FILE – In this April 28, 2018 file photo, an audience member holds a ‘fake news’ sign during a President Donald Trump rally in Washington Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

This morning, I wrote about how MSNBC’s Joy Reid was hopeful that Fox News would face legal punishment for what she, her network, and other news organizations like CNN and the Washington Post describe as Fox’s “downplaying” of the threat from the Wuhan coronavirus.

In that piece, I referenced a supercut video from the Free Beacon’s David Rutz, which showed how often CNN, MSNBC, and the other outlets who are condemning Fox News severely downplayed the threat themselves.

The especially interesting thing about the clips in the video is that it wasn’t their opinion show hosts doing the downplaying. It came from their so-called objective reporters/anchors and their guests. In fact, it was fairly widespread, as the video and other documentation we’ll get into in a minute shows.

I believe the video warrants a standalone post because the story about how the media are deceiving people into thinking everyone but Fox News was on top of the seriousness of the Wuhan coronavirus has not gotten the widespread attention it deserves.

It’s about as dishonest of a smear campaign as they come.

Watch Rutz’s video mashup below, and make sure to take note of what CNN’s Anderson Cooper said about the Wuhan coronavirus as late as March 4th:

The Federalist also documented numerous instances of online and print media outlets from Vox.com to the New York Times to the Washington Post to CNN all downplaying the threat.

This graphic, which is making the rounds on social media, is a pretty staggering indictment of the mainstream media and their widespread downplaying of the virus in comparison to Fox News’ alleged incidents of it (h/t Legal Insurrection):

Media wasn’t exactly on the ball either… pic.twitter.com/P4qkyK1GoK

— Barbara Boland (@BBatdc) March 30, 2020

The smear campaigns by rival outlets are not going to stop even though they’ve been called out on their overwhelming hypocrisy, but it’s still worth noting all the same for the record – and definitely worth pointing out to to people who play the tiresome “bbbbut Fox News” game.

There’s something to be said about making sure you get your own house in order before you go pointing fingers at someone else’s. Too bad the CNNs and the MSNBCs of the world operate from the Orange Man Bad premise, instead of that one.