Rita Panahi: Florida Governor schools other politicians on standing up to dishonest media

Feeble conservatives in this country could learn a thing or two from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who has stood up to the Leftist media with conviction.

Centre-right politicians in this country keep falling into the trap of trying to appease folks who will never support them while ignoring, or worse, alienating their base.

We’ve seen Prime Minister Scott Morrison apologise to activists despite having done nothing wrong, apologise for having a holiday with his kids and he’s committed the Coalition to ruinous net-zero policies, all in an effort to placate people who are never going to be placated.

And, among those who’ll never be happy with Mr Morrison, or any conservative politician, are the bulk of the media.

For reasons that have been explored at length the overwhelming majority of the working media tend to lean heavily Left and that presents a challenge for Centre-right politicians particularly as the lines between news and opinion are blurred and activist journalists increasingly indulge in advocacy rather than reporting the facts in an unbiased fashion.

If you want to express your opinion in the media, then you should be writing in the opinion pages; you have no right to push a partisan agenda when you’re supposed to be a new reporter but that’s precisely what happens day in, day out, and not just on the taxpayer-funded ABC and SBS. And if you think it’s bad now, you can rest assured that it can and will get worse.

Scott Morrison has been forced apologise to activists despite having done nothing wrong. Picture: Patrick Woods.

Just have a look at the state of the media in the US. With a few notable exceptions they operate as the Democrats’ unofficial propaganda arm. It’s little wonder that only one in 10 Republican voters trust the media to be fair and accurate.

Frankly, I’m surprised it’s that high when you look at the way the media behaves. This week they deliberately misrepresented a bill in Florida that seeks to protect kindergarteners to grade three children from being exposed to gender theory and transgenderism in the classroom.

The media have followed the Democrats in labelling the legislation the “Don’t Say Gay Bill” even though that is nowhere in the bill.

The legislation, which was passed this week, is not about banning the word “gay”, what it intends to do is prevent children in kindergarten through to grade three from being indoctrinated in gender identity, trans issues and sexual orientation.

To be clear we’re talking about children as young as four to seven years of age, who have no business being exposed to that content in the classroom.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has stood up to a hostile media.

It should be the most uncontroversial, common sense bill of the year but of course the misinformation campaign is painting it as some hateful, homophobic law. And, not surprisingly, Hollywood has joined the activist class and the mainstream media in attacking a strawman entirely of their own making.

But what has been pleasing is the performance of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who has not relented or tried to win over the disinformation peddlers.

Instead he has called out the dishonest reporting and unashamedly explained the merits of the bill. It’s a powerful example of a conservative politician successfully handling a hostile media that has given up any pretence of impartiality.

DeSantis shows how you win as a conservative in the modern age; not by being weak or trying to pacify your opponents but by prosecuting your case boldly. And by having the conviction to do what’s right and not just what’s easy.

The feeble conservatives in this country could learn a thing or two from the governor who is destined for the White House.