Pay It Forward, FreedomFest, & SCOTUS Won't Hear Challenges to AB5

Here's the latest dispatch.

Jul 09, 2022

Good evening,

For you newbies out there, welcome to Outsider on the Inside. I hope this dispatch from in and around the nation’s capital on underreported topics finds you well.

If you’re just discovering my musings, here’s a backgrounder.

Here’s what I have for you today.

Paying It Forward in Conservative Media

Townhall’s Matt Vespa (L), Me (Middle), Free Beacon’s Patrick Hauf (Right) pictured with Media Research Center Summer 2022 interns. // Credit: Cari Lancaster

Did you know I interned at Media Research Center ten years ago this summer? If you didn’t, check out my byline here. I was a Summer 2012 Capitol Hill Reporting Intern in their CNS News Division. I spent two months working out of the organization’s former Alexandria, VA office before their move to Reston.

If you’re unfamiliar with MRC, here’s some background:

The MRC’s commitment to neutralizing leftist bias in the news media and popular culture has had a critical impact on the way Americans view the liberal media.
The MRC is able to effectively educate the public about left-wing media bias by integrating cutting-edge news monitoring capabilities with a sophisticated marketing operation. MRC generated an average of 449.6 million impressions each week last year. This includes radio, television, social media, email, and websites.
The Media Research Center is a research and education organization operating under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions are tax-deductible to the maximum extent of the law. The MRC receives no government grants or contracts nor do we have an endowment. We raise our funds each year from individuals, foundations, and corporations.

Fast forward 10 years: I recently spoke to MRC Summer 2022 interns about succeeding in journalism today and dispensed some tips on “making it” and surviving in “This Town” (the Greater Washington D.C. Metro Area).

I reflected on my experience and wasn’t alone in sharing my thoughts. I was joined by my good pal and Townhall Media Senior Editor Matt Vespa and Washington Free Beacon’s Patrick Hauf. Matt and I served as interns together in the same Summer 2012.

Without a doubt, MRC had a profound impact on my freelance media career a decade ago. I’ll forever cherish my time as CNS News Capitol Hill Reporting Intern and hope to mentor some talented up-and-comers in the future. In fact, I am currently mentoring an MRC Intern this summer!

Thank you, Cari, and MRC for hosting us at the office recently. I hope to come back again soon.

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I’m Speaking at FreedomFest Next Week!

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SCOTUS Won’t Hear a Challenge to Disaster CA AB5 Bill

After issuing a string of excellent rulings, the Supreme Court broke my heart by denying certiori to two lower court cases challenging California’s disastrous anti-freelancer law (Assembly Bill 5).

As I explained at Independent Women’s Forum this week:

One case was filed by journalists and photographers challenging the law’s unlawful carve outs that severely restricted their right to freelance, while the second suit pertained to California’s trucking agency.
By not hearing California Trucking Association v. Bonta, a “2020 stay” on AB5 applying to trucking thawed and now goes into effect against owner-operators in the Golden State.
FreightWaves reports, “This winding history leads us back to Thursday, when the Supreme Court, without comment, declined to review the Bonta case, leaving the 9th Circuit’s decision intact and clearing the way for AB5 to apply to motor carriers operating in California. The stay previously issued by the 9th Circuit directs that its mandate will take effect immediately upon the denial of certiorari by the Supreme Court.”