Vinny Martorano, a CBS Austin news reporter, is receiving praises from the MAGA circles after he ignored a message that he received from his bosses during a live coverage and went ahead to cover a pro- Trump rally. Martorano is being hailed as a hero and is also getting job offers in case he faces any adversity in his present workplace as he defied the orders from the higher-ups.
During a Facebook Live Stream, a crew member handed Martorano a phone showing him a message. The reporter asked what it meant. The crew members told him that the office did not want them to focus on the pro-Trump rally. “Alright. Well, I am,” Martorano said.
The participants in the rally that Martorano was covering were shouting ‘Thank you Trump! Thank you Bibi’ as the US attacked Iran and eliminated the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei triggering a major escalation in the Middle East.
As Martorano opened his piece to the camera, he did not glorify the pro-Trump protests either. “There are a lot of mixed opinions across Austin about the joint attack between the United States and Israel against Iran that happened earlier this morning.
Some people like this group behind me are thanking Trump and the United States government for following through with this attack against Iran, while other people across the city say there needs to be more peace in the Middle East,” he said.
But the BTS drew flak for CBS Austin as MAGA activists claimed that CBS Austin was trying to suppress one side of the story. But CBS Austin posted the BTS from their social media handles.
CBS Austin is not owned by CBS. The station, KEYE-TV, is owned and operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group, one of the largest and most conservative-leaning media conglomerates in the United States.
Martorano, a Ball State University journalism graduate, hasn’t commented after he went viral. On his social media, he posted videos of covering protests from both pro-Trump and anti-Trump groups. “A group of people are protesting at the state capitol against the US’s recent attack in Iran this morning, saying there needs to be peace worldwide wide,” he wrote.
“‘Thank you Trump’. A large group of people in front of the Texas Capitol are celebrating the coordinated strike against Iran early this morning. Some people I spoke with moved to Austin from Iran,” he wrote about the protest that made him viral.
