‘Disillusioned’ CBS News Reporter Who Quit Amid Shakeup Resurfaces at Anti-Trump Outlet, Claims He’s ‘Not an Opinionist’

A television reporter who resigned from CBS News amid reports he was “disillusioned” by what he viewed as its new management’s lack of ethics is facing widespread mockery after he announced he has joined MeidasTouch, the far left news operation that started as an anti-Trump political action community.Scott MacFarlane, who was CBS News’ justice correspondent, took thinly veiled jabs at CBS News in his announcement on Monday, even while insisting he is not an “opinionist.”Mr. MacFarlane announced his departure from CBS News roughly two weeks ago, saying that he was looking for “some independence” in whatever his next job was. A far-left media journalist, Oliver Darcy, reported in his Status newsletter that Mr. MacFarlane was frustrated with the network’s executives and their efforts to be more fair to President Trump, and specifically was “appalled” at how the new “CBS Evening News” covered the fifth anniversary of January 6, which he viewed as unethical “both sideism.” Mr. MacFarlane aggressively covered January 6 for CBS, calling the incident an “insurrection” and “assault on the Capitol.” On Monday, Mr. MacFarlane said in a video on X, “I have news to share, and it’s good news. I have a new platform for my independent, unfiltered reporting: Effective immediately, I’m chief Washington correspondent for the MeidasTouch Network.”He said he shares the network’s “North Star” when it comes to journalism, which he claimed was, “When you have news to break, or something important to share, just get to it. Straight to the point. As soon as you open the camera and open the microphone, simply, declaratively, and conversationally explain what’s happening and what it means. Put aside the production theater and the useless bells and whistles.”Mr. MacFarlane appeared to be drawing a contrast between his values and those of his former employer. The new chief executive of CBS’ parent company, Paramount, David Ellison, has said that he wants to make the network into one that both Democrats and Republicans feel they can watch.As part of the effort to address complaints of a longstanding left-wing bias, executives overhauled the “CBS Evening News,” elevating a morning show co-host, Tony Dokoupil, to the anchor chair. When the new format launched, Mr. Dokoupil vowed to focus less on the perspectives of academics and activists and more on those of average Americans.Mr. MacFarlane, in his statement on Monday, said that he is “not an opinionist” or an “editorialist,” but he agrees with MeidasTouch that “you don’t platform lies, you don’t platform conspiracy theories, and you don’t allow for the whitewashing of history.”That language appeared to be a jab at CBS News’s recent coverage of January 6 by Mr. Dokoupil. Mr. Darcy wrote that Mr. MacFarlane was particularly frustrated by Mr. Dokoupil dedicating just 16 seconds to the anniversary of the January 6 riot. During the segment, which left-wing commentators said “whitewashed” the riot, Mr. Dokoupil said, “President Trump today accused Democrats of failing to prevent the attack on the Capitol, while House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries accused the president of, quote, ‘whitewashing.’” Mr. MacFarlane’s jump to MeidasTouch has led to mockery due to his assertion that he is not an opinion journalist and subtle complaints about the changes at CBS News by users who noted that MeidasTouch was started in 2020 as a left-wing PAC staunchly opposed to Mr. Trump.A conservative commentator, Mike Cote, wrote on X, “This is why nobody on the political right buys the ‘legacy media is unbiased’ claptrap. When a longtime CBS reporter gets a new job with a Resistance slop clickbait farm in less than 2 weeks, the truth is pretty damn obvious.”“‘I’m disillusioned with the editorial direction that Bari Weiss is taking CBS News so I’ve decided to go work for progressive liberal political action committee instead,’” quipped a conservative commentator, Stephen Miller. A Fox News contributor, Joe Concha, wrote, “In which Scott will also reveal himself to be as much a partisan as Lemon, Acosta, Chuck Todd, Terry Moran and Katie Couric… to name a few. He’s joining the MeidasTouch – the most far-left ‘news organization’ in the country that literally ran a protest during the Trump SOTU.”Some commentators, such as a CBS News legal analyst, Rikki Klieman, celebrated the decision. Ms. Klieman wrote on X, “This is precisely why I loved working with the intrepid and talented@MacFarlaneNews.”The stories on MeidasTouch’s home page, going back to March 9, are only critical of Mr. Trump and Republicans. On March 9, the outlet published an article about a Florida Democrat, Emily Gregory, who is hoping to flip a Republican-held House seat. The sympathetic article, listed as “news,” says Ms. Gregory is a “small business owner who runs a fitness center for postpartum moms, a military spouse, and a mother of three boys who has never before run for office, yet her common sense approach to politics has earned her wide endorsements and high poll numbers.”“Emily Gregory is a political outsider who is standing up to the Florida Republican machine in Donald Trump’s own neighborhood with a message of common sense solutions and a push back on extremism and inept MAGA leadership,” it adds. Mr. MacFarlane’s departure from CBS News came shortly before executives at the Tiffany Network announced another round of layoffs, which included the shuttering of the nearly 100-year-old CBS News Radio, where he was regularly heard.

‘Disillusioned’ CBS News Reporter Who Quit Amid Shakeup Resurfaces at Anti-Trump Outlet, Claims He’s ‘Not an Opinionist’

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