One of the Clinton’s most fierce media opponents from the 1990s, David Brock, spoke at the Clinton School of Public Service Tuesday as the repentant founder of the non-profit media watchdog Media Matters. Brock, who wrote on Troopergate and Paula Jones, described his previous role in writing for the conservative magazine The American Spectator.
“I was part of what Hillary Clinton would later call the vast right-wing conspiracy. Now, when Mrs. Clinton made that remark about the political opposition back in the late 1990s insiders scoffed but she was right,” said Brock.
Brock warned the dual factors of a mainstream media hungry for stories and conservative news outlets, backed by special interests and wealthy benefactors like the Koch Brothers, are still creating a toxic and misinformed media environment. Brock explained what he calls the current manipulation of media as he understands it.
“Successor websites to Drudge [The Drudge Report]– Brietbart.com, The Daily Caller, and The Washington Free Beacon – have as their sole goal slandering their political opponents. Their function in the media ecosystem is to launder dirt fed to them by Republican operatives and dress it up as real journalism all in the expectation that the mainstream will be goaded into following along,” said Brock.
In Little Rock for the first time in 15 years, Brock said a turning point in his career came when he was informed stories being fed to him, including Troopergate, were full of misinformation and outright fabrication from sources being paid by wealthy conservatives.
Brock said he sees the same problems today from sources like the Koch brothers and already sees some old attacks being revived by Senator Rand Paul against Hillary Clinton.
