Shepard Smith re-emerged on the pubic stage last night where he took some veiled shots at Donald Trump and, possibly, Fox News – then pledged $500,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
According to The New York Times, Smith’s appearance at the event was arranged before he abruptly resigned from Fox News last month. The Times also reported that Fox News was a “main sponsor” of the event, that several of the network’s journalists were in attendance and that Smith made no comments about his time at Fox.
But Smith’s allusions to Trump could just as well have been aimed at his Fox News cohorts. From The Washington Post:
“Nations are becoming far less tolerant of an independent press,” Smith said. “Sure, journalists continue to be murdered or thrown in prison when they speak out, but governments have learned other, less crude, techniques to censor and stifle our work.”
…
“Our belief a decade ago that the online revolution would liberate us now seems a bit premature, doesn’t it?” he said with a smile. “Autocrats have learned how to use those same online tools to shore up their power. They flood the world of information with garbage and lies masquerading as news. There’s a phrase for that.”
Smith briefly paused, delivering a pointed look, which drew laughter from the audience.
Smith knows first-hand about garbage and lies masquerading as news and he fought a losing battle against them at Fox. He was also repeatedly targeted by Trump for reporting that displeased him.
Smith got a standing ovation after he announced his donation.
Watch an excerpt of Smith's remarks below, via The Washington Post.
(H/T reader Eric Jefferson)
Correction: This headline originally stated that Smith said garbage and lies were masquerading as "truth."
But I do find it interesting that angry Right Wingers feel they must sling the insults and labelling. One would think that Mr. White feels emboldened by the comments of Pence’s childish spokesman to just let that inner hater fly.
Napolitano has my respect for the same reason, of late at any rate, but I still cannot extend that forgiveness to the likes of Cavuto and Wallace. Although they are both well past any possibility of future employment anywhere else, their occasional timid forays into criticise-Dear-Leader territory are nothing but evidence that they find the absolute excesses of Hannity/Tucker/Ingraham/Pirro too embarrassing to be personally associated with. Far from excusing them, such selective disdain is actually evidence of their damnable complicity in the whole disgusting enterprise.
It’s a sad moment to watch Smith and Cameron and the others trying desperately to regain their credibility. Nobody forced them to take the money from Fox News. Nobody forced them to stay there. They CHOSE to do so. So now they must live with the consequences.
I’m sure that Smith is a decent man, and he’ll have a very well-funded retirement. He may even get hired at another outlet once his non-compete expires. But he’ll always have that cloud hanging over his head, no matter where he goes.
