When is a story about farmers NOT about farmers? When the farmers are but a narrative device with which the media can stealthily advocate for a preferred policy in peril. In this case, farmers used as human shields so NBC can advocate for the Green New Deal (under its actual name, the Inflation Reduction Act).
Watch the report in its entirety, as aired on NBC Nightly News on Wednesday, February 19th, 2025 (Click “expand” to view transcript):
LESTER HOLT: With the president’s freeze on certain federal funding, some farmers aren’t getting critical government grants that they were counting on. They tell Emily Ikeda they’re struggling to pay their bills.
KEVIN LEAVITT: There’s about 100 of them out there.
EMILY IKEDA: Kevin Leavitt hoped these solar panels would help his Maine farm flourish.
LEAVITT: The hope here is these panels will produce…
