Buzzfeed: Why Journalistic INTEGRITY Matters!

Don's Golden Nuggets
5 min readMay 18, 2019

β€œπ‘Ύπ’† 𝒂𝒓𝒆 π’π’π’˜ π’Šπ’ 𝒂 π’Žπ’†π’…π’Šπ’‚ π’†π’π’—π’Šπ’“π’π’π’Žπ’†π’π’• π’˜π’‰π’†π’“π’† π’šπ’π’– 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 π’†π’π’ˆπ’‚π’ˆπ’† π’Šπ’ 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒆 π’”π’•π’‚π’•π’†π’Žπ’†π’π’•π’”.” ~ Ben Smith, Buzzfeed Editor-in-Chief πŸ—£

Buzzfeed just published a defamatory article sharing anecdotes and β€œinsider” testimonies accusing Tony of sexual allegations and mistreatment back in the 1990’s. πŸ˜”

This is the same Buzzfeed that did a similar piece during Tony’s MeToo controversy last year when they cited a 10-minute video someone recorded at his event (out of a 40+ hour event) as β€œproof” he was some sort of misogynist. I was at that event, as well as the one they cite in their recent article about this past December. 😲

As expected, both situations were massively taken out of context in favor of sensationalized news by journalists who’ve never attended an event, let alone ever met the man personally. And it’s so easy to generalize what you don’t understand. It’s easier to label someone as β€œthis” or β€œthat” than take the time to know them or who they are. πŸ‘

It’s quite easy in our cynical society today to demonize a person from the safety of one’s computer, to cherry-pick details as β€œproof” that something more sinister is happening behind the scenes of the Rich and Powerful. Conspiracy theorists online do it all the time. πŸ€·β€β™‚οΈ

These days emotions can matter more than facts. But just because you β€œfeel” something to be true does not mean it is. That is why we have the beauty of facts; they stand regardless and outside of one’s feelings.

The problem is our emotions can be VERY faulty. πŸ‘

Emotions distort the facts about our pasts and color our perceptions every single day of our lives. 🌈

🌟 Whatever we believe and focus on about our lives, we will in turn experience it. 🌟

πŸ™Œ If we believe we are victims of our past, we’ll continue holding feelings of oppression for as long as we live.

πŸ™Œ If we believe our pasts don’t have to define our future, we’ll continue to find ways to become more than our pasts.

πŸ™Œ If we believe one of the feminist narratives that we live in a patriarchal society systemically designed to oppress woman and minorities, we’ll experience suffering with every interaction we have with men we believe are more β€œprivileged” than us.

β€œPain is inevitable. But suffering is optional.” πŸ—£οΈ

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not blindly siding with Tony. But I have more than massive skepticism for a news media which has a history of thriving on fear, decades-old controversy, and targeting Tony. 😞

Buzzfeed’s β€œproof” in their article are former disgruntled employees, cherry-picked anecdotes, and β€œinsiders” we cannot verify any of their claims. He’s an easy target for them; he’s rich, charismatic, and aren’t we all cynical of the Rich and Powerful’s motivations to truly do good for others! πŸ‘Ž

But they are grasping at straws of a 40+ years career of a man who’s actually influenced millions of lives to live less as Blaming Victims of the Past and more as Loving Conquerers of the Future. πŸ’¨

They cite a recording from Date With Destiny this past December of a woman who used the term β€œemotional violence” in regards to her husband. BuzzFeed tried to get her to support their article, but she refused. She even made her own video discounting Buzzfeed’s portrayal. I also had the privilege to meet her personally. πŸ˜”

Recording content is strictly prohibited at events. It’s not because of some diabolical means to hide what happens at events; it’s because snippets of these long events can take conversations and teachings greatly out of context. It’s so participants have a safe space to be extremely honest, open, vulnerable, and also be challenged on their limiting beliefs. πŸ™Œ

Buzzfeed violated the sanctity of this safe space and this beautiful woman’s privacy by releasing just 1 minute of the hour long conversation, all in the name of a false β€œsocial justice”. πŸ‘Ž

But to leave you all on a brighter note: the man responsible for the recording is under legal investigation and there are already legal actions being taken in regards to the whole fiasco. πŸ˜€

🌟 Don’t take what you read on the news at face value. It takes emotional liberties at the expense of objective truth. It’s done to startle you, to appeal to your emotions, to grab your attention first and foremost over the facts. 🌟

Here are just a few facts BuzzFeed, in their own words, β€œdon’t want you to know” 😱:

πŸ“Œ Contrary to BuzzFeed’s article: On Crew, management continuously encourages us throughout events to take care of our physical and mental health. They also provide us food and encourage us to take breaks whenever needed. Our health comes first.

πŸ“Œ Event days are long. It’s done intentionally to immerse oneself in the material being taught. Participants are well aware of this. They sign a waiver acknowledging the event’s physical and emotional demands, as well as the acknowledgement NOT to record content.

πŸ“Œ No event doors are locked, no one is told β€œyou can’t leave” the event, and people are free to enter and leave the room as much as they please.

πŸ“Œ Contrary to BuzzFeed’s article: the 2018 lawsuit they mention was actually filed by 2 former one-time Crew members claiming they were lawfully owed compensation for volunteering. Crew is a volunteer position. We all know we are volunteering without compensation; it’s why it is called β€œvolunteering”.

πŸ“Œ The concept of β€œmasculine and feminine energies” is not Tony’s own theory. It is actually rooted in the Hinduism concept of Shiva and Shakti as well as from other relationship authors.

πŸ“Œ Contrary to Buzzfeed’s portrayal: Tony does NOT β€œrandomly” pick people out of the audience to speak. Anyone he’s ever done an intervention with or been given a chance to speak raised their hand or voice in order to participate. No one is forced to speak.

πŸ“Œ Tony uses societal taboo words to snap people out of emotional states during interventions. This may include references to an β€œorgasm” or β€œmasturbation” precisely for that reason; it shocks us into a different emotional state, whether that’s into a β€œlaughing” one or a β€œbeing offended” one.

If anyone has any questions, I’m happy to help answer. I’m going to continue serving at Tony’s events and change the world for the better! ❀️

I unfortunately can’t say the same for Buzzfeed. πŸ‘Ž

Tony’s Open Letter to Buzzfeed

Others who work with Tony who Buzzfeed β€œfailed” to interview:

TAD SCHINKE, Head Trainer

ALONZO CAHOON, Director of Safety & Security

JOSEPH MCCLENDON III, Live Speaker at Events

SCOTT HARRIS, Live Speaker at Events

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SHARE this real truth! 😊

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#EnoughIsEnough #TruthIsPower #IStandWithTony #StepUpForTony

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#TonyRobbins #EnoughIsEnough #TruthIsPower #FactsOverFear

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