(Edit: During the course of writing this article, I was mistaken in thinking I heard them referring to the New York Times, when In fact they were speaking of the Phoenix New Times. The article has been changed to reflect that.)

Fox 10’s Kari Lake, out in Phoenix, Arizona, is an Emmy award-winning journalist and isn’t scared about what people might think of her connections to the right despite what her bosses may fear. Not only is she not afraid of having to answer for her account on Parler, she has some bombs to throw at her managers who are pushing her to hide her account.

Lake was about to do a Facebook live with her co-host John Hook when Hook informed Lake that the higher ups would like her to hide her Parler account because of its associations with the “far-right.”

“I think they just think it’s been branded as a far-right kind of place,” Hook said.

“Jesus,” said Lake, clearly annoyed.

“So they don’t want you tied in with anything like that, where you’re going to get blowback from the New Times or whoever it is,” continued Hook.

“F**k them. They’re 20-year-old dopes,” Lake asserted. “That’s a rag for selling marijuana ads”.

“I know,” Hook responded. “But then you’re in a position where they’ve gotta explain it or you’ve gotta explain it”.

“I’m reaching people,” Lake said.

To be clear, Parler is not a “far-right” social media network. Thousands on thousands have joined up with Parler over the last year due to Twitter’s clear preference for left-leaning accounts and its punishment of right-leaning accounts for so much as sneezing in the wrong direction.

It’s ridiculous that Lake should have to hide her Parler account out of fear that someone like the Phoenix New Times would see it and make her or the station answer for it, and while it’s fun to watch Lake drop “f-bombs” all over her timid managers, the real lede here shouldn’t be buried.

The entire reason that Lake was told to hide her Parler account in the first place is because of fears that the mainstream media would swoop in and label her or the station as alt-right sympathizers, showing the fear the mainstream media puts into people when it comes to expressing themselves, or even associating with certain people. The underlying words used by Hook show us some interesting things. Firstly, that they fear the New Times would actually feel the need to spotlight Lake’s association with the Parler platform, and that they would promote the idea that it is something that only far-right people associate with.

In truth, Lake had the right idea. It’s unclear if she is right or left leaning and, to be honest, it doesn’t matter. As she said, she’s reaching people. She’s willing to venture into places where people who think differently are and having conversations with them on level ground.

That, in my opinion, puts her above in a class of journalism above the New Times.