Original Sin How About Original Spin? WOW!!! There are no words- Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson you had one job!! In a time when 64% of Americans report having "not very much" or "no trust at all" in the media according to the Pew Research Center. You two so-called “journalists” and the media outlets that pay you, put the cherry on the sundae. Collectively you all chose to sit on critical information about the unraveling of American democracy until it could be packaged, bound, and sold at Barnes & Noble.
Tapper and Thompson were first on the scene of the robbery, they filmed it in 4k, yet instead of calling 911, they phoned their agents to get a book deal. In the opinion of this perilous pair, the sections of the Journalist’s Creed dealing with Ethical Conduct and Public Service are elective. Posthaste, The Dartmouth Club of Washington should ask for the return of its Daniel Webster Award for Distinguished Public Service given to Tapper in 2017. A mere 8 years later that commendation is laughable. Thompson’s White House Correspondents’ Association’s Aldo Beckman Award for Overall Excellence in White House Coverage -trash. Tapper was also awarded the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Political Journalism. Presently, Walter Cronkite is spinning so fast we could use him as a sustainable energy source. Mr. Cronkite reported the truth when it mattered, not when the pre-order links were ready. Cronkite told the public the Vietnam War was a disaster as the information came in, not after his documentary deal was inked. He informed the public in real time. It was his job. That is the job. Regardless of what you do. You should be voted off the journalist island.
Now? We have glorified stenographers with press badges calling themselves journalists while using public peril as a teaser for their next media rollout.
Do not think for a moment I am letting their outlets off the hook. CNN and Axios, who by all accounts cosigned this nonsense, have become complicit in this media malpractice. They didn’t just allow it, they platformed it. CNN, forever chasing "both sides" like a dog chasing its tail, aired the book’s juiciest bits with the urgency of a breaking scandal—except it wasn’t breaking.
It was withheld. Intentionally. For months. Axios, the Silicon Valley of news outlets—buzzwordy, slick, and hollow—ran with excerpts like it was journalism rather than a post-facto ad campaign.
We, the viewing public were denied timely facts in the name of book sales. Instead of “breaking news.” We got “Chapter 8: The Part Where Democracy Almost Dies.” This bunch did not provide the information needed at a critical juncture. Their homework was submitted after the due date and the final exam turned in after the semester was over. And now they want credit? F’s all around.
What we needed were real-time watchdogs. What we got were part-time historians with book agents. This is not reporting—it’s retroactive relevance, and it’s killing public trust.
