Wealthy AF Podcast

Unmasking Media Bias: A Journey with Journalist (Jasmine Styles)

• Martin Perdomo "The Elite Strategist" • Season 3 • Episode 508

Share episode

Send us a text

What if the media you trust is nurturing a bias you can't see? Join us as seasoned journalist and National Association of Journalists board member, Jasmine Stow, uncovers the evolving landscape of journalism. Listen in as Jasmine sheds light on the waning trust in mainstream media, the rise of platforms like YouTube, and the essential role of journalists in delivering unbiased facts. Together, we navigate the complexities of personal biases in reporting and explore how journalists can cultivate a relatable connection with their audience.

Accountability in journalism isn't just a buzzword—it's necessary to combat misinformation and propaganda. Our conversation with Jasmine delves into the shifting regulations and governmental influences that have shaped media reporting, highlighting the importance of media consumers in holding outlets accountable. Through case studies, like the notorious Fox News settlement, we examine the real-world impact of media-driven narratives and stress the power of critical thinking. We also tackle the ripple effects of political changes on industries and the economy, particularly emphasizing the pivotal role of immigrants.

Civil discourse and political responsibility are not optional but imperative for progress. This episode critiques the current political scene where sensationalism often overshadows substance, urging listeners to seek credible sources and engage with diverse perspectives. Jasmine shares insights on the performative nature of political disagreements and the importance of understanding legislative processes. As we wrap up, Jasmine invites listeners to connect with her on social media. She offers a humorous nod to her preference for "Twitter" over "X," and extends an open invitation for a future meetup.

CONNECT WITH Jasmine!
linktr.ee/jasminestylestv

This episode is brought to you by Premier Ridge Capital.

Sign Up for our Newsletter and get our FREE E-Book where you'll learn everything you need to know about creating financial freedom through multifamily syndication.

Visit www.premierridgecapital.com now!

Introducing the 60 Day Deal Finder!
Visit: www.MartinREIMastery.com
Use the Coupon Code: WEALTHYAFfor 20%  off!

This episode is brought to you by Premier Ridge Capital.
Build Generational Wealth As A Passive Investor In Multifamily Real Estate Syndication!
Visit www.premierridgecapital.com to find out more.

Support the show

Introducing the 60 Day Deal Finder!
Visit: www.WealthyAF.ai
Use the Coupon Code: WEALTHYAF for 20% off!

Speaker 1:

Building wealth isn't just about your personal gain. It's about empowering yourself and your community. This is Wealthy AF your ultimate guide to understand what it truly means to be wealthy. Today's guest is Jasmine Stow, and Jasmine's incredible career has taken her from the eye of the hurricane in the South to crime scenes in the Midwest. She's a dedicated board member of the National Association of Journalists and has served as a president of multiple chapters. A proud Florida State alum that's my Latino accent there and Sunshine State native, she's here to shed light on the evolution of media, the role of minority voices in journalism and how those lessons apply to the world of media, the role of minority voices in journalism and how those lessons apply to the world of media today, not necessarily just media in general. Jasmine, welcome to the show. Really really appreciate you for being here, my dear.

Speaker 2:

Thanks for having me. I really appreciate you.

Speaker 1:

I want to really dive into the ethics and challenges of modern journalism. Let's start there, because that's a big thing. Right now, where I was watching a news, I was watching a podcast. There's a podcast I listen to and I watch on YouTube the PBD podcast. And I don't know if you know, if you know value time, anyways, really smart guys follow these guys. So plugs to PBD, because I've learned from him. So, anyways, they had a stat and they said and the stat was something like 80. It was just yesterday. Just yesterday I saw the stat 86% of Americans do not trust regular media like the Foxes, cnn, the world's, just regular traditional media. They distrust and that's both right and left media. They have a total distrust and they're trusting more platforms like this and YouTube and things like that than regular media. Thoughts on that. Let's get right into it, my dear.

Speaker 2:

I mean you can see that terms of like on air. Abc just did it, cbs is in the middle of it and they're about to sell like. All these things are happening and it's because they have not cracked the code of the new way of watching TV. For example, I do local television and so we would have shows. You know my shows would be four television and so we would have shows. You know my shows would be 4, 7, and 11.

Speaker 2:

As a 34-year-old, I am not staying up to watch the 11 o'clock news. I am sleeping, I'm ready to go to bed at about 10, scroll on my phone till 11, maybe 1130, and then I'm going to bed. Same thing with the 5 o'clock newscast. People are in traffic. The 5 o'clock and the 6 o'clock don't hold as much weight. People, americans, are working harder. The 7 is now your best bet to maybe get eyes on your television, but it's mostly streaming, like that's the thing, and a lot of station groups have not cracked that code. That is where the disconnect is coming in, and also journalists are seen as, like some of of them, snobby, unrelatable. They may see.

Speaker 2:

You're right, you're right.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, they don't feel like your friends. And for me, as a, I've only been a journalist for 12 years, so you know there are people on air who have been on air since I've been little who haven't learned Like. No, you have to give credibility and you have to talk like this, be like this, and for my generation, we were always told you should act like the viewer is your best friend. We shouldn't use all these big words. If you can't understand it, they can't understand it. How can we break that down into a level where people will care about the stories that are going on? It's more than just stats and figures. So I think I understand why people get their news other places. I, as a millennial, do too. I do enjoy watching the news, but I do tend to go online a lot and see what other people have to say. So I don't think that it's a weird thing. I think it's just the nature of the technology. Vote right now.

Speaker 1:

I am as an entrepreneur personally, and an independent thinker. So you know, we're in the middle of a, we're a few weeks away from an election. As we record this, right, there is a lot of noise and, quite frankly, quite frankly, there's a lot of bullshit on both sides, right, bullshit on both sides, right. Uh, and my question for you is, as an insider, right, 12 years, I've always had this question because, look, I'll watch. I'm an independent, by the way, my listeners know I share this, I share this publicly. I'm a registered independent. There's some downsides to that.

Speaker 1:

I used to be a registered republic. I used to be a registered democrat. I used to be registered both, and then, when the republicans did january, I was like, oh shit, I do not identify. I do not identify with that. I am not that I registered as an independent. But when I watch both sides, because I'm open to both sides, right, I voted for Obama on the second term, didn't vote for him the first term, real independent, right, when you look at, when I look at media, right, when I consume traditional media.

Speaker 1:

So I'll go and I will look at CNN, what they're saying, and I'll look at the view Whoopi Goldberg, and it's so obvious to me how they're not real journalists. Like you're not a journalist. You're not real journalist. Like it's you're not a journalist. You're not a journalist, both sides. Like you're feeding me, you're projecting onto me your ideas. I don't care for your ideas.

Speaker 1:

Your job is to give me facts. Your job is to report. Your job is to let report it to me and let me decide based on the, the information you give me, and I, and I'm and I'm holding you to a standard that you've done your, your research, you've done your investigation. They're not doing that shit anymore. They're just this doesn't happen anymore, and um so so I wonder you're in that game, right, I wonder? So here's the question, here's the question Do they actually like? Do the bigwigs from the top, the days right, the big guys behind the scenes? Do they actually tell these people to this is how you're going to lean, this is how you're going to talk? Do they actually do that? Do they actually like?

Speaker 2:

tell you this. So there are. And you know I work for local news. So I will say, and I'm a big proponent of this, watching your local newscast will be probably the best example of an unbiased, fair news source. Watching the news of CNN, msnbc, fox they have, I wouldn't necessarily say agendas, but they definitely have slants. Fox is very much so right. You know OAN, they're even farther right. You go to Newsmax, they're even farther right. You go to CNN, they're kind of liberal, they go left. You go to MSNBC, they're leaning of liberal, they go left. You go to MSNBC, they're leaning even harder.

Speaker 2:

And so, even like in the local news game where you're asking, do people tell you to be this way? I can tell you for a fact, being a former employee and watching an investigation on them by, I believe, the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal, sinclair, they own a crap ton of stations around the US and they, just like everybody else, is having a hard time actually shutting down news stations, making the viewers have an even smaller amount of stations to watch. When you skew the competition like that, you're getting a lesser of a chance to balance your worldview by watching different newscasts. So when they're taking people out the game or they're buying up and then making both of those non-existent. You're down to only two news sources instead of maybe four. Sinclair got a really bad light shined on them for having these things called must runs. Sinclair does lean right, they lean right, I right and um I advertised with them a few years ago.

Speaker 1:

I did commercial work yeah, a lot of my local new thing.

Speaker 2:

Right, you know, I wouldn't say that maybe the the local news people within your station maybe don't lean that way, but the company does, and so they would make these things called must-runs. And during the Trump and Hillary battle in 2016, they were telling stations you have to run this. And people were like, okay, well, you guys were in Philadelphia and you got an exclusive with Trump, why don't we have anything with Hillary? Like, why can't we do both? And then go, well, we don't have that, just run the Trump thing. So then your TV stations would have to do their due diligence as being unbiased, fair reporters and find some information on Hillary's stop that day so that you could see both sides.

Speaker 2:

Boris Epstein, who was a insider of the Trump administration and Trump campaign, who I believe now is in kind of all that legal mess with the election tampering, so you know, he was out there talking about all types of random stuff that had no backing, in fact, and we were broadcasting this to millions of people and it felt really dirty and icky because we weren't giving our viewers the fair share that they needed to and, uh, I know I could add some other friends who are also in that it would got to a point where we would stop running and we would just say, oops, you ran out of time and they would say, no, you need to start telling us which ones you're running and you're gonna report them.

Speaker 2:

And so we were like, okay, I guess, but that's. I never had that level of um control before before. From a from the higher ups, um again. Sinclair again made news right before that um investigation that they were making all their news anchors and I had just left my station they're making all their news anchors say the same thing. I want to say the daily show, or jimmy camill or one of them put it on air and it was literally like watching propaganda.

Speaker 2:

You, it would say, like you link raise yeah, and then you would see somebody in new york say the mainstream media, and then you see them in california the mainstream. It was all the same script and propaganda.

Speaker 2:

It's not like propaganda, that's propaganda yeah, and as a, as a journalist, we always say the only thing you have is your credibility. Now your credibility is shot because you are saying this robotic speech about how the mainstream media is not doing a good job and trying to prop yourself up as this company. But you're making all these people say it and I always say, like, if you have to announce that you're fair, a bias, blah, blah, blah, you're probably not. So, yeah, there are examples of higher-ups doing that. And then, of course, like you know, this E-Extra, the MSNBC, leans left. It is what it is. Yeah, of course, the people they have left and that provides an echo chamber for people who want to hear that kind of stuff. And for Vox, vox is an echo chamber for people who want to hear that stuff.

Speaker 2:

And, yes, the Murdoch family is very much so right-leaning and puts their views on a pedestal by getting people who will out those same things. I like to call Fox top radio and television. Those people, if you look up their stats or like, look up their backgrounds, they have top radio hosts. They don't have journalism degrees, they're not held to a certain standard of ethics, because some of the stuff that happens on Fox I would get canned. By the time I walked to my desk they showed it. So they have a lot of liberty, but you have seen that they've been yanked back after that lawsuit with the uh give me, give me an example.

Speaker 1:

give me an example of some of the things they say there that if you were to say it on your smaller stations, they would like you're, you're out, you're out of here. Give me an example of that.

Speaker 2:

Just flat out lie. It's like I would tell you a better example when they told the truth and got reamed. For during the election night when Trump was up against Biden, they called Arizona for Trump. All the news stations are connected via some type of technology ap associated press very right down the middle, straight great source of uh of news. They have essentially like numbers that come in from all the polling sites and will kind of tell you hey, this is called, this is who wins that race. So for arizona, it was a very tight race and biden won. And they said to the numbers biden has won arizona. And people were in a frenzy and we know that this also kind of leads to the election denying and that there was misconduct in these things and we have shown that that's not the case. There is no proof of that. But he was amped and people around him and his followers were amped that they told the truth that Arizona was won by Biden and they were reaming. And again, numbers don't lie, particularly poll numbers.

Speaker 1:

So how do we so? How are so? You mentioned St Clair. It is what it is. We're just going to put him on blast, Right? We mentioned that corporation, the experience there, what you saw, that's pure propaganda. How do we hold them accountable, like? Who holds them accountable, like?

Speaker 1:

So I was watching an interview with Trump, donald Trump, a couple of days ago and he was saying when he was just an entrepreneur before he went into politics, right, the media loved him. He said media used to love me. And I remember those days. I remember media used to love Trump. Everyone rap songs Trump, everyone loved Trump, right, and he said when media New York Post, new York Times would write a piece about me, I would get a call from these people called fact checkers that would work for the media channels and there was a law that changed in 1994. He quoted it I can't remember about in the media world. And so these fact checkers, they would get these articles before they published them. They would call them and say, hey, we have this article written about you, da-da-da-da, is this true? Is this correct? Did you do this? Did you do that? Is this it? They would fact check, right and correct. Did you do this? Did you do that? Is this it? They would fact check, right, and he would have the opportunity to say nope, that was misinterpreted. This is this, this is this way. And he said and then he went to politics, but then some rule changed in 1994. I can't remember the name of the rule. That's your business, so you probably know there's some law, something that changed in 1994, that they no longer had to do that, right? So is it really journalism when we are hearing people's opinions? And then who holds these journalists and these corporations accountable by feeding us lies, like when they feed us lies, just straight lies, like even the government is lying to us, right? So I put out a weekly business brief and there's some.

Speaker 1:

I believe there's some government pressure into the media, I believe because there was a. The unemployment rate two months ago was adjusted for this year, right? The unemployment rate two months ago ticked up, right, ticked up to 4.3%. All of a sudden, when it ticked up, they also came out and said that they were off by a million jobs. Listen to what I'm saying to you. One million jobs, jasmine, one million. Like a thinking person is going to look at that like that's a freaking huge mistake. So there was a million jobs less created than the BLS reported. All of a sudden it is now October, so September's numbers come out and they're saying now the BLS is is reporting that the unemployment number dropped 20 basis points, so unemployment went down and that now to me it's no coincidence that, hey, election is in two weeks, three weeks, right, unemployment drops.

Speaker 1:

You just said like that most Americans aren't paying attention to this stuff. Right, I follow this stuff. Right Like I'm reading the reports myself from the BLS. I don't believe shit that any of them tell me Like I want to go look at it. I follow the 10 year because I'm an investor, I'm an entrepreneur. I have to look at this stuff myself. I can't believe what anyone tells me. I got to look at this stuff because I got payroll to make. I got, you know, I'm running a business. So who is holding these people accountable? Who holds them accountable to doing the right thing? Is there any form of accountability? Who's holding these people accountable for these propaganda? Who can hold them accountable? How does that work?

Speaker 2:

So a court of law. Best example of that was with Fox News. They settled that Dominion voting systems lawsuit quick, fast and in a hurry because they knew what was going to come out was damaging, because you cannot say that this particular election machine is responsible for us losing. These people are probably getting death threats Now. People don't want to buy their software. It ruins their business. And they had a wood case or libel in slander and they settled because they knew they could not back that up.

Speaker 2:

In terms of TV shows and stuff who spit propaganda, you, the viewer, have the most power. Fox TV is the number one cable television show in America. The reason why I believe that is is because it's an echo chamber. It soothes and it gives people comfort to hear things that they think that other perceived smart people, because most people think that journalists are smarter than them and that's not necessarily true. But they're looking to these people and they're like, yeah, like that they're saying exactly what I'm saying and I feel validated. I think a lot of the media now has been a. Everyone wants it to be a hub. Everyone wants to feel heard, seen, validated and unfortunately, sometimes the things that you would like to be validated are just not true. They're just wives tales. Best example of rhetoric that has real deal consequences Springdale, right here in Ohio, or Springfield, excuse me where the Haitians were eating the dogs, and I remember that.

Speaker 1:

Is that true or is that not?

Speaker 2:

true, no, no. And Martin, because you're from the Sunshine State and you should know, like I'm from Orlando, we have Haitians, puerto Ricans, dominicans, Guyanese. I mean, like I've always lived with brown people and that hearing about foreign country including Asian people eating pets is a racist trope as old as time. It has been applied to every brown person or person who is not white within this country. So these Haitians, who were brought there legally because Springfield was in a downward spiral, because no one would work the jobs um, these, uh, you know, just skilled labor jobs, um, and these Haitians came in and helped that community. The lady who started that rumor, who whose cat went missing, um, and lives among the Haitian community, her cat was in the basement, she was hiding from her Like she was playing hide-and-seek. And then you have the vice president nominee, who's also from the state, saying on television, I think with Dana Bash, I believe, if I have to make up stories for people to get the you know what I'm saying and to move action, then I will do that.

Speaker 1:

What that's disrespectful?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, people are not paying attention to that stuff?

Speaker 2:

yeah, no, because so you hear the they're eating the dogs, they're eating the cats, that's all we hear someone like me who is tuned into news and, like someone like you who you say like you watch a lot of like maybe, business news and things like that, you're locked into certain things that nobody else would be attuned to. Same for me, as a news watcher and a news digester. I watched the news and I watched the story get carried out all the way to the end, to where that lady said she lied and she actually her daughter went with her to the neighbors to apologize using a translation app.

Speaker 2:

Because, most people speak French or French. True, real big feeling. So you know. But again, if you just heard that one bit, you're not getting to the end of the story. On it. Cnn did a special with omar jimenez about the haitian population. They had literally brought that city back to prestige, essentially for their um economic sector and their industry sector, because they didn't have that um and these poor people were getting dog piled on by. You know, we just got called spade to spade, racist people who were saying that they're stealing drops or eating pets and all the other stuff. People are getting bomb threats. The city hall is getting bomb threats, like we're putting people's lives in danger.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, that's serious.

Speaker 2:

And that's crazy, and also the people who are making these calls. I'm like do you not love your life? Because that is a terrible crime. Bomb threats are federal crimes. I'm telling you, no political candidate is worth going to jail, I guarantee.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely.

Speaker 2:

Because none of them will bail you out, babes. That's the other thing. Every politician is in it for themselves, for ego, glory, and of course, yes, they would like to help people. But it is a big ego boost To be the ex-president of the United States. It's ego boost. It's a way for you to feel better about yourself. And I'm telling you, if you go so hard for your candidate that you are willing to storm the Capitol, make bomb threats, beat people up, threaten journalists, threaten politicians, I guarantee you that it's not worth it. It's not worth an assassination attempt. I swear to you it's not. It's not that serious. Whoever wins, whether you like them or not, they get their four years and we move on. And whether you enjoy that four years or not, we all make it through and we get to the next president.

Speaker 1:

I'm so glad that you said that. So I have a group mentorship program and I'm in the group and our mastermind last week and I start talking and I start sharing with the group. I started talking. The topic I was talking about was fear, right, because right now there's a lot of fear going on, and, right, what is fear? Fear is anticipation of pain, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and I get into fear, like people. I don't care who you vote for, right, who you vote for is irrelevant. One thing's for sure is that whoever wins they're not coming to save us. They're not coming to save us Like you still have to accept personal responsibility. The best thing you can do for yourself is become a student of the policies as entrepreneurs right, because it's a group of this is a group of real estate investors I mentor that are starting out building their portfolio, creating wealth, creating passive income and things like that, and creating their building their portfolio. And it's like the most important thing you can do is, whoever wins, study policies, study economic policies.

Speaker 1:

One thing's for sure is that we have a big problem in our country right now and that is the problem of affordable housing. And as long as we're developing, we're redeveloping, we're buying, we're improving housing. The government will have to throw money at us. Well, it doesn't matter who it is. It doesn't matter who it is, we have to fix it. They're not going to fix it. They suck at fixing anything, anything that's to do with business. They just don't know how to do it. They're inefficient at it. We have to fix it. So our job is not to get so gung-ho with this candidate or that candidate, just like you said. They all come, they all go, and then we move on and we continue living. No one's coming to save us.

Speaker 2:

And if you're upset about essentially like a sentient Congress, this Congress is the worst Congress we've had. They have been inactive, they have not put forth policies. And if you even want to go into an individual level and I'll say this because he's in my state, jordan, what's that man's name? Or, let me, let me go with it Jordan. Where's this guy? Jim Jordan, there we go.

Speaker 1:

Jim jordan talks a lot, always has a soundbite in the news, very mouth, very sassy, bad man has not put forth one policy I, that's what I that's what I do, that I live by that, like you can tell me, I don't care what you tell me. I watch what people do what you tell me. I watch what people do what you tell me. It's just noise. I watch what you do. How do you?

Speaker 2:

move. He has not moved one policy. So if you've been begging Jim Jordan to stop people at the border or fix up property whatever, he hasn't done nothing, period. Again. This Congress in general has been the most inactive Congress, inadequate Congress, that we've seen in a very, very long time. That's a problem. We're voting on our feelings and we're voting for rhetoric instead of voting for people who are going to move stuff forward. And, honestly, whatever side of the aisle you're on, you should be putting the pressure on your congressman, your representative, congresswoman, um, to do something. There needs to be bipartisan. This partisan crap is not working. That is why congress has been inactive, even an example republic're.

Speaker 2:

You know this is the problem with the Republican Party right now, and I'm talking about a certain campaign, not as a as a unit. Before Roe v Wade was taken down by the Supreme Court, they ran on abortion. That was their big thing. Now that you've gotten that, what do you run on next? Because abortion is done, that, that, that should. We have nothing to talk about that anymore, except states. So maybe state representatives and folks in that area can.

Speaker 1:

But the federal federal?

Speaker 2:

yeah, that's not we move past that. So now what's next? The border. The border is a big, big uh contention point for the republicans. There was legislation set up by both republicans and democrats to fix the border and they said no, no anger yeah so you could have gotten your border fixed.

Speaker 2:

You could have gotten your border fixed if you would have urged your congressman, your congresslady, your representative, to vote on this bipartisanship, um, to fix it. I think what pisses me off to know it as as a news person and as a um, just like you know, an american, because affect me. That's why I think it's so silly when they're like oh, the media is in it with baby, I get these taxes, just like you.

Speaker 2:

Everything that happens to you happens to me. We're on the same playing field. So the thing that really pisses me off is that I'm wanting these changes. I'm wanting better for myself. I would like to have more money in my pocket. I would not like to pay $90 for a bunch of bananas. I'm sick of the crap too, but what I'm telling you is that it's not going to get solved by one pardon. That's not going to happen. It's going to be probably years from now until we see a one-party takeover of the United States, and we should not want that. We should not want a one-party system. That is a tie.

Speaker 1:

It's unconstitutional, it's unconstitutional, it's unconstitutional.

Speaker 2:

And I guarantee you, whether you're a party or not, it won't be fun.

Speaker 1:

Because everything you want.

Speaker 2:

You probably don't. Big example, desantis you're in the Sunshine State, you're in my town, my state. Not too long ago, desantis put in some really harsh rules about immigrants and that, if you were found, I remember working okay, you would be punished that and the company that employed them.

Speaker 1:

And they would find, if I was an employer, I would get fined and all this crazy shit and I don't know where about you live, but you know florida is always bustling with construction.

Speaker 2:

Don't know where about you live, but you know florida is always bustling with construction and there's a good chunk of that construction immigrants.

Speaker 2:

Yes, yes, ma'am they are the backbone of the construction industry, and let's not even like. I know that some people are like, oh well, you're just saying they just do construction. No, no, no, no, no. I'm saying that they are a good majority of the construction industry and that work they do is valid and very much so instrumental in the growth of america. So let's, let's, let's put that really nasty rhetoric about latinos down now yeah construction sites were left empty for months yep months.

Speaker 1:

They were fleeing. They were fleeing. They were fleeing to pennsylvania, that Some of them are fleeing to Jersey PA.

Speaker 2:

Right. They're fleeing because they're scared, because even now, with some of the rhetoric that we've seen with deporting illegal immigrants, that is scary because even if you have documents, if so and so doesn't like you or thinks like no, we'd rather not have you within our stratosphere, you're going to get deported. I think that's the thing. A lot of people. There's a very fun phrase on the internet that goes I never thought the leopards would eat my face. So meaning like there are people, there are Latinos Cubans, particularly in Miami, who are. There are Latinos Cubans, particularly in Miami, who are totally on board with taking all these immigrants out. And I want you to know because if you're hanging out with the people who really believe this in totality live it, breathe it, smell it, do it they're going for you next. They're going for you next. You're not white, You're not majority. We don't like you, so you're voting for these policies and it might be next.

Speaker 2:

And even women at this point. Republican women voted for Trump 56% when he first won 52 or 56. They made him the president, and some of those same women who believed in him and who loved him are now upset that their right to an abortion is taken away because, as many people have said, abortion is not just I don't want this baby, it is not. It is not you, it is not a disformation in their body or their brain that they will not live. They will be severely crippled if they live past any type of age or the mother herself is in danger. And now, because of that very stringent rule, women are dying.

Speaker 2:

And again, no matter if you are a Republican or Democrat, nobody's asking you that when you go into the ER, absolutely If you're a Republican or Democrat, nobody's asking you that when you go into the ER, absolutely that state has made that stringent law and they are enforcing it because now doctors are scared to be thrown in jail.

Speaker 1:

Yep.

Speaker 2:

You're not going to get the services that you need, no matter how valid it is, quote unquote. Because, again, with this particular thing, it's been a compass. It's been a moral compass for some, and if are a christian, as myself, I am a christian uh, as I am as well you have really aligned that to like going with with.

Speaker 2:

You know your religion, but I I don't. But, for example, for jewish folks, jewish folks are bro, abortion, health care, because the life of the mother is at risk and in in their text it talks about saving the mother, and that makes a lot of sense within that religion because the mother is who the Jewish lineage goes through. If that mother dies and that baby dies, now we've lost two Jewish folks, we've lost two of our people. That's a problem. So I think fear, as you talked about, has been a driving force in all this. Some could be more valid than others. Fear of losing your right to choose, fear of getting your job taken, fear of not being able to afford going grocery shopping, fear of your child being indoctrinated at school all these things are floating in people's minds, some based on truth, some based on half truths. Um, and I think that's what people need to figure out and really look to credible sources, and I know most people go well, okay, I'm gonna watch cnn or I'm gonna watch fox.

Speaker 2:

I would tell you not to sorry not I'm gonna tell you you the three people you need, maybe four, four people that you should probably listen to Reuters, r-e-u-t-e-r-s international news organization, the BB, because they had no dog in the fight and they're just willing to say stuff that maybe American drugs wouldn't. The AP, which is American-based, it shoots straight and does not put spin of any type into their reporting. And the NPR, which is a publicly funded radio station and does fantastic programming on politics, and they shoot very straight. You will not hear the rhetoric, you will not hear the hyperbole. They get us give it to you. Boom, bam. This is the cut and drapery. Um and so, if you're looking to really fact check and maybe step out of that echo chamber just to see if, just to get like a pulse check on the rest of the world, those are the four that I would, guys, if you take anything away from this podcast, repeat those again, please, jasmine.

Speaker 2:

people need to know where to go get like coming frombased Associated Press and the NPR, and most people have an NPR station locally, so you can hear more about your issues.

Speaker 1:

That's the only one I haven't heard of NPR. What does that stand for?

Speaker 2:

National Public Radio, the most fantastic, I believe.

Speaker 1:

N like Nancy, not M.

Speaker 2:

Yep, nancy Pierce, roy N roy, pr. If you've ever watched a tiny desk, npr does those. Uh, so they, they run the gamut, they do culture, they do music. Um, I really love their political podcast it's just called npr politics, um, and, like I said, I think that they do the best of not saying any type of hyperbolic rhetoric about either candidate. They more to use like, well, hey, you know donald trump did this and you know that's unprecedented. Can we talk some more about that? Or hey, that was really shocking to some people in this. You know particular base, can you talk about that? I'd much rather hear that. Yes, then, uh, like it's, it's a lot.

Speaker 2:

And again, as someone who likes, you know, make america civil, that's that's what I, that's a great, great spoke so annoyed about the screaming back and forth, the denigrating, the name calling the it's, it's stupid and it doesn't get anything done. Everyone just wants their sound bite, everybody wants to be the viral moment of the day, and that is going to get Americans nowhere in the grand scheme of things. And so if you are sick of hearing people yell at each other, I would look to those platforms that I named, and I guarantee you you will feel much less anxious or fearful or tiresome of politics, like many people are doing, to the point where it's making people sit out. And I want to reiterate if you've been told that your vote doesn't matter, you've been lied to.

Speaker 1:

It matters.

Speaker 2:

Who told you that your vote didn't matter is definitely aiming for whatever agenda that they're rooting for. If they're telling you to stay home, that's a problem. And I will say, particularly within the minority community, black men have been told not to vote. That will be to your detriment. You need to vote. I always say you cannot complain if you did not vote. I get to moan and groan and whine because I have voted in every election for national and state. I can whine and groan and complain about people because I have done my part. I did what I needed to do to hopefully see the change that I would like and even when that doesn't happen, I can still hold these people accountable. I can still vote them out. I can reelect them. You have the power to do that. Um and as much as you've been told, election interference is very minute. I have done a story about that and, fun fact, somebody who does those studies most of the election interference or um fraud, come start. Registered Republicans.

Speaker 1:

Oh shoot.

Speaker 2:

I hate to be that girl and I know she's the liberal media. No, I talk to someone who studies this for a living. Also, let's make America factual again. Let us listen to experts who have done this for years on end.

Speaker 1:

How do we know the experts, jasmine? How do we know the experts, jasmine? How do we know the experts? Everyone can put on a little camera, make their little studio, make themselves look great with social media, youtube and all. How do you? How can we know the difference from the experts? Anyone can put on a shirt and tie, makes themselves look and all of a sudden they could greatly produce whatever, and now they're an expert. How do we know how to distinguish them?

Speaker 2:

the best internet connection slash website in the world google. You can find out so much by googling people. We are the generation of a wealth of information and we really don't use it. That's why I'm always perplexed when people get duped by um megan the style you would say you know big ball background. That's fake news. All the random like memes you see are probably not truthful. The things you see on Facebook probably AI. You really have to do your due diligence to make sure that what you're subscribing to is really the full truth.

Speaker 2:

Another great website that I like to go to is PolitiFact P-O-L-I-T-I-N-A-C-T. They make it really easy. They have a truth-o-meter which ranges from true, mostly true, false, pants on fire, and it makes it really easy to distinguish what is true and what's not. Politifactcom yes, politifactcom. I love them a lot and again, they make things like really easy. Even they even had a summary at the top so you don't have to read the whole article, which makes life a lot easier for all of us.

Speaker 2:

But yeah, experts, for example, during the pandemic, everyone was dumping on um fauci. That man has been a doctor longer than I have been. He was in the in the in the thick of the AIDS epidemic. That man knows a lot. When I was in Tampa reporting during the pandemic, I was talking to doctors whose sole mission it was is to create vaccine Sole mission and the comments that we would get saying that they're lying, they're liars. I'm like. I guarantee you these people are not in hundreds of thousands of dollars of medical debt to lie to us. I guarantee you that these people don't have a dog in the fight.

Speaker 2:

Now you may be wary about CDC because they're the government. A lot of people have wariness about the government, but beacons of higher education, your colleges and those, those people who literally live to do studies, those are the people. You want to listen to See how long people have been in their position, like, for example, steve Bannon, man with a mic. He has no expertise. He has been a part of a cabinet for, but not a good one.

Speaker 2:

You know, I think what separated like the Trump cabinet in particular, is that he made a mistake of not surrounding himself with people smarter than him, and I don't mean to say like he's dumb. I think everyone should look around the room and if you are the smartest person in the room, you are-. You got a problem, sir. You got a problem. You want to find people who know what they're talking about and who can give you, who can be your adversary at times, who can tell you no, who will say well, actually, based on my research and I've been in this industry for 20 years I'm going to do this. You can't just have yes-men around you and again, I think that is the downfall of politics in general. We're in echo chambers. We have people who won't say no.

Speaker 1:

And we don't want to challenge things because it might change our point of view. All right, this has been, and I want you to come back.

Speaker 1:

So just so you know, I definitely want you to come back. We haven't really we didn't really dive in, but I think the conversation we had was extremely important. I just want to say something about something you mentioned earlier with this Roe v Wade thing and what the Republicans did there. This is again my opinion. So this is just my opinion, listener, this is my opinion. The whole thing in 2020 happened to your point. So two points about that. First of all, you said you first said something about bipartisan. We need to make america civil again, and what we need, if we want true change, is we want bipartisanship. We need them to come together to change things. One party stings, one party totally agree with you there.

Speaker 1:

I had a guest here, state senator for Pennsylvania, marty Flynn. You guys can go check out that episode, and I had done some research on how he voted before he came on here. He's registered a Democrat and if you guys listen to that episode, you hear me commending him. So he voted for a policy in the state of Pennsylvania that was created by Republicans for financial literacy to be mandatory in the whole state of PA to be graduated. You're nodding your head like yeah, that's good stuff, right. Like yes, we need that right.

Speaker 1:

Well, when I asked him and this is on record when I asked him about it and I was applauding him for voting yes to it he admittingly just admittedly said he got a ton of shit from his cohort Democrats. And I was like what he said? Yeah, mike, the Democratic Party gave me a ton of problems because I voted for this bill that I believe was the right thing, and that was like we knew this stuff happened. Like I knew this stuff happened but it was never like it never heard it from someone in the game. Right, like hey, this actually happens. Like we just don't vote for each other's bills, period, this actually happens.

Speaker 2:

We just don't vote for each other's bills Period. I think that brings you to a good point of. Like everyone who's watching this, I want you to know that these politicians are playing you. This is how this works. They yell and scream at each other on the floor. They yell and scream at each other in their press conferences. They talk about this person's the devil and this person's a hack, and this person doesn't know what to talk about. And I guarantee you they're playing golf next Saturday.

Speaker 1:

They're playing golf, they're playing in real life.

Speaker 2:

They like each other in real life. They just have to do that so that y'all hate each other and y'all go where they need y'all to go. But I go where they need y'all to go. But I guarantee you that most of these people are hanging out and having a beer at the at the next baseball game. They're going to the suite at the bangles game together. They do like each other. And so you are expending all this energy to hate anything that a democrat would put through or you hate anything a republican would put through, and I'm telling you that them two people are just doing it to rile you up. Those two bases are doing it to rile you up and they like each other in in, you know behind closed doors yeah.

Speaker 2:

And I will also say flipping that apart or flipping that over. You know there are bills that people don't vote for because in the grand scheme of things it seems good. But what do we talk about? Every party has an agenda, every party has an agenda and it's all about, um, essentially bartering and like playing chicken kind of. So it'd be like we have this great thing. For example, let's say, this great thing will give every school $50 million. That's not a real thing. $50 million could do a lot for schools. That a lot For your children, for your neighbor's children, for the next generation School is important. But within this we could also say well, we will also raise property tax, it is, and we will also vote to make walking your dog illegal between the times of 1 and 3 pm. And you'll be like, ok, I like A.

Speaker 1:

But I don't like B and C.

Speaker 2:

Not wait, see, so I'm not voting for A because then I would have to give in for this part. And so there are bills where you know one side or the other would be like you know, we put forth this great thing and this could benefit you, and they refuse to vote on it. Well, yeah, they didn't vote on it because BNC was stupid and they're not going to vote on that because that, literally, is completely against their ideology. But some of those things I think are within reason, some of the BNC, but some are totally like off the Richter that nobody would vote for in that right. So I think that's another thing that people should do is really like I know we hate it, but you got to read. You got to read and a place where you can go to read bills and like see what people think of them, read bills and like see what people think of them.

Speaker 2:

Um, they're called the goa and they are essentially the um political, non-partisan watchdog for, like, congress, um, and so anytime they put forth the bill and I'm just gonna make sure I tell you the right thing um, anytime they put forth the bill, they look at it and they go um, uh, no, that's not going to work. Sorry, it's the GAO, excuse me, the US Government Accountability Office and so they like to essentially take any type of topics and they kind of like debunk and fact find for you. So like, for example, I'm on the site right now, it's GAOgov and their featured topic is cost savings, and so it talks about recommendations, it talks about the work they do, recent reports, and it says you know, this is what can happen if we do this, this, this, this, this. You know, we have found out that this probably isn't the best route. Yada, yada, yada. So if you want to go to people who literally know what they're doing, like very, very, very smart people, I would check out the GAO and see if you can. You know, find what you're looking for and figure out, you know, if that's really true. You know, find what you're looking for and figure out, you know if that's really true.

Speaker 2:

It also gives you a find an expert, um, little link, and I would follow these people on their social media. Um, I follow a guy about like uh, he's the gas guru, aficionado for gas, buddy. One of the biggest lies that I've heard both sides tell gas is not predicated on the president. The price of gas is not predicated on the president, it's a blind demand. And I love following him because he debunks a lot. I think his name is Patrick Dahl.

Speaker 1:

It's always a blind demand. It's just what it is. It's people economics. It feels like the barrel goes up, price of a barrel goes up, so the price goes up because of demand. That's just bullshit.

Speaker 2:

I know, but when people are saying Biden because he raised gas prices, he did it.

Speaker 1:

What he did, he indirectly raised it by stopping the rebuilding of the, what you call it. He stopped some productions. He impacted production, the rebuilding of the, what you call it. He stopped so production. See, impacted production. So, but most people, but most people don't really know that. Most people don't really know the pipeline. I forget the name of the pipeline, whatever.

Speaker 2:

And the only even like when he pulls like gas out of the reserves, when you go like, oh, they can bring that Like by a penny, it really doesn't, it's really just to make sure that there's enough gas in circulation for everybody. But the president has nothing. Same thing with the vice president. Kamala Harris does nothing and she hasn't done anything else. Well, maybe two jobs she got, break the ties in Senate and she's had the most tie breakers, I think, in either in american history or within like a two decades or something crazy like that. And she's there to essentially be there. If the president should die or be incapacitated, yeah, and he does what the president tells her to. She cannot come up with executive positions. She can't, and even the president can only come up with a certain amount or width and breadth of executive.

Speaker 2:

Executive orders Exactly so I think people would really do well to read let's go back and watch Schoolhouse Rock. There's no shame in a catchy song that helps you learn stuff so that you can really figure out how America works and where the disconnect is happening, because people lie, people have agendas. Just because you have a mic and a podcast doesn't mean you're an expert. No shade to Martin Martin, be doing the work, but it doesn't make you an expert. So I think the best thing you can do is really be a consumer of news. That will do you well in so many areas of unbiased news and being a student of US government Even a reporter with US government is freaking confusing.

Speaker 1:

What One hundred percent?

Speaker 2:

I Google everything. I Google everything. I google everything if I have a question.

Speaker 1:

There's no shame, so please google there's a great resource I want to share. I want to share with you and the listeners as well. Something I subscribe to is national, the national write your congress association. I actually pay for this, so they give me all the bills I get weekly and daily. So it costs me, it costs my company, I don't know. I think I pay like 200, $300 a year. We pay for this.

Speaker 1:

But I get emails with any bills that, first of all, I'm an entrepreneur, so any bills that impact businesses. Those are the first things I get. And then through this app, so once I get the email, it tells me I can click on the link it takes me to the website and then it breaks it down for me here's what this bill is, here's the pros, here's what the cons are, here's the things. And you can write your Congress right from there, your Congressman right from there, so I can click and I say, and I can tell my congressman vote for this, I don't support this. This impacts my business, this impacts my family, right from there. And I literally get this. I digest it in the mornings when I'm meditating, reading my other financial newsletters, my morning routine. I'm looking, I'm blah, blah, blah. There's nothing of really interest for me and I also see what they voted on right, like what they voted on, like what has gotten passed.

Speaker 1:

Sometimes I don't have time to write my congressman they probably and you can write the president right from there too. By the way, you can look at the site. You're looking at it right, so you can write. You can write the president right Book, click the link and been the president. So I've written to to biden and trump, both of them like hey, dude, this is I'm no go for this. I'm an entrepreneur here. This is what I'm doing. This is not. This is going to impact. It's going to impact jobs. It's going to impact this. It's going to impact. You know how I, how I navigate my business, um, so that's a great resource that I use and, uh, just wanted to share, share, put that out there. I know there's a wild people.

Speaker 2:

I've never seen that, so you just taught me something new. That's great.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, some guy came to my office one day, knocked on my door and he was selling this thing and I was like what is this? And he was like yeah. And I was like shit, that is really freaking cool. I was like sign me up for that.

Speaker 2:

I was like sign me up. Honestly, a great way to spend your money you can never go wrong by putting your money into the things that will affect you. You may not do politics, but politics does.

Speaker 1:

That's for sure, 100%, my dear. Thank you so much. I want you to come on, cause we're. I want you to come back Cause we're out of time. Jasmine, if people wanted to connect with you social, check out your broadcast and, and when you're coming back to Florida, when you come back to Florida, we got to get together whenever you're back in town.

Speaker 2:

Well, now, with all these, hurricanes.

Speaker 1:

Yeah well, so how do people connect with you? What do they find you? How do they connect with you?

Speaker 2:

So I am on TikTok, instagram, twitter. I'm not calling him X. His mama named him Twitter. That's what I'm going to call him. I am on Facebook. I don't use it much, but you can find me pretty much on anything as underscore, news, bank, n, e, w S, b, a, e.

Speaker 1:

B A E. Underscore news N E W S. Underscore N E W S B A E. Got it. So we'll make sure all of what we all, we all check you out. We follow you on there. Thank you so much, my dear Love to have you come back okay.

Speaker 2:

Love that for me.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Martin Perdomo

Host