{"id":248200,"date":"2023-12-04T11:43:27","date_gmt":"2023-12-04T16:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/z3news.com\/w\/?p=248200"},"modified":"2023-12-05T09:49:26","modified_gmt":"2023-12-05T14:49:26","slug":"the-federal-government-paid-media-outlets-to-promote-the-covid-vaccine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/z3news.com\/w\/the-federal-government-paid-media-outlets-to-promote-the-covid-vaccine\/","title":{"rendered":"The Federal Government Paid Media Outlets to Promote the Covid Vaccine"},"content":{"rendered":"
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After releasing my three-part series<\/a> earlier this year showing how multiple media outlets refused to platform dissent on the Covid vaccine, I was asked on multiple podcasts why this was the case. Ideological groupthink, fear of exacerbating institutional distrust, and financial motives were on my list of potential explanations, but I did not have concrete evidence.<\/p>\n

As I highlighted in my first piece, the responses I got from editors claiming their publication\u2019s \u201cpro-vaccine\u201d<\/a> allegiance was quite jarring. More than anything else, a publication should be \u201cpro-truth\u201d \u2014 whether that means highlighting the astounding benefits of a therapeutic or exposing its serious side effects. The idea that a whole media corporation would take a firm stance on a novel, experimental product is antithetical to the core purpose of journalism.<\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve said many times before, we are a pro-vaccination <\/strong>newspaper, and personally I just wish everyone would get vaccinated already.<\/p>\n

Editor response to Rav Arora\u2019s story proposals on vaccine risks<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As it turns out, mainstream media\u2019s nearly monolithic coverage of mRNA vaccines and other Covid measures can be at least partially explained by a clear financial interest. Recently, independent journalist Breanna Morello <\/a>\u2014 who left<\/a> Fox News because of draconian vaccine mandates in New York City \u2014 alerted me to a FOIA request filed by the conservative media company TheBlaze<\/a>, which found a number of major media outlets were paid to promote the Covid vaccine.<\/p>\n

Such venues included the Washington Post<\/em>, Los Angeles Times<\/em>, NBC, CNN, Fox News, and several others. TheBlaze\u2019s report received little coverage \u2014 even in conservative media (perhaps because some of those outlets were also paid by HHS) ideologically predisposed to criticize government-fuelled narratives on the pandemic. As The Blaze reports:<\/p>\n

Hundreds of news organizations were paid by the federal government to advertise for the vaccines as part of a \u201ccomprehensive media campaign<\/a>,\u201d according to documents TheBlaze obtained from the Department of Health and Human Services. The Biden administration purchased ads on TV, radio, in print, and on social media to build vaccine confidence, timing this effort with the increasing availability of the vaccines.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

During the vaccine rollout, the Biden administration made a number of efforts to bolster vaccination rates. The US Department of Health and Human Services\u2019 COVID-19 Public Education Campaign<\/a> states they employed \u201cboth paid advertising and media interviews, presentations, radio\/TV tours, and other public events to educate people about the importance of vaccination.\u201d<\/p>\n

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