(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) Reporter Michael Shellenberger left political commentator Tucker Carlson in stitches Monday with his critique of “goodie two-shoes” journalists in the modern-day media.
Shellenberger told Carlson that because today’s journalists refrain from being bold and brash, “this is the golden age of journalism.”
“Basically. I can go into every story and you discover that people aren’t really doing reporting,” he said.
Carlson listened attentively as Shellenberger recalled visiting the Berkeley residence of David DePape, who attacked former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, with a hammer. Shellenberger said many journalists were standing outside of the property, but they were all hesitant to move forward and seek out the story.
Michael Shellenberger may be the best reporter in America. Here’s what he’s learned about the fires in Los Angeles — and about UFOs.
(0:00) How Many Fires Are There? Where Did They Come From?
(3:03) Are Meth Heads Lighting the Fires?
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(34:44) Leftists… pic.twitter.com/CeY1e3sWKm— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) January 14, 2025
“I show up, and I’m like, I’m just happy to be there. And there’s all these journalists there. There’s like a bunch, like local TV news and local print paper,” Shellenberger said, mentioning DePape’s Black Lives Matter flag and the abandoned school bus in the “terrible environment.”
Shellenberger, who was initially worried that he arrived late, revealed that many journalists were just standing there because they “didn’t want to be like, rude or something.”
“At that moment I was like, ‘Oh God, this is gonna be great,’” he told Carlson, who burst out laughing.
Shellenberger said he knocked on all of the neighbors’ doors and got the story, which differed from the initial mainstream narrative that DePape was a right-wing extremist.
He found that DePape was actually a leftist spurned to violence by drugs and homelessness.
I am the first reporter to get to the bottom of the story, which has far more to do with drugs, homelessness, and pedophilia than QAnon, anti-Semitism, and January 6.
Please visit Substack to read the article in its entirety.https://t.co/qfs5zHokni
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) October 29, 2022
There is “no competition” in journalism, Shellenberger said, adding that today’s journalists are “not really journalists.”
“They’re more like kind of the people who would run for class president or something. They’re kind of goodie two-shoes types,” Shellenberger said, prompting Carlson to call young journalists “ass-kissers.”
Gone are the days of the “cantankerous and crabby” journalists, the reporter told Carlson. He emphasized that today’s reporters are “running cover” for politicians by referencing a meme about how the media became a mouthpiece for the government.
The problem with this meme is not that it is true (it is) but that so few in journalism, whose trade is necessary, seem to want to correct this malady, ie speaking few truths to those in power and instead just shouting at the powerless pic.twitter.com/WomXK5z8oQ
— Gray Connolly (@GrayConnolly) April 7, 2022
“It’s amazing, you know,” Shellenberger said. “It used to be that the reporter would like be holding the microphone up to the politicians and be like, ‘Answer my question.’ And now they’re like, demanding that the people defend themselves for their terrible votes, you know? It’s like a complete reversal!”
Carlson laughed and called the new crop of journalists “the pretorian guard” for politicians.
Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and the American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.