Equal Time: Providing Balance When Local Media Sanitizes the Left
In 1993, Rush Limbaugh changed the media landscape by providing what he described as “equal time” for conservative perspectives in a predominantly progressive-leaning media environment. For this reason, I attended the “No Kings” protest at Tom Hanafan River’s Edge Park in Council Bluffs on June 14, 2025, on a warm morning.
If you read my previous story, you already saw my highlights from the event: liberal use of expletives on protest signs, including the number “8647,” a woman dressed as the Statue of Liberty carrying a prop torch of Donald Trump’s severed head, and a woman screaming “OFF WITH THEIR HEADS” during a moment of silence. While American flags were present among the crowd, at least half of which were carried upside down, flags for Ukraine, Palestine, and the Progress Pride flag were more commonly displayed. One Mexican flag was deliberately placed above an American flag on the same pole.
None of these details were mentioned in the local media, which is why I was eager to attend and cover the event.
The local media coverage was predictably biased: plenty of direct quotes from attendees opposing Donald Trump and his immigration policies, extensive details about crowd size and diversity, and compliments from local police about the lack of arrests.
Not a word was mentioned about the veiled, or not-so-veiled, threats of assassination. I am fairly certain that if just one person at a Trump rally had called for the same against Joe Biden, the press would have covered that person exclusively.
Even the crowd size could not be confirmed objectively. While the Omaha Police reported the crowd at around 1,000, several media outlets used the organizers’ estimate of “roughly 10,000.” In my experience attending numerous Trump rallies over the years, I believe the number was much closer to the Omaha Police’s estimate.
Attending an event like this, in person, is like putting on the glasses from the 1988 film “They Live.” You go from seeing the cheerful protests with American flags in the local media to seeing a prop of Donald Trump’s severed head carried by a woman dressed as the Statue of Liberty. Signs shift from messages like “United We Stand” and “Choose Love” to “F*** Trump” and “Is He Dead Yet?”
It has been a privilege to cover such exclusive news in my brief stint as a political blogger, if only because the local media refuse to report it. In that endeavor, I’m happy to continue providing “equal time” in covering the left while others prefer favorable coverage to boost the left’s agenda.