A revelation announced Monday by The New York Times states that former Newsweek editor, liberal historian and MSNBC/NBC contributor Jon Meacham has been writing speeches for former vice president Joe Biden, including his Saturday night “victory speech.” Of course, Meacham and the Comcast-owned networks never disclosed this fact.
The lack of ethics wasn’t entirely surprising, given how Meacham both endorsed Biden during the campaign and spoke Aug. 20 at the Democratic National Convention, and neither network seemed to care. And that’s in addition to the fact that their ethically challenged ranks include Mike Barnicle, Joy Reid and Brian Williams.
As per Annie Karni and John Koblin, Meacham has been helping Biden for some time:
“Jon Meacham, the presidential historian and biographer, has been helping to craft president-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s speeches, according to multiple sources involved, including helping to write the acceptance speech that Mr. Biden delivered Saturday night from Wilmington, Delaware.
“In that address, Mr. Biden spoke of a mission ‘to rebuild the soul of America, to rebuild the backbone of this nation, the middle class and to make America respected around the world again.’ Mr. Meacham’s 2018 book, The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels, has long served as a touchstone for Mr. Biden, who read it and has reached out to Mr. Meacham in the past to discuss passages he liked. …”
A Biden official added that Meacham was involved in discussions about the themes in the victory speech.
The Times added that Meacham will continue to appear, but “will no longer be a paid contributor going forward.“
It would be nice if Meacham, MSNBC and NBC would admit to their major failure to uphold basic journalistic ethics, but don’t hold your breath waiting. And as we all know, if this had happened on Fox News, both CNN and MSNBC would be calling for heads to roll.
This article originally appeared on NewsBusters.org. For the rest of the story, click here. {eoa}
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