If anyone is looking for some fresh manure you can find it
in an article in THE ATLANTIC. MEET THE PRESS host Chuck Todd just wrote a
piece that’s full of it.
For years the press has lost their objectivity and those
viewing began stop watching. His reason? It’s that pesky Fox News and their
founder Roger Ailes. After a week of hearing how people shouldn’t talk ill of
the dead or how we should be more civil it comes as no surprise that Todd
focuses his frustrations this way.
Throughout the article he makes observations and accusations
against Fox News consistently ignoring the fact that every item he claims is
being done by every left leaning news group, including his own. It’s not new
and it’s been going on for decades even before Fox began airing. I’ve noticed
it but even members of the press have seen it as well. In the first paragraph
alone Todd cites things he was stunned by in a bad way. Amazingly enough they
all relate to Republicans.
He claims there is a “campaign to destroy the legitimacy of
the American news media.” I’m sitting here and thinking how one single news
channel can accomplish this. One. Single. Channel. One channel up against ABC,
CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, Free Speech TV, Fusion, Vice, Bloomberg Television
and even ESPN has weighed in over the past few years promoting liberal ideas.
Not to mention The New York Times, Newsweek, Time, The Washington Post and the
Miami Herald. An article at the business insider website shows 25 liberal news
sources and only 6 conservative. Among those 6 they include Glenn Beck, Rush
Limbaugh, Sean Hannity Fox News, Drudge Report and Breitbart. 3 radio hosts, 2
online sites and 1 network. Against 25 that include every major network. What
does it say that 1 news network can do that much damage to the credibility of
those 25?
He makes the claim that some conservative personalities “have
attained wealth and power by exploiting the fears of older white people.” Where
did they learn this from? Haven’t the press always stoked fear among people? If
you don’t think so look at the coverage given to similar stories. An unarmed
black man is shot and we hear about it for days. The exact same thing happens
to a white man and not a word from the networks. Both are terrible tragedies.
One is used to stoke fears that statistics prove wrong. By the way, Todd has a
net worth of $2 million.
He complains that “Ailes signaled that Fox News would offer
an alternative voice”. That sentence alone defeats his argument. Why would
there need to be an alternative unless all other voices were in lockstep?
He even goes back to blame the loss of Dukakis on Fox News.
Really? Did you not notice how terrible a candidate he was?
In a line talking about complaints that coverage of Trump
should be balanced with stories about Hillary he claims “one person is the
leader of the free world, and the other is a retiree living in the suburbs of
New York City.” I actually had to laugh out loud at that one. A little old
retiree in the suburbs? Really? Has he not added up the amount of time she
spent on TV last year? Has he not noticed her fund raising goals? I’ve seen her
in more locations around this country and the world since she lost the election
and have yet to see a picture of her in the suburbs of NYC. And almost all of
those times were on the mainstream media outlets. I would expect the acting
President to be in the news all the time but not the person who lost. Twice.
I’m flabbergasted when I read “Because journalists report on
new and controversial ideas all the time, it’s not uncommon for us to be
accused of championing an idea—think of same-sex marriage—that some members of
our audience find objectionable. Letting folks know that a movement is afoot,
and documenting its successes and failures, is our job.” Well that’s been the
whole problem. They do champion ideas. That’s not reporting facts, that’s
advocating for ideas, promoting them and manipulating stories to make it seem
like they are a vast movement. I noted an example of that earlier.
“Reporters, I fully acknowledge, bring their own biases to
their work.” Duh. That’s been the whole point. And the problem is that while he
acknowledges this he condemns Fox for doing so at the same time. So does that
mean it’s okay to have a bias as long as it one sided?
He notes that “we helped accelerate the campaign to
delegitimize the American press corps. From unforced errors by high-profile
anchors to the biggest missed news story of the 21st century—the lack of
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq—we have handed critics some lethal ammunition”
but that they then went back and corrected their mistakes. Well…so has Fox.
He says “The idea that our work will speak for itself is
hopelessly naïve” and that it will be manipulated by those who disagree. Well
not if your reporting is consistently accurate and presents the news from more
than a single unified viewpoint. And if you don’t think there is a single
unified viewpoint consider that a call to write editorials bashing Trump on
August 22nd was announced by those newspapers.
“Every day, we need to do our job, check our facts, strive
to be transparent, and say what we’re seeing.” I agree 100% and support this
statement he makes. How about just report the facts. Don’t weigh in, don’t turn
a news story into commentary, don’t manipulate the heartstrings with the way
you write the story, don’t tell part of the story while ignoring the rest. Want
an example? Separating children from their mothers at the border…without
mentioning it happened before Trump was elected…or that a large number were not
with parents but with human smugglers.
He complains that “Fox seems more comfortable than ever
pushing the limits of responsible behavior by a supposed news organization. It
recently allowed a sitting state attorney general to co-host a show for three
days. The network effectively gave a GOP candidate for Florida governor nearly
unfettered access to its airwaves during his primary campaign” ignoring the
fact that left leaning candidates or politicians can appear on a news network
like MSNBC on a nightly basis for weeks at a time.
Consider Rep. Adam Schiff. From January 23, 2017 until February 25, 2018,
Rep. Schiff, the Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence, participated in a whopping 227 television interviews, clocking a
cumulative total of 26 hours, 4 minutes, and 10 seconds on television. This
included his participating in 111 interviews with MSNBC for a total time of 12
hours, 5 minutes, and 50 seconds and 87 interviews with CNN for a total time of
10 hours, 58 minutes, and 50 seconds. This amounted to more time than he spoke
on the floor of the house which amounted to 10 times for a total of 36 minutes,
and 29 seconds. Or the amount of time he participated in House Intelligence
Committee open hearings on Russia interference in the 2016 election, a grand
total of only 13 hours and 18 minutes.
Near the end he says “I’m not advocating for a more activist
press in the political sense, but for a more aggressive one.” Really? A NPR
story noted a Pew study that found “Fully two-thirds of news stories about
Trump from his first 60 days in office were negative by that definition — more
than twice the negativity seen in stories from the first 60 days of Bill
Clinton, George W. Bush or Barack Obama's presidencies.” A March 2018 story in
The Washington Times reported that a Media Research Center study found that at the
big three networks (ABC, CBS and Todd’s own NBC) stories about President Trump “remains
91 percent negative”. Be more aggressive? Really?
One other thing to note about Todd’s whine. Like the
Democrats he calls out for confrontation. He writes that his colleagues should "start
fighting back" against Fox News. Someone took him for his word today and
did exactly what he called for. A man drove his truck into the studios of
Dallas Fox affiliate KDFW.
It seems to be a running thing with the left these days. Candidate
Obama told people that they should “I want you to argue with them and get in
their face!” Maxine Waters called for supporters to confront members of the
Trump administration. Tim Kaine who said “…fight in the streets”. Kathy Griffin
who held up a decapitated head of Donald Trump. Snoop Dogg having a video where
he shoots President Trump. Donny Deutsch who said people need to start taking
to the streets. Actor Davis Harbour who said “we will punch some people in the
face.” Who did a Shakespeare’s play about Caesar with Trump being stabbed to
death. Don’t believe me? Watch. And just add Chuck Todd’s misguided plea to the
list.
And if you’d like to read Todd’s article? Here is a link.
See what you think.
