Biased: Great Falls Tribune Hires Liberal Activist As Local ‘Watchdog’
If you missed Great Falls Tribune editor Grady Higgins’ piece from a couple of weeks ago, chances are you might not have known that the Trib recently added a “Government Watchdog reporter,” Nicole Girten, to its ranks.
And if you didn’t take the time to scroll through the many, many things (7,400+) Girten has liked on Twitter, you almost certainly wouldn’t have known that Girten is a deeply partisan activist, one whose “likes” flow in universal support of one party along with total condemnation of the other.
We took the time to highlight some of the most telling examples, just from 2021. Again, all of the forthcoming are tweets “liked” by Girten.
Curious to know how Girten felt about the results of the Georgia runoffs?
Who, according to Girten, was responsible for the Capitol riot on January 6? White supremacists, that’s who.
One wonders if Girten will crusade against “disinformation,” as other left-wing journalists purport to do. If this tweet is any indication, she will do precisely the opposite. Here, Girten endorses a false claim by Abby Philip, a CNN provocateur. Philip baselessly accused Republicans of being the only party, save for 1876, that attempted to “invalidate election the results [sic] of multiple states in order to tip the election from one candidate to another.”
Not only is Phillip’s claim untrue (even Newsweek fact-checked this bogus talking point), but in the wake of the last presidential election, more Democrats in 2017 contested the results of more states than Republicans did this year:
- Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) objected to Alabama’s votes.
- Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) objected to Florida’s votes.
- Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) objected to Georgia’s votes.
- Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) objected to North Carolina’s votes.
- Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) objected to the votes from North Carolina in addition to votes from South Carolina and Wisconsin. She also stood up and objected citing “massive voter suppression” after Mississippi’s votes were announced.
- Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) brought up allegations of Russian interference in the election and malfunctioning voting machines when she objected following the announcement of Michigan’s votes.
- Maxine Waters (D-Calif) rose and said, “I do not wish to debate. I wish to ask ‘Is there one United States senator who will join me in this letter of objection?'” after the announcement of Wyoming’s votes.
A objective journalist would correct such a misleading tweet, not endorse it like Girten did. For the Tribune’s “Government Watchdog,” though, facts simply do not appear to matter. What matters to Girten is fealty to the brand and riding for the Democrat Party.
Witness also Girten’s obligatory pile-on of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Democrats and the media are terrified of DeSantis as a 2024 presidential hopeful and have worked relentlessly to damage him politically, despite his largely successful handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
How does Girten feel about free expression, something journalists used to care about? Look no further.
And where did Girten stand on impeachment? She supported it, naturally.
But all of those examples pre-dated the Biden Administration.
Now, surely Girten — an “objective journalist” — would never express support for or opposition to any specific policy, would she?
(Of course she would, and she did.)
On and on it goes like this.
It is typical of many journalists today to offer caveats for their social media activity, the most common of which is, “RT ≠ endorsements.”
Girten does not offer any such caveat on her Twitter profile (though she does list her pronouns), and she has taken the extra step, repeatedly, of proactively liking content that elevates Democrats and punishes Republicans.
Girten is free to play for any “team” she wants, just like the rest of us. She will, per Higgins’ recent missive, serve as the local “Government Watchdog.”
But given all of the above, does anyone really expect Girten to dispassionately call balls and strikes?
“Witness also Girten’s obligatory pile-on of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Democrats and the media are terrified of DeSantis as a 2024 presidential hopeful and have worked relentlessly to damage him politically, despite his largely successful handling of the coronavirus pandemic.”
You may want to revisit this. There’s plenty of room for improvement in the FL vaccination effort. The folks in the ground are doing good work, but the state needs to refocus their effort.