The Public Welfare Foundation, which backs reduced penalties for various crimes, ponied up $200,000.

The Rockefeller Foundation awarded the AP a total of $750,000 to increase reporting “on the increased and urgent need for reliable electricity in underserved communities worldwide.”

Associated Press spokeswoman Nicole Meir told The Washington Free Beacon that the organization maintained “complete control” over content produced through its philanthropic partnerships, and that “no funder has any influence over AP journalism.”

Anyone who’s ever dealt with donors knows that foundations often play an active role in how money gets spent. 

The leftist tilt of the AP is particularly bothersome since the organization hired me in its Chicago bureau in 1974 straight out of graduate school, and I learned from some of the best editors I ever had. The renowned news editor Dick Ciccone, who became the managing editor of The Chicago Tribune, told me: “Get it fast. Get it right. Keep your opinions to yourself!”

–Hat tip to my wife

My COVID pledge

Posted: September 5, 2023 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
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By Christopher Harper

As the news media rumbles and rants over the rise in COVID cases, including that of Doctor Jill, it’s time to prepare for an onslaught of information that provokes fear and misunderstanding.

I have many regrets about what I did during the pandemic. 

I wouldn’t come to Temple University because of fears that young people were incubators of the disease. 

I didn’t visit a friend who was dying of cancer. I didn’t keep in touch with friends who died because they couldn’t get the treatment they needed.

I waited in line for the first COVID shots—not protesting the inadequate features of the drugs and the many side effects of the shots. 

I didn’t try to stop the politicians from passing laws to make voting easier without showing up at a polling station. I believe these laws were responsible for Trump’s loss, one of the worst outcomes of the pandemic. 

Now, I’m making a pledge to myself and others.

I will not wear a mask. Various studies have determined that masks made little difference in preventing disease, except Dr. Tony Fauci continues promoting them. 

I will not get shots. When President Joe said he requested federal dollars “for funding for a new vaccine that is necessary, that works,” it gave me chills. After the pharmaceutical companies created remedies that didn’t work well, why should the taxpayers pick up the tab again?

I will not carry around a card that lists my shots.

I will not socially distance. I will boycott stores and companies that require masks and social distancing.

I will vote against anyone who closes businesses and schools. Only recently, national surveys show that math and reading skills have dropped dramatically, and school absenteeism is roughly 10 percent each school day. 

I will never retire to a nursing home where thousands of my fellow seniors died during the pandemic, a disgrace that still goes unpunished. 

Many of us learned a few things during the pandemic. You really can’t trust the media, and you really can’t trust politicians!

Fortunately, I live in central Pennsylvania, where many people share my sentiments. It was a relief when my wife and I moved here in March 2021 to find signs that said masks were optional.

Matthew Hennessey of The Wall Street Journal agrees with me. He wrote recently, “In hindsight, I can’t help but feel I sold my God-given freedom too cheaply. I won’t get fooled again.”

The cynicism of today’s elites

Posted: August 29, 2023 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
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By Christopher Harper

If you want to know what’s wrong with America’s elites, read on.

The New York Times asked 17 elite writers to opine on “one piece of culture [that] captures the spirit of our country.”

The answers are startlingly cynical. Maureen Dowd thinks Americans are ‘highly susceptible.” Her suggestion for the piece of culture that captures today’s America is the 1956 motion picture, “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” in which aliens take over the bodies of ordinary people to march in lockstep with the country’s leaders. I always thought the film showed how a few people could fight the majority.

Like F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Great Gatsby,” Ross Douthat argues that Americans are “on the make.” I never really was a Fitzgerald fan during my college days when I majored in English literature. I was more of a John Milton man.

Farhad Manjoo writes that we are “gleefully nihilist” and cites the cartoon “South Park” as representative of today’s America. Fortunately, I’ve never watched the show.  

Nicholas Kristoff complains about “the lie of individual responsibility,” where people can pull themselves up by their bootstraps. As Kristoff puts it: “Why is the United States one of very few wealthy countries to lack mandatory paid family leave, universal health care, child allowances and national pre-K and child care? Why do we tolerate a failed foster care system?” Methinks Nick favors socialism!

Jamelle Bouie describes a country “living with existential fear.” He argues that “the United States is in the midst of a second Gilded Age. For millions of Americans and for many young people in particular, the 2020s have been — thus far — a time of anxiety and dread, marked by social disruption, failing institutions, and a deepening sense of urgency over the ability of humans to survive on this planet without destroying its environment.” Does he really think we are in that bad a shape? I’d put him on suicide watch if he does.

My favorite is Zeynep Tufekci, who was born in Turkey and came to this country for her education. She calls the United States “painfully exception,” meaning, in her words, exceptional in its lack of “universal health care, lots of guns, a violent drug trade, voluminous drug overdose deaths, and middle-class jobs that allow skating by, as long as people don’t get sick.” To her, “Breaking Bad” symbolizes a cultural event that captures America. I would suggest that Ms. Tufekci spend time evaluating her home country.

I have had the opportunity to visit and live in more than 70 countries worldwide, seeing the historical landmarks of the Silk Road of China to the pyramids of Egypt and from the poverty of India to the wealth of Denmark. I’ve reported on celebrations and wars in the Middle East. I’ve even lived near the place where, in 1835, French author Alexis de Tocqueville described “the exceptionalism of the United States.”

I still believe that our country is exceptional–as do many people in the countries I’ve lived in and visited. What’s most likely to change that exceptionalism is the cynicism of our elites.

Hope and baseball

Posted: August 22, 2023 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
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By Christopher Harper

Amid the news of hatred and hurricanes, the Little League World Series and its stories provide a welcome relief.

Even the Philadelphia Phillies and the Washington Nationals, who played a game during the series, reveled in the purity of the game of young players worldwide.

Held each year in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, which is 15 minutes from my home, the two-week-long championship provides many tales of hope and opportunity.

The best story this year centers on Illia Kolomoiets, a refugee from Ukraine who plays for the Czech Republic.

Until 2022, Kolomoiets and his family lived in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. When Russians invaded the country, Kolomoiets, his mother, and his older brother were part of the 6.2 million Ukrainians who became refugees.

“We evacuated in March of 2022. It was me, my mother, and my older brother. We moved with a friend in his car to help transport them over the border. The journey to Prague took 12 to 13 hours,” he said through a translator.

Now living in Prague, Kolomoiets was part of the Little League team that went undefeated in its qualification stage. Throughout the regional tournament, which took place in Kutno, Poland, at the end of July, his team dominated the competition. The team finished a perfect 5-0, defeating the United Kingdom 16-0, France 4-0, the Netherlands 18-3, Italy 4-2, and the Netherlands again in the championship round 7-6.

In Prague, the 12-year-old outfielder found an outlet in baseball, even adopting a Major League baseball team. “My favorite team is the Pittsburgh Pirates,” Kolomiets said. His favorite player, outfielder Bryan Reynolds, plays for the Pirates.

When asked what the best part of competing in the tournament was, Kolomoiets said, “Being able to face great pitching. I can experience it.”

His coach applauded Kolomoiet’s skills. “It’s Illia’s first year with me,” Arnošt Nešnal said. “I saw that he was a very fast runner who can play any position. He is very good addition for our team.”

See the interview from the Williamsport Sun-Gazette at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIcgUc1LUU4

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