NY Times, Far-Left Media Matters ‘Weapons YouTube’ to Silence Conservatives, Says Ben Shapiro

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro accused The New York Times of working with a far-left advocacy group Media Affairs for America to silence anyone who opposed Vice President Kamala Harris on YouTube, with screenshots from a reporter noting that he was working with the progressive organization.

Media Matters, founded in 2004 by longtime Clinton ally David Brock, is often cited as a media watchdog by established news organizations. It has built a reputation for organizing pressure campaigns against conservative voices it opposes, including boycott movements. Shapiro took over social media to reveal that he could be the group’s next target.

“If you’re wondering what the traditional media is planning for the October surprise, wonder no more: It’s here. Today I received the following text from a reporter from @NYTimes,” Shapiro wrote as the caption a text message he received Monday from New York Times reporter Nico Grant.

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“I wanted to give you an opportunity to comment on an upcoming article looking at how political commentators have discussed the upcoming election on YouTube. We rely on analysis conducted by researchers at Media Matters for America,” the Times reporter wrote.

Grant asked Shapiro to respond by the end of the day on Tuesday before “listing points we plan to include.”

Media Matters identified “286 YouTube videos between May and August that contained election misinformation, including stories that have been debunked or not supported by credible evidence,” Grant wrote, according to images of the text message posted by Shapiro.

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“Investigators have identified videos you posted during those four months that contained incorrect election information. We show a clip in which you say: ‘… Your party falsified many of the voting rules prior to the election to allow an extraordinary amount of mail -in messages.’ ballots, ballot harvesting,” Grant continued “I have a few questions.”

Grant then asked Shapiro if he is “a member of the YouTube Partner Programs,” if so, “how often does YouTube monetize” his videos, and if YouTube has sent any messages, emails, or notices about “misinformation” in the past year in its content. .

Shapiro said that a week before the presidential election, the Times used “investigation from Media Matters, a radical left-wing organization whose sole purpose is to destroy conservative media (see below) to pressure YouTube to demonetize and punish all conservatives.” .

“That’s the whole game here. Write an article in America’s ‘most trusted newspaper’ declaring virtually every major conservative a purveyor of ‘misinformation’ on YouTube, strong-arming YouTube into taking action against conservatives,” Shaprio wrote .

“This is not about ‘election disinformation.’ Of course, as virtually everyone knows, I have always recognized that Joe Biden won the 2020 election,” he continued, accompanying images of headlines from FiveThirtyEight and CBS News. “And if it is ‘election misinformation’ to point out the ‘manipulation’ of voting rules for the 2020 election, resulting in mass voting by mail and ballot harvesting, then the NYT may want to talk to… the NYT and CBS News, for starters.”

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Shapiro added, “And besides, even if someone *thinks* Joe Biden didn’t win the election, that’s still protected speech under the First Amendment… But that’s the point: you don’t have to spread ‘misinformation’ . To be targeted, all you have to do is support Trump.

“This is completely outrageous. In 2020, the traditional media shut down the spread of the Hunter Biden laptop story and whitewashed the claim that it was all Russian disinformation, all to get Joe Biden elected,” Shaprio wrote.

Shapiro said the Times “can’t get away with it” and called the newspaper “part of the Democrat-Media Human Centipede” before commenting to the reporter.

“Here’s my comment: please go fuck yourself,” Shapiro wrote.

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Media Matters is funded by some of the country’s largest Democratic megadonors. Critics have criticized Media Matters for earning tax-exempt status despite being an openly political organization. It was the subject of ridicule in 2020 when it received a federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan between “$1-2 million” of the Trump administration, despite its continued criticism of Trump’s response to the COVID pandemic, including the PPP.

Joseph A. Wulfsohn of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.