A Messina-Headlining Free Press Fest Ain’t Free, Johnny

by Travis Mateer

My palpable frustration with Montana’s media landscape got more palpable when I read earlier this week that the Montana “free” Press will be featuring Jim Messina at their Free Press Fest next month. Here’s Mr. Free Press, John Adams, promoting the three day event on campus:

“Free Press Fest is bringing together journalists, authors, leaders, decision-makers and Montanans to engage in informed, civil dialogue, celebrate Montana’s unique heritage and empower our community to make a difference,” said John Adams, editor-in-chief and executive director of Montana Free Press. “As we approach the 2024 election cycle and confront various challenges facing our state, the Fest is a crucial opportunity for Montanans to come together, exchange ideas and drive positive change.”

Are we supposed to be impressed that we have PERHAPS THE WORLD’S MOST SUCCESSFUL POLITICAL AND CORPORATE ADVISOR gracing our humble little town to lecture us about shitty corporate media hollowing out local newsrooms? Because I am FAR from impressed, and I made sure to let the Montana FREE Press know with a less-than-friendly message on their general voicemail.

To make sure clients and prospective clients of the Messina Group are impressed with this GREAT man’s achievements, here’s what Jim has supposedly done for Democrats and the world:

The mastermind behind President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, Jim Messina seized the reins on what Bloomberg Businessweek dubbed “the highest-wattage crash course in executive management ever undertaken”—and succeeded, earning the President another term in the White House. With the guidance of technology’s foremost leaders, Jim abandoned every step of a traditional presidential campaign and merged technology and politics in a way that was both unpredictable and unprecedented.

Jim’s strategies established the modern presidential campaign—Google’s Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt called it “the best-run campaign ever.” The American Association of Political Consultants later crowned him the Campaign Strategist of the Year.

In 2013, Messina launched The Messina Group. In this role, Messina provides strategic consulting to businesses around the world. The firm has been involved in winning public policy campaigns on five continents. TMG believes the most interesting problem in the coming years is: “Does regulation stifle or assist innovation?” Clients include Uber, Pillpack, Airbnb, Google, Delta Air Lines, Hutchison Whampoa, and over 300 others. In this role, Jim continues to advise Democratic organizations on domestic political issues in the US.

Since then Jim has led his team at The Messina Group in advising over thirteen Presidents and Prime Ministers on five continents including: UK’s Theresa May and David Cameron, Mexico’s Enrique Peña Nieto, Argentina’s Mauricio Macri, Italy’s Matteo Renzi, and in 2016, helped Spain’s President Mariano Rajoy win a surprising re-election margin.

How did John Adams transform himself from a reporter into a media entrepreneur? With a little help from the Institute for Non-Profit News, that’s how.

From the link (emphasis mine):

An accomplished political reporter, Adams had recently left the Great Falls Tribune amid a much-publicized Gannett restructuring. A couple of Montana’s top political journalists had just been let go by another chain when we spoke, creating a hole in the state’s media ecosystem. At the time, Adams was underemployed and eager to get back to work. But he wasn’t ready to be a media entrepreneur.

“I’m hoping that somebody comes up with a model and then says, ‘You know who we need? John Adams,’ and then I’m ready to go,” he told me then. “But I don’t know the likelihood of that happening. I hope that happens, that’s my great hope.”

Since then—with a little prodding from others—Adams has decided to try to build that model himself. The 37-year-old has started his own nonprofit news outlet, The Montana Free Press, under the fiscal sponsorship of the Institute for Nonprofit News. Adams chairs MTFP’s board, which also includes an attorney, former Democratic and Republican state senators, and an ex-investigative reporter who is now a licensed private investigator.

What does having a “fiscal sponsorship” mean for this local news effort? It means DEI bullshit, that’s what it means.

It’s unfortunate this penis-packing person with Caucasian-hued skin thinks making a deal with the DEI devil is how local news will be saved because I think the opposite will occur. For an example of what I’m talking about, here’s an article from the Montana Free Press about housing that I think exposes the influence that undermines this project’s claim that they are producing journalism and not agenda-driven propaganda (emphasis mine):

Among nearly two dozen suggestions included in a report released this week by Gov. Greg Gianforte’s housing task force is a proposal that, if adopted by next year’s Legislature, could prevent Montana’s largest cities from requiring that parking spaces be included with new multifamily housing developments.

That recommendation, authored by Bozeman housing activist Mark Egge, argues that requiring fewer parking spaces for urban-density development will make it cheaper and easier to build affordable housing units. It also argues that larger Montana cities can use public transit systems to make cars less necessary for residents and that private sector developers will still include parking with many projects.

“More than half of renter households in Montana have one or zero vehicles available, yet in most Montana cities any dwelling with two or more bedrooms would be required to have multiple parking spaces,” the report says. “Parking spaces add measurably to the cost of housing.”

Here’s the question readers of this “news” outlet should be asking themselves: WHY is parking the focus of this article when there are over two dozen recommendations to choose from? Could it be that reducing parking is part of a LARGER goal? Like the global movement to herd humans into 15 minutes cities, perhaps?

At first glance, the 15-minute city spells the end for the parking industry. Designed specifically to cut emissions from private car usage, the city planning model calls for decentralized neighborhoods where residents can live, learn, shop and work without needing to drive. The 15-minute city would enable people to get anywhere they need to go in a quarter of an hour by walking, cycling or taking public transit.

A key tactic for cities implementing the 15-minute model? Cutting back on parking. Paris converted the parking lot of its Caserne des Minimes barracks into a public garden. Melbourne, Austrailia; and Amsterdam, among other cities, have converted curbside parking spaces into bike lanes. Cities across the United States are eliminating parking minimums.

Anyone who uncritically accepts this premise is, in my opinion, a useful idiot who doesn’t understand the anti-human goals of the psychopath class, and this lack of understanding is what a news outlet supported by the Institute of Non-Profit News is unwittingly promoting.

If you appreciate my ability to identify and resist DEI bullshit and globalist talking points, please consider donating to Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF). My lack of institutional support means donations, like the $50 dollar donation I just received, are not just appreciated, they are critically needed so I can cover the basic expenses of living. If you’re on the fence about supporting my work, hop off that fence and send some financial support TODAY!

Thanks for reading!