Ben Shapiro maintains that media figures have an obligation to report verifiable facts and that spreading misinformation under the guise of entertainment is deeply unethical and damaging to society.

“Stop pretending that you're subscribing to ideological pornography just because it's entertaining. It's soul destroying. Not just for Erica Kirk or her children or the people at TPUSA, but for you and then for the country.”

High-profile media scandals involving deceptive practices at organizations like the BBC confirm public distrust in the media.

“truly we can't trust any media. You know, fake news I think started over here during the 2015 2016 campaign where Donald Trump would stand up during his campaign events and say you can't trust the media and here's the BBC swooping in to confirm that narrative that he started over a decade ago.”

Journalists fail their duty by treating facts as matters of opinion with two valid sides.

“And like you said, what drives me the craziest and I've had it too is acting like facts have two sides. Facts are just what they are. They don't have two sides.”

Journalists have a responsibility to disclose all relevant facts about a story to the public rather than withholding information out of concern for how it might be perceived.

“As a journalist, our job is to put the facts out that we have, and then let the public decide whether or not those are relevant.”

Legacy media outlets like the New York Times and Washington Post remain reliable, fact-based sources of information compared to other non-traditional outlets.

“when you see a story in the Wall Street Journal, I mean to say that now, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and so on, you can almost always trust those reporters.”

Mainstream media outlets like CNN are hypocritically attempting to adopt a podcasting aesthetic to regain relevance because they are losing their audience to independent media.

“They are trying to look like us, but they don't. I mean, Anderson Cooper never expresses an opinion worth listening to anyway. But that's why people turn to us.”

Dave Rubin believes that modern late-night shows have devolved into hyper-partisan, news-like programs that prioritize bias over humor and truth.

“It's like we've been reduced to this partisan drivel at night where we once had the king of late night, Johnny Carson, who it was a little bit of poking at everybody, but it wasn't really political, and it was actually funny, which was quite groundbreaking at the time.”

Mainstream news outlets consistently promote pro-war propaganda to serve the interests of the military-industrial complex and financial elites.

“The news is always pro-war because they serve Zionism and the military-industrial complex and the banks.”

Mainstream legacy news media has lost its credibility due to biased reporting and an insulated ideological bubble.

“this is why the mainstream legacy news media has completely clowned itself and nobody trusts it anymore because they're run by crazy people. They're run by people that live in a bubble”

Mainstream media serves to protect powerful interests and promote propaganda rather than providing objective reporting.

“Television, cable news is a brainwashing machine. New York Times, Washington Post gladly participate in the same propaganda.”

Media companies often fail to take accountability for facilitating threats, harassment, and the spread of disinformation.

“I have to say I find the internet host companies not particularly well engaged on this. When when things appear sort of like I think that guy should be dead. I would take that as a threat. Others would take it as a comment.”

Media outlets acted unethically by broadcasting a hostage situation as entertainment, which allowed the perpetrator to monitor police tactics and put the hostages in greater danger.

“it was not only being broadcast as entertainment, but being consumed as entertainment, positioning him as just this very passionate guy, and the girl is playing hard to get. It's a they're in love, they're going to come out of this. Okay, it was so gross.”

Tom criticizes the lack of transparency from TMZ and suggests their failure to address the controversy has destroyed their credibility.

“And until they come to the microphone, TMZ now means truth missing zone.”

Mainstream media outlets like the New York Times exhibit a cartoonish understanding of extremism by attempting to tie unrelated public figures to the actions of terrorists.

“I think you're right, reflects this very uh legacy media, corporate media, cartoonish understanding of how extremism works.”

The reluctance of mainstream political parties to tackle child sexual abuse stems from fears of being associated with right-wing populist weaponization of the issue.

“A lot of the mainstream parties hear the word child sex abuse and get worried. get worried this is about populism or nationalism. Whereas actually what they should be doing is the opposite.”