For The Takeaway on this week’s episode of “Get Real,” RealClearPolitics publisher and host David DesRosiers expounded on the importance of a free press and free speech in holding those in power accountable. DesRosiers highlights the challenges faced by journalists and media outlets that pursue controversial stories and challenge powerful institutions. He points to figures such as Christopher Rufo, James O’Keefe, and Nick Shirley as examples of journalists undertaking projects of courage and consequence. According to DesRosiers, more reporters willing to pursue consequential investigations are needed to expose government waste, uncover fraud, and shine a light on policies that affect Americans’ daily lives.

DAVID DESROSIERS: I think light’s the greatest antiseptic. This experiment of ours runs on free minds, free mouths, free keyboards and rolling cameras. The First Amendment exists to draw a line that government can’t cross, although it seems like it can’t help itself and it’s always crossing it. The first exists not just to protect us, but to protect the free press who hold the government to account. Sadly, the press believes in free speech for them, but not for all outlets and particularly not for the independents like Chris Rufo and James O’Keefe and everybody’s favorite new kid on the block, Nick Shirley. All one man demonstrations projects and in Madeline’s case, one woman demonstration project of the mix of courage, aptitude and consequence. A measure of impact of a story and a journalist is how their undeniable stories are denied, how their methods are questioned by the journalistic establishment who carried the pollution and before it was exposed and ignores it after it and defends it by questioning the motives of the person who is writing a story. Chris Rufo is at the top of the show and he gave it at the top of our show. He gave a recipe for him. We need more Chris Rufo’s. His recipe of consequential reporting allows for multiple expressions. There are not enough bad. There are enough bad policies. I would I should take that back. And there’s enough waste, fraud and abuse out there for a platoon of Rufo’s, O’Keefe’s and Shirley’s. If you’re hearing this call to action, study the playbook and go there and get real. Let the cloning begin.
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