On June 1, 2020 and afterward, corporate media didn't simply get it wrong, they flagrantly and shamelessly lied to Americans in order to hurt the president. We were treated to what at first appeared to be rare mea culpa this week as reporters read the Department of the Interior inspector general’s report on the riots and police response in Lafayette Park last summer and appeared shocked to find that the Park Police and Attorney General Bill Barr and even President Donald Trump were telling the truth when they said the crowd was going to be dispersed before police knew the president was thinking of coming down there.
It’s rare to see what looks remotely like self-reflection in our self-obsessed corporate media, so it would be nice to nod and smile and move on, but is it an acknowledgement of error — or is it even basic self-reflection — if the sin isn’t addressed all all? As in, if the problem isn’t admitted? Because on June 1, 2020 (and what followed), corporate media didn’t simply get it wrong, they flagrantly and shamelessly lied to Americans in order to hurt the president.
But first, a quick montage of the coverage.
Not all of these anchors or reporters were in Washington (and a lot of them didn’t think it safe to travel in June unless you were going to a protest or a riot or one of George Floyd’s funerals), but many were in D.C., and all have correspondents in the city. That’s important, because to get in front of the cameras at the White..........
