Who can you trust?: Part III

Time for a follow-up to this original post.

I’m only hotlinking this time because of recent developments and to, hopefully, help “the writer” see the error of his ways.

First, let’s revisit this erroneous post. It’s bad enough “the writer” based this article on rumors and not a lot of facts. At least he called the rumors as search. It would be nice of “the writer” to include actual ratings data in the story.

To the best of my knowledge, “the writer” never corrected this misstatement from late August of 2022: “If NBC puts Guthrie on MTP, it gives the show a female host, which would be a first.” In the months since, I’ve googled his website domain and the proper noun Martha Rountree. As noted before, Rountree was not only the first female host of “Meet the Press”; she was the first MTP moderator. Nothing turns up in the Google searches of “the writer’s” domain address and Martha Rountree. Thus it’s concluded his website issued no public retraction — and that’s a shame.

Fast forward to this weekend. On the June 4th, 2023, edition of “Meet the Press”, Chuck Todd announced he was leaving the program but staying with NBC. While Todd is not immediately leaving MTP, his eventual successor will be Kristen Welker, who will become the second female moderator in MTP history — not counting any interim or substitute female moderators.

So — how does “the writer” report this? Well, for starters, dare I say, he buried the lede. The top story is unrelated bait to his Patreon (less said the better, apparently) — followed by some nonsense in Houston, some online cruelty on the Mississippi coast, modern-day letters to the editor, a meteorologist’s relocation from Buffalo to the aforementioned Houston, a typo out of Nashville, “raucous cheering for winning an Emmy for coverage of a mass shooting” (words from “the writer”, not me), and the story of a young news network dropping the ball on coverage of a separate mass shooting. All of this is more important than the upcoming end of the Chuck Todd era at MTP? Really?

In any event, we finally get to the Todd story. I’ll give “the writer” points for the punny headline. But I also have to give the writer deductions for burying the lede and not correcting the major mistake from late August of 2022. Would it kill “the writer” to write something like this?

“As this website continues to hold the world of journalism accountable, accountability is a two-way street.

In late August of 2022, this website published the following erroneous statement. ‘If NBC puts Guthrie on MTP, it gives the show a female host, which would be a first.’ This website has since been proven wrong on more than one count.

Obviously, Savannah Guthrie is staying put at the weekday ‘Today’ show while Welker moves on from weekend ‘Today’ to ‘Meet the Press’. Moreover, this website has since realized Welker will become the second female moderator in the long and storied history of ‘Meet the Press’.

Martha Rountree was not only the first female moderator in ‘Meet the Press’ history but also a creator of the program, which debuted in 1947 on the NBC television network. Rountree, who served as moderator of ‘Meet the Press’ for its first six years on NBC, died in 1999 at the age of 87.

This website deeply regrets the errors and apologizes to the staffs of ‘Today’ and ‘Meet the Press’. This website also apologizes to the family of Martha Rountree.

This website owes you, the reader, an apology. All of you deserve better. The strive for better starts now.”

Now, will we get this kind of an apology from “the writer”? A typo out of Nashville and a weather anchor’s relocation from one market to another seem more important in “the writer’s” world than anything related to MTP. So, I’m not going to hold my breath on this one.

ADDENDUM 06/06/23: To be fair, “the writer” was on his job the day Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon were dismissed from Fox News and CNN, respectively. He provided breaking coverage and followed up with more coverage in the aftermath. Noticeably, that hasn’t happened since news broke Todd is leaving.

ADDENDUM 06/07/23: Presented without further editorial comment.

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