The reason this blog is called “NewsHounds” is because when it launched, the original plan was to branch out and include the rest of the media. Many years later, I have decided to do exactly that. First up: What the corporate media didn't report about Susie Wiles when she was named as Trump's next chief of staff.
I’ve been thinking about this for a while. Frankly, I am burned out watching and writing about Fox News. But with The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times suddenly declining, at the last minute, to endorse Kamala Harris for president and The New York Times’ sanewashing Donald Trump, I started worrying about how these institutions would withstand the firestorm to come.
Then, over the weekend, I wrote a post for Crooks and Liars, where I am a contributor, about Trump naming Susie Wiles as his next chief of staff. I planned merely to write about her disturbing role in the Mar-a-Lago stolen classified documents case. But as I looked around for an image of her to use for the post, I came across an NBC News YouTube video called, “Who is Susie Wiles, Trump’s White House Chief of Staff pick?” The “liberal media” report was full of praise for her. But there was no mention in the nearly seven-minute report about the fact that she was identified by ABC News as the person in the special counsel’s indictment who was inappropriately shown classified material. Not only was that not a problem for her with Trump’s candidacy but the only problem she seemed to have was whether or not a co-defendant would remain loyal. Nor, as I mentioned in my post, was there any mention of her work as a tobacco lobbyist while running Trump’s 2024 campaign.
I looked around at other news videos about Wiles’ appointment and saw none of that information there, either.
A CBS News report called, “What to know about Susie Wiles, Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff” didn’t mention those important details. Nor did Politico’s “5 things you need to know about Susie Wiles.” Ditto for CNN’s “Trump’s new chief of staff is an unassuming figure in his brash inner circle. She’s also one of its most effective operators.”
Even ABC News, the outlet that identified Wiles as the woman without a security clearance to whom Trump showed the classified material and said he "should not be showing" to her, didn’t mention that detail in its report on her chief of staff appointment.
I have a feeling there will be a lot of this in the reporting in the coming days, especially during what will be Trump’s “honeymoon” period. So I feel it’s at least as important to document this as the latest bit of Fox News propaganda and deceit. In fact I have more to report, probably for tomorrow, from yesterday's Meet the Press.
This is not to say I will stop watching or writing about Fox. Brian likes to watch Neil Cavuto and I hope he will continue to do so. My TV changes channels automatically because of all the shows I record. So I often see snatches of Fox that look postworthy when I’m doing something else in my living room. I just can’t make a habit of watching it or trying to keep up with it. Besides, there are lots of other sites that can monitor more fully that I can pick and choose from.
We all know we are in for some very dark and bumpy times. We all need to practice self-care to get through the next four (or more) years. This is the start of mine.
Photo By: Kaboompics.com via Pexels:
Other places that report on Fox News are Mediate. I’m not a huge fan but they cover a lot. I think Decoding Fox News only does substack, social media and a podcast but she’s good. I’m also a fan of Oliver Darcy but he now has a substack and most of the good info is behind a paywall. I’d subscribe but it’s over my budget at the moment.
Brian Stelter’s Reliable Sources newsletter is back. It’s not just about Fox but I think he is a good reporter on Fox. Plus, it’s free (so far). You can sign up here https://www.cnn.com/newsletters/reliable-sources?source=nl-acq_email-forward_reliablesources&utm_source=nl-acq_email-forward_reliablesources&utm_source=cnn_Reliable+Sources+%E2%80%93+Nov.13%2C2024&utm_medium=email&bt_ee=2R5fWKJhRwRonVwsLErIJyL%2FEIYZVSpv0sxzX%2BH%2FquO0vJ%2FhHE38OAvYt8c1zEfd&bt_ts=1731506139122
Hope that helps! But I hope more that you’ll stick around. I always appreciate your comments.
Aside from Crooks & Liars and Media Matters, what other sites monitor Fox more fully?
You’re right: at least one of the 2 elements in Susie Wiles’ background that you cite should have been mentioned by the MSM even though in my view they are more guilt-by-association than headline, scandalous material. In the case of the classified material improperly shown to Wiles, the fault seems to essentially lie with whoever showed her the material rather than with her.
It is reasonable to hope that the consequences of a couple years of full-strength Trumpism will be obvious enough and negative enough—even through the veil of flawed media—to drive a mid-term election reversal even greater than happened in 2006. I witnessed a Trump supporter speculate on this in an interview with Joe Walsh.
Scooter: To put it mildly, not all corporations and billionaires are equally bad just as unions are not all equally good, so making sweeping statements about them, I would argue, is not that helpful.
