The Great Pretender
The Maui Fires and A Faux Journalist: A Terrible and Questionable Combination. By Albert Lanier
In early August of 2023, the Island of Maui which has become both a tourist hot spot within the State of Hawaii and a favorite getaway for a number of movie stars experienced a catastrophe that looked like something out of a disaster movie.
The tourist town of Lahaina was the tragic target of what can only be seen as a vicious mix of horrible conditions: High winds of at least 60 mph as a result of a passing hurricane, downed power poles and electrical lines still pulsing with power and indefatigable and overwhelming fires that acted almost like an invading army.
The result was devastation: More than 110 individuals declared dead, over 2,000 buildings destroyed , houses reduced to ash and foundation and businesses gone. The historic West Maui town was now ironically history .
In the aftermath of this disaster, FEMA and other Federal and State agencies as well as County and State officials came to Maui.
So too did Nick Sortor.
Billed as an Independent Journalist, Sortor soon ended up making a bit of a name for himself at a press gathering where he tried to confront Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen about missing children .
Sortor’s antics got him on the news- a local TV news outlet Hawaii News Now did a brief segment on him.
However it was sometime later when Sortor was being interviewed outdoors for former Trump official Steve Bannon's online show The War Room that the so called Independent Journalist made a splash online .
As Sortor was talking to Bannon, a bespectacled man in a baseball bat walked up behind him and greeted him noting he was trying to reach him on X ( formerly Twitter) . At one point , the unknown man claimed Sortor had stated he was staying in a tent and then accused him of taking up resources . Sortor for his part accused the man of tracking him down and nervously walked away though still doing his interview
It came off as contrived and suspicious but the War Room interview gone sideways turned out to be great publicity for Sortor and helped create an image of him as a fearless, intrepid journalist.
The problem though is that Nick Sortor is not a journalist. Not really .
It turns out Nick Sortor's apparent expertise is in Real Estate .
The Kentucky based Sortor is listed on both the Realtor and Zillow websites. On Zillow, Sortor's specialties include Commercial Real Estate.
This is relevant information to know about Sortor especially since stories have emerged of families who lost homes on Maui being contracted by individuals seeking to buy their properties.
Thus Sortor's real estate background logically should be scrutinized .
What also has come to light is that Sortor apparently has a pattern of traveling to areas where disasters have occurred and engaging in so -called “reporting”.
Earlier in 2023, Sortor traveled to East Palestine , Ohio where in February more than a train that had toxic chemicals as cargo derailed causing possible hazardous conditions for residents .
In an article on Media Matters of America's website entitled “East Palestine reveals how right wing media has continued to poison 'Citizen Journalism ‘“, writer Ilana Berger notes that “Nick Sortor has become right wing media's go to source for commentary and information on what is happening in East Palestine , Ohio…”
Berger's article which discusses the tactics of both Sortor and another faux journalist influencer Savannah Hernandez notes that Sortor's “credentials as a journalist “ apparently “don't really exist”
In fact , Berger notes earlier in the piece “Despite being referred to as a video journalist being referred to as a video journalist by multiple news outlets , according to his Linked in , Sortor does not have a background in media…”
East Palestine was important in establishing the cover of Reporter for Nick Sortor and what apparently a formula he utilizes anywhere he goes:
Upload an attention grabbing video-Sortor did this initially in Ohio with footage of a local resident throwing an rock into what Sortor claimed was a contaminated body of water . Sortor video got a reported 10 million views online.
Get on as many outlets preferably right wing news shows and get interviewed-Sortor got interviewed by Tucker Carlson when his show was then on Fox News in February . He also did interviews about East Palestine for the One America News (OAN) Network and the online Charlie Kirk Show.
Blame officials and politicians notably Democrats and engage in fear and rumor mongering- Sortor heaped scorn on the Biden Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency in Ohio and ratcheted up fears of pollution and contamination.
In Maui, Sortor followed his playbook by putting out video of his efforts to harangue the Mayor of Maui, doing interviews with a host of outlets like OAN, The Blaze and local station KUSI in California and excoriating Mayor Nissan , Hawaii Governor Josh Green and President Joe Biden .
Sortor doesn't engage in anything. resembling reporting . He puts out an occasional Tweet usually ranting about some new development . Sortor doesn't interview anyone or even discuss or dissect the news because he is too busy being interviewed on shows .
An amateur posing as a reporter and making irresponsible assertions might normally require little to no response or examination .
However in an atmosphere where at least several dozen people have died. and an entire town has been burnt to the ground , engaging in spurious, reckless and unsubstantiated charges and conspiracies and calling it news is not just irresponsible but immoral .
There are many questions left unanswered about the fires and their causes . These need to be answered and examined by professionals in the news business not by business people posing as reporters .
Sortor has a “Journalism Relief Fund” for Lahaina set up online . It has a goal of $20,000 and at one point had raised $1,920.
More than thirty pieces of silver here but the principle remains in this case.