Why does Rand Paul have to do reporters' job for them?

Yahoo News reported on Thursday (emphasis added), “A top NIH official admitted in a Wednesday letter that U.S. taxpayers funded gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses in Wuhan and revealed that EcoHealth Alliance, the U.S. non-profit that funneled NIH money to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, was not transparent about the work it was doing...

The revelation vindicates Republican senator Rand Paul, who got into heated exchanges with National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease director Anthony Fauci during his May and July testimonials before Congress over the gain-of-function question. At the second hearing, Paul accused Fauci of misleading Congress by denying that the U.S. had funded gain-of-function projects at the Wuhan Institute of Virology."

We now know about this funding because an NIH official admitted it.

But when the Paul and Fauci exchange originally happened, how many reporters thought it wise to investigate and see if there was any validity to Paul's claims?

When @randpaul asked Fauci if the NIH had funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab, reporters spent their time mocking Paul instead of investigating if it was true.

Now we know it’s true. Why does a US senator have to do reporters job for them? #ArrestFauci #FauciLied pic.twitter.com/a4EQ9SjH4O — Jack Hunter (@jackhunter74) October 25, 2021

How many "journalists" instead reflexively mocked Paul and defended Fauci?

The media today see its job as promoting and protecting the Biden administration, not challenging it.

Americans should know if their tax dollars went toward funding gain-of-function research in a Chinese lab and the potential implications of that research regarding the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Americans do know thanks to the efforts of Rand Paul, who, as a U.S. senator, did the investigating and reporting that no journalist thought important to do.