Joe Rogan calls media ‘propaganda department’ after Atlanta violence

Joe Rogan accused members of the mainstream media of acting like a “propaganda department” this week while taking issue with some recent coverage of violent anti-police protests in Atlanta in recent days.

“The Joe Rogan Experience” host slammed media portrayals of the Atlanta protests and similar situations during a discussion about the rise of media bias and tribalism in public discourse.

“‘Mostly peaceful, oh it’s mostly peaceful.’ I f—king saw someone again say this, because of what happened in Atlanta,” Rogan said during Wednesday’s podcast. “They were calling it mostly peaceful. You’re not the f—king propaganda department, you can’t define things in a way to calm people down.”

Rogan didn’t mention a specific segment about the protests or a certain network that drew his ire.

However, guest Adam Curry noted the Atlanta violence had taken place in the “backyard” of CNN, which is headquartered in the city and has faced anger from the right over its portrayal of violent protests in the recent past.

“Someone should come along that does what they do, but do it in a way where you’re not lying, where you’re only giving information, the uncomfortable information that people probably don’t want to hear,” Rogan continued.

An angry mob burned a police car, smashed windows and vandalized walls last Saturday. The violence took place in front of a building that housed the Atlanta Police Foundation.

The crowd took to the streets of Atlanta to protest the shooting death of a 26-year-old activist the previous Wednesday. The initial protest took place at the site of a planned police training facility that critics have dubbed “Cop City.”   

Authorities said the activist was killed after opening fire on troopers who were trying to clear the area, wounding one officer.

Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said authorities made six arrests last Saturday and recovered explosive devices.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, a Democrat, said the group of six individuals were responsible for the outbreak of violence.

“They had explosives. They burned down a police car, they broke windows at businesses. And so our police department, along with our state and federal partners, took swift action within two blocks and brought that situation under control,” Dickens said.

On Thursday, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency and activated 1,000 members of the National Guard to protect against the possibility of more violence this weekend.

CNN and other left-leaning networks previously faced sharp criticism over their coverage of violent protests in US cities in the summer of 2020, after the police-involved death of George Floyd prompted a nationwide wave of demonstrations.