'Disgusting': Did DC outlet take BRIBES for positive coverage?



An alarming development from the depths of the media swamp has been brought to light by UnHerd’s Emily Jashinsky, who dropped a bombshell this week: Leaked documents expose Punchbowl News for offering corporations “editorial influence” — for the right price.

Jashinsky posted a brief overview of the expose on X, writing: “Breaking Points got ahold of a leaked pitch deck from Punchbowl News. The document reveals how they allow corporations to buy influence over editorial decisions.”

“WH told us several subscriptions were canceled by the Trump admin as well. We also have their numbers: They’ve charged corporate sponsors $210,000 for a week of email ads. You can see the pricing sheet, with subscriber numbers and open rates below,” Jashinsky continued.


Christopher Bedford, Blaze Media’s D.C. correspondent and senior editor for politics, isn’t surprised in the slightest.

“It’s the new journalism, same as the old journalism,” Bedford tells Matthew Peterson and Jill Savage on “Blaze News Tonight.”

“Punchbowl are essentially unregistered lobbyists,” he continues. “If Punchbowl was good at its job, then corporations wouldn’t actually need to hire lobbyists, they would be able to read that newsletter, maybe pay a premium.”

“What they often do, they push these different issues, advocacy things, they push their agenda, they spread Capitol Hill gossip, which is, you know, fun, but not necessarily that helpful, and they create all these false cliffs and these false deadlines,” he adds.

But that’s not all.

“Their reporting has been suffering,” Bedford explains. “Pedaling influence, selling influence, it’s kind of the game. And for so much of Washington, it’s really disgusting.”

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Watch Bernie Sanders melt down when RFK Jr. calls out Big Pharma campaign donations



When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. walked into his second Senate confirmation hearing, he brought a new weapon with him: exposing the hypocrisy.

In the first go-around, several Democrat senators, including Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), raked him across the coals for having a conflict of interest. Both were concerned about the profits he has already made and could potentially make as secretary of HHS from exposing the medical-industrial complex. That wouldn’t be ethical, they chided.

Of course, both of these senators received large campaign donations from Big Pharma. But Kennedy never mentioned this convenient information. Maybe because he was constantly being interrupted and was too busy trying to debunk the lies told about him.

But that changed in round two.

Sara Gonzales plays the clip of when Kennedy exposed Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for receiving $1.5 million in donations from the health care industry during his second hearing.

“By the way, Bernie, the problem of corruption is not just in the federal agencies. It’s in Congress, too. Almost all the members of this panel, including yourself, are accepting millions of dollars from the pharmaceutical industry,” he said.

“No, no, no, no, no!” Sanders reacted, wagging his finger.

“I got millions and millions of contributions. They did not come from the executives, not one nickel of PAC money from the pharmaceutical industry. They came from workers,” he added, turning redder by the second.

“In 2020, you were the single largest receiver of pharmaceutical money … $1.5 million,” Kennedy reiterated.

“Because I had small contributions from workers all over this country! Workers! Not a nickel from corporate PACs!” Sanders shouted before trying to rapidly change the subject.

“Guilty conscience got you, Bern?” laughs Sara.

“Can we just get rid of lobbyists?” pleads BlazeTV contributor Matthew Marsden.

Sara agrees that lobbyists need to go but knows it’ll never happen. “They will never agree to that” because “you’re not going to bite the hand that feeds you.”

Jaco Booyens adds that they will never agree to ban lobbyists for the same reason they will never vote to enact term limits: Both would be career suicide.

So much for being public servants.

To hear more of the conversation and watch the footage of Bernie Sanders losing his marbles, watch the clip above.

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