Liberal partisans are grabbing onto a Friday column in The Daily Mail to destroy any trace of fairness and integrity in reporting. Los Angeles Times by Jackie Calmes, who was an “objective” reporter for decades. The headline was “Why journalists are failing the public with ‘both-siderism’ in political coverage.”
Jay Rosen, an academic genius who champions unabashed socialism, in news columns, and newscasts. tweeted “I have been waiting for this column — by a former political reporter — for a very long time.” It was my theme.
It wasn’t difficult to “cover both sides”, Republicans or Democrats for many years. They were equally valuable and blameworthy as partners in democracy …..
Now I don’t listen or read when pundits and reporters say “both sides” about a political problem.
As a congress reporter during Newt Gingrich’s Republican revolution, I began to be irritated by false equivalence quarter century ago. His party was clearly more to blame for the divisiveness and gridlock in government and the norm-busting. Yet, journalistic pressures to create balanced stories — both embedded and enforced by editors — kept reporters from accurately reflecting the new truth.
In their provocative book, Thomas E. Mann (political scientist) and Norman J. Ornstein (long-respected Washington watchers), placed the blame for dysfunction on the GOP as Obama faced the conspiracists, racists, and obstructionists in 2012. This is even worse than it looksThey are. They also implicated journalists. “A balanced treatment for an unbalanced phenomena is a distortion in reality and a disservice towards your customers.”
It shouldn’t have come as a shock that Donald Trump was elected president four years later. Mann and Ornstein are more apt to repeat their warning than ever, given Trump’s continued grip on the Republican Party during the Biden era.
Calmes suggests even that the focus on Biden or the Democrats now is an omission and disservice. It’s time to stop focusing on “both-siderism.” in the news. Democracy is at risk. Trump’s stance on accountability makes it impossible to be responsible!
Journalists and pundits are critical of President Biden, Democrats, to the point that they focus on him and his administration.Give short shrift and ignore the obstacles of Republicans — as if Trumpism’s cancer was in remission, but not cured. Disserves readers and distorts the truthListeners, viewers and others.
It is literally a matter of life and death: Republicans have blocked federal voting rights legislation. Those in red states are continuing to challenge Biden’s 2020 vote, but not their own. They also pass laws that will suppress any future votes, which would be detrimental to Democrats.
While there are real differences between Democrats and Republicans over huge new spending, Calmes continues to blame the Republicans for not helping the Democrats spend large.
The Republican Party isn’t serious about solving the country’s real problems and governing it.
Republicans have no problem recognizing the issues, or proposing solutions.
Calmes ended by complaining about Republican opposition to the very partisan January 6 special committee and Republicans still appearing with Trump at rallies.
Elle concluded, “These guys are not on the same level as Democrats. Journalists shouldn’t cover these guys as though they were.“
PS. Bill Buzenberg (an ex-VP at NPR) was among many to spread the plea for more political partisanship.
Great Op Ed — important message for every journalist. You are also welcome to NPR or PBS. Please don’t “balance” the truth with an outright, calculated lie, and call it objective reporting or interviewing. https://t.co/fN6nCU0jyz
— Bill Buzenberg (@Buzenberg) October 16, 2021
