Today, I'll be on your TV screens for a full hour of The Mark Steyn Show on GB News. The show airs at 8pm British Summer Time, which is 3pm North American Eastern for any US and Canadian viewers minded to tune in. (You may find the replay more convenient: that airs at 9pm Eastern/6pm Pacific.) Once Big Ben strikes eight, you can shoot me your comments on the show at [email protected] or via Twitter, and I'll respond live on air.
My guiding philosophy is that even on a news show one should try to talk about stuff that's still going to matter in six weeks' or even six years' time, as opposed to the hamster wheel of the so-called "news cycle". So one thing we won't be discussing is the US media kerfuffle over the wife of a Supreme Court justice recommending to Trump's chief of staff that he listen to Limbaugh, Steyn and Bongino. Nevertheless, Poynter, the media "ethics" website, is much exercised over it:
So how is this a media story? The right-wing media has helped push lies about the 2020 election, and Ginni Thomas was clearly influenced by such media. In one of her texts to Meadows, she wrote, "Listen to Rush. Mark Steyn, Bongino, Cleta" — appearing to refer to conservative commentators Rush Limbaugh, Mark Steyn and Dan Bongino.
CNN's Oliver Darcy boiled down the seriousness of this, saying, "Either Clarence Thomas believes the stuff that Ginni Thomas, his wife, is pushing or he, her husband, can't actually get through to her and tell her that these are lies being pushed by right-wing media organizations and are not true."
I love the assumptions behind supposedly "impartial" media coverage. Back when I was in Fleet Street, the general understanding was that you couldn't brand someone a "liar" without providing evidence of at least one lie. But that evidently doesn't apply to the likes of Oliver Darcy and Poynter's Tom Jones. "The right-wing media has helped push lies ...and Ginni Thomas was clearly influenced": what "lie", precisely, did I push? These are childish, emotive terms, yet the paragons of "impartial" "ethical" journalism bandy them with glee.
And yet again one notes the desperation of the left: I was never more than an obscure Canadian guest-host in American media, and, bored by the narrowness of permitted discourse (in part thanks to gatekeepers like Messrs Darcy and Jones), I walked away from US telly and radio a year ago. Ginni's recommendations testify to the opposite of what American media purport to be so agitated about: That the trio of notorious "American right-wing" lie-pushers boil down to a dead man, a foreigner and Dan Bongino reveal only how passive and controlled most US TV and radio is.
So I'm not sure what's on the rundown for tonight in London, but it won't be media-ethics vapours. You can watch from anywhere on the planet on the GB News home page - or you can click the livestream here (you may have to refresh the page):
~We had a busy weekend at SteynOnline, starting with our latest Clubland Q&A, which dealt mostly with pessimistic questions on the American scene. Rick McGinnis's weekly film date was Jules Dassin's picture Thieves' Highway, and our Sunday song selection tried to remember it was Oscar night. Our marquee production was the special monthly edition of The Hundred Years Ago Show. If you were too busy calling for a Congressional investigation into sinister Canadian guest-hosts' hold over the US Supreme Court, we hope you'll want to check out one or three of the foregoing as a new week begins.
Clubland Q&A and The Hundred Years Ago Show are special productions for The Mark Steyn Club. Membership in the Steyn Club comes with some unique benefits, including:
~Our nightly audio adventure Tales for Our Time;
~Exclusive Steyn Store member pricing on over 40 books, mugs, T-shirts, and other products;
~The opportunity to engage in live Clubland Q&A sessions with yours truly, such as Friday's;
~Transcript and audio versions of The Mark Steyn Show and other video content;
~My ongoing series of video poetry and other weekend specials;
~Advance booking for my live appearances around the world, assuming such things are ever again lawful;
~Customized email alerts for new content in your areas of interest;
~and the chance to support our print, audio and video ventures as they wing their way around the planet.
See you on the telly tonight - and then back here for your comments on the show.