The Watchdog with David Bozell

The New York Times remains America’s No. 1 news site, with roughly 394 million views last month. That reach isn’t entirely organic. Wordle packs the games page, and Apple News, Google News, and MSN routinely elevate Times stories. Still, 394 million is 394 million.

On Sunday, that reach powered the Times’ front-page news analysis piece, “How Trump Is Wielding Power to Stifle Speech.” I discussed it on SiriusXM with David Webb because the attack on President Trump is a perfect example of how legacy media operate.

Think about the irony: The Times published 14 pages that read like an editorial, calling Trump’s conduct “deeply un-American,” accusing his administration of threatening “all manner of press freedom,” and loading the piece with talk of “personal pique,” “loyalists,” and agencies “bent to the president’s will.” If Trump were truly stifling free speech, the Times couldn’t spend 14 pages attacking him… freely.

The piece touches on ABC but doesn't address the substance. ABC’s broadcast licenses are up for renewal, and it’s trying to classify The View as a “bona fide news program” to dodge equal‑time rules. Brendan Carr has a duty to enforce the public‑interest standard, and it’s hard to argue that standard is met when the cackling bunch tells Americans to “go vote Democrat,” or when Jimmy Kimmel jokes that hospitals should refuse care to the unvaccinated. Former FCC commissioners may have looked the other way, but Carr is doing his job.

Then the Times complains about federal agencies probing NewsGuard, calling it part of an effort to “stifle speech.” In reality, the FTC investigated whether ad firms were using NewsGuard ratings to steer money from conservative outlets, eventually reaching a consent decree before closing the case. MRC research has documented NewsGuard’s left-leaning ratings system.

The Times contacted MRC. We gave them the history they didn’t want: FTC and FCC actions corrected abuses under the previous two Democratic administrations. “Please, let’s not forget history and rewrite everything that went on before.”

And then there’s Biden. MRC researchers documented 57 censorship initiatives tied to his administration, including pressure on social-media companies and the proposed dystopian Disinformation Governance Board. Somehow, that never produced a 3,000-word Times sermon on free speech.

The media are so militantly devoted to taking down all things conservative that they can’t see the forest for the trees. Instead of competing, they churn out bloated pieces claiming Trump threatens their free‑speech rights — while publishing 14 pages of the very thing they insist is being suppressed.

It reads like satire, but it’s not. Only the absurdity is real. 

Take it easy,David Bozell
President