Philip DeFranco is probably the most trusted news person on YouTube
and in an era where mainstream news is suspect
and allegations of fake news fly even from the president's mouth...
You are fake news. Go ahead.
...that might make Philip DeFranco the most trusted news person in America.
In this video, I want to talk about what you can learn from Phily D.
in terms of generating that kind of trust and respect
even when you're talking about really controversial topics
and let me warn you, this isn't always going to be easy but as Phil says, let's just jump into it.
First is the issue of bias.
In news, many on the right and the left go to great lengths to portray themselves as unbiased
which is what you may do in your own life when you're trying to be persuasive
whether it's to win a political argument or just to get someone to go to the restaurant that you like.
Instead, look at what Phil does.
...FCC identified internet services as a common carrier.
...as a regulatory designation known as Title II which essentially means that it's a utility.
But now there's a new FCC chairman saying he wants to reverse the mistake of Title II and reclassify it as a Title I.
Before I move forward, just so you know where I stand on this,
I believe that it should remain Title II — that it should remain as a utility.
We need a free and open internet...
...not standing by a free and open internet — one that is seen by the FCC as a utility is pro-monopoly.
It's anti-business and it's disgusting to me that this is even a possibility.
But that's my opinion — back to the story of Pi makes this proposal...
Phil clearly delineates between the facts of the story and his own opinion.
Rather than hide his bias, he reveals it.
This might seem counterintuitive if you're trying to win someone to your side.
After all wouldn't knowing that you're biased make them more likely to resist?
Actually, no.
Because we are so overexposed to people who are trying to persuade us through secretive means
in ads, on the news, and in our daily lives, we know that people have biases and ulterior motives
and we're most suspicious of those people who claim not to have them.
So in revealing his own biases, Phil separates himself from a lot of the deception going on in the mainstream news
and actually makes people more able to trust him.
While we may not agree with his opinion, we can trust his facts.
...and that is you are going to disagree with but unlike most places you're going to consume news or consume opinion, it is okay here.
...going to be the facts, the different points of views, the different arguments from all sides, and then I will give my opinion and it is okay.
It's okay to disagree — we all don't live in one of two or three boxes.
But being trustworthy isn't just about reviewing your biases.
If you want people to truly trust you,
you're going to have to act against your own interests on occasion.
After all, if a waiter tells you to get the most expensive entree
and the most expensive bottle of wine, are you going to trust him? Probably not.
But if he recommends a cheaper bottle of wine and says that it's actually better,
do you trust him then? Almost definitely.
This is what Philip DeFranco does.
He acts against his own financial interest and it makes us trust him even more.
For starters, he hasn't stopped covering controversial topics
even though YouTube has hammered his ad revenue for it.
He also stopped all ads on what would become his second most popular video ever
because he didn't want to use this situation to make money off of child abuse which was a topic in that video.
Today's video, I've removed all advertising, I have rescheduled a sponsor that it was originally scheduled today
and that's because I don't want to talk about a story today and have it in any way seem like I'm exploiting the situation.
The situation deals with children and I know that one of the arguments is going to be that — you're trying to exploit my children.
I need to pull the advertising for this video because the story is far more important.
So that said, let's jump into it.
And when launching his own news channel,
Phil turned down offers from major networks in favor of a crowdfunded subscription model.
He may have made more money — in fact, likely would have — with those major networks
but he would have lost creative control.
I want to do it independently to make sure no corporate interests can manipulate and control how the news is presented — being forced to talk about a topic
or not being able to talk about a topic or having to push some sort of agenda — those strings can't be there if I truly want to create this.
And I say that having been offered to be a part of something much bigger
than what I'm doing now to build someone else's property
or to even go with my vision but still be able to be controlled.
So if you want a tip that sounds like it might hurt you but will ultimately give you a better life
and make you more trustworthy, it's just that.
Place honest expression over financial gain.
That might mean that when the cashier accidentally undercharges you,
you say something and pay the full price rather than pocketing the extra
or that when you have a client that your product just isn't the best fit for,
you tell them rather than selling it at any cost.
For me, it means that we don't use any fake countdown timers on Charisma University or any of the courses that we sell.
We don't say, "Limited to 25 people," and then sell 30 spots.
And when people ask if our courses are going to get their ex back, I tell them, "Honestly, probably not."
Yes, adopting this mentality might cost you in the short term
but if you build up a reputation of trustworthiness,
you'll find that it does come back to you plus it's just the right thing to do.
And this brings me to the main point of this video
which is — knowing your principles and living them.
Phil DeFranco is going to be an even bigger force to be reckoned with because he lives by his principles
whereas brands like Pepsi pay lip service to the ideas like "Join the conversation,"
Phil DeFranco actually cares about having a conversation and he responds to comments every single Friday
even going so far as to change his on mind on reporting that he done just a few days earlier —
kind of like you might expect someone to do if they were having a real conversation.
...Happiest Meal mentioned, "asking people only to shop at places owned and operated by minorities and women,
I don't agree with that at all.
Refusing to patronize a business because of their gender or race
is either sexist, racist, or both even if the gender is male and the race is white.
That's a really... that's a good argument.
That's actually a fantastic point that I didn't think of myself.
Off the top of my head, I don't know how to argue against that point because——
If this is something that you supported, let me know in the comments
how you think it's not the negative thing that was just thrown out there.
Phil also rips different news outlets for not doing the appropriate research.
For instance, when PewDiePie was accused ridiculously of being a Nazi sympathizer,
Phil bashed Wired for not taking the context of Felix's jokes into account.
Do your research. I'm a guy on the Internet — you're supposed to be a journalist.
... so for some of these mainstream outlets that are trying to cover this,
I want you to know, you're overextending, you're looking silly
and you are just adding to the conversation of why you should not be trusted.
Yes, there are racist organizations that do like PewDiePie
but also, if you go through those sites on your research, you'll find there are a lot of people that do not like him
and there are going to be more people that do not like him because he even issued somewhat of an apology
and much like you, but to a different capacity, they are seeing they want to see out of his content.
But to his credit, he didn't stop at just being critical of Wired.
He actually goes out of the way to research salacious claims that could make for great videos
but turned out to be false and that winds up giving him less amazing cover stories
but a much more trustworthy network.
...last thing I want to mention very briefly — I had a ton of people messaging me about this this morning.
People are messaging me that Mike Martin of Daddyofive was trying to raise money to sue me
over the videos where I talked about his videos this week.
...a link to GoFundMe. It says "...Philip DeFranco's false claims.
He's been spreading lies about us and putting our family through hell.
We're also considering taking Franco to court for all the pain and suffering and money he's causing us to lose."
Before you get your pitchforks, everything I've seen from this, it does not seem to be real.
I mean the page was created and on the page, it says it was created by Mike Martin
but it wasn't linked to a real Facebook page.
I haven't seen it promoted on any of their social media, that GoFundMe was also later deleted...
The main point as far as the GoFundMe and the legal stuff,
at this point, I have no reason to believe that it is real
and of course the last thing I would want would be people sharing fake news and just getting people riled up.
Just about everybody thinks that they live by principles but in truth,
very few do because there is a price to be paid when you live by your principles.
If you value dialogue, you need to be open to changing your mind
by talking with someone that you really might not like.
And if you value honesty, you need to tell the truth even when it sucks.
Most people, instead, adjust their principles to fit their desires.
They convince themselves that it's okay to lie in such and such a context or that
whatever group they disagree with doesn't really deserve to have the free speech protections
as was the case in the Berkeley protests where people like
Maile Ohye Innopolis and Ann Coulter were effectively barred from speaking due to violence.
Here's what Phil had to say about that situation.
...I do not like what Ann Coulter says — I think that she should have the right to say it.
Suppression of free speech is not a win whether it be against your friend or an enemy.
If someone has a flawed or horrible argument, let them air it out so the world can know how stupid they are.
I can never support people that cheer because someone's not able to say something
because they were literally scared for their lives.
Anyone who cheers on the suppression of free speech whether it be something you agree with or something you don't, you are no friend of mine.
Again, the point is that living in a principled way has a cost.
So I encourage you right now to think about the principles that you'd like to live by, the person you'd like to be,
and ask yourself what it is going to cost you to make those principles real.
If you value honesty, what difficult truths do you need to tell?
If you value having an open dialogue, who have you been shutting out you should probably converse with?
And if you value self-expression, what parts of your personality have you been hiding in order to fit in?
If you could pay the cost of living by your principles,
you immediately separate yourself from the pack just like Phil DeFranco has done in the news world
and even though it's tough and even though it might cost you and likely will cost you
in the short term, the principled person that you become is worth it.
So if you have anyone else that you'd like to see me cover
or topics that you'd like to see covered, please go ahead and write those in the comments below.
I always read those and those really do inform the videos that I do.
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If you're interested, I also set up a video on h3h3
who has very similar traits to Phily D. and if you want to see that,
you can click here to watch that or the mystery video below it.
I hope that you like this video and I will see you in the next one.