Reporter on Hot Mic Admits Job is to Make DeSantis ‘Uncomfortable’, DeSantis Team Claps Back Big Time
A local Florida reporter was caught on a hot mic saying that herĀ job was to make Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ‘uncomfortable.’
During a live stream of a press conference in Jacksonville, where DeSantis spoke, First Coast News reporter Atyia Collins from First Coast News was heard talking with someone and revealing her true purpose at the event and, presumably, in general.
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“No, my job is to ask the tough questions and make him uncomfortable I guess.”
But asking “tough questions” wasn’t Collins’s only mandate. Later in the conversation, Collins referenced her web manager urging her to “just run up to him”Ā and “just yell questions at him.” This approach is something Collins did not think would work. However, even if it did;t get answers, it would likely achieve the goal of making the Governor “uncomfortable.”
Collins also noted that DeSantis “.. already doesn’t like the media.”
DeSantis’s team was quick to fire back. Rapid Response Director Christina Pushaw explained why creating discomfort should never be the primary goal of journalism.
Jacksonville media activists caught on hot mic:
– Whining about "how much we have to work"
– Whining about public comment at city council meetings
– "my job is to make [Gov. DeSantis] uncomfortable"
– "my web manager said to just run up to him off stage and yell questions" https://t.co/LDnz9V7C1c— Christina Pushaw š šŗšø (@ChristinaPushaw) February 14, 2023
A journalist's job is to tell the truth. Of course, speaking truth to power can make the powerful uncomfortable, but "discomfort" shouldn't be the goal — the goal should be revealing the truth
Pushing biased narratives with the express goal to create discomfort isn't journalism
— Christina Pushaw š šŗšø (@ChristinaPushaw) February 15, 2023
After speaking, DeSantis responded to the reporter’s questions about state policy on materials provided to children in school, specifically referencing empty bookshelves in Duval County. DeSantis called the line of questioning a “fake narrative.”
“This is trying to create some narrative as if that ā they hadn’t even put the books out yet to begin with, so there’s no need for all of that stuff. What they’re trying to do is they’re trying to act like somehow, you know, we don’t want books.”
To counter the narrative, DeSantis dug deeper into the details of the actual policies he was enforcing.
“Now there is longstanding Florida law that prohibits an adult from giving a school child pornography. But don’t we think that inappropriate to do, but that’s been the law for a long time. So when they start chirping about that, understand they’re talking about longstanding Florida law that’s trying to protect young children. So I think they’re trying to do things to virtue signal, I think it’s all politically motivated….”
DeSantis Deputy Press secretary Jeremy Redfern put an exclamation mark on this point, tweeting a thread including many of the inappropriate books in school libraries, including naked characters, depictions of sex acts, and claims regarding sexual morality.
Found in a Florida school:
āItās Perfectly Normal.ā
The cover says that this book is appropriate for 10-year-old children. pic.twitter.com/BbyrTU8fZW
— Jeremy Redfern (@JeremyRedfernFL) February 14, 2023
DeSantis also insisted that recent jumps in enforcement have been motivated by parental concerns. The Governor ended his answer with a word to those following the news.
“But anytime you hear about something that seems so outlandish just understand they’r remanufacturing that to try to create a narrative.”
Pushaw sniped at Collins again, arguing that the question wasn’t challenging or even valid. She also pointed out bias in where the “tough questions” were going.
1. The question she asked wasn't even a tough question, it was a "gotcha" smear with a false premise. Governor DeSantis destroys those all the time so it didn't make him uncomfortable.
2. I wouldnt have a problem IF journos actually asked tough questions to ALL SIDES not only GOP— Christina Pushaw š šŗšø (@ChristinaPushaw) February 15, 2023
Pushaw also expanded on the idea that DeSantis’s response proves such lines of inquiry are not “tough questions” and swiped at the modern journalist echo chambers as the culprit for thinking they were.
Only a media activist who lives in a liberal echo chamber would think this is a ātough question.ā Gov. DeSantis has heard all kinds of false narratives and smears before and always swiftly debunks them. Journalists – trying to become the story only lowers trust in your profession https://t.co/Qvf0bcZiXf
— Christina Pushaw š šŗšø (@ChristinaPushaw) February 14, 2023
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