Liberal media networks CNN, NBC, and MSNBC have promoted the notion that Republicans don’t deserve equal coverage with their Democratic counterparts. They often claim that Republicans are anti-Democratic and more likely to spread falsehoods.
Joy Reid and Mathew Dowd (left-wing political analyst) suggested Monday night on MSNBC’s “The ReidOut” that the media had been too neutral in reporting on the Republican Party and needed to increase the hostility. She said that the two sides were “not equal” and urged her fellow journalists to tell voters the GOP was a “threat to freedom.”
Dowd was asked by her how she thought the media could “get off” this “both sides” trajectory. Dowd advised them to treat Republicans as if they lived in a society that wasn’t free.
Don Lemon, CNN’s primetime host, had rejected the notion that Republicans and Democrats should have equal media coverage a week prior. Lemon said that the freedom to speak his truth and advocate for his views was “imperative” because journalists don’t live in a “Walter Cronkite society.”
We cannot believe that there is a false sense or equivalency in what is happening with politics in the United States. Lemon stated that there is only one party that isn’t operating in truth right now. That party is the Republican Party.
Brian Stelter, a CNN host, also asked whether Republicans should receive the same coverage in December as Democrats. This was during a conversation with Jackie Calmes, a Los Angeles Times columnist, about her article condemning “both-siderism.”
“Is it possible that we are treating Republicans and Democrats equally, but ignoring GOP radicalism?” That’s the root of the problem. Stelter asked.
Lester Holt, NBC News anchor, was praised by liberal media figures last March after he said that reporters don’t have to hear both sides to a story to find the truth.
Holt stated that “It’s becoming clear that fairness doesn’t reflect the world in which we live.”
Later, he stated that reporters have a duty to “fairly tell the truth” and urged others not to give time or attention to opposing views.
He said, “Decisions not to give unsupported arguments equal attention are not a dereliction or some kind of agenda. In fact, it’s the exact opposite.”
Similar arguments were also made by MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell and Nikole Hannah Jones, New York Times Magazine author and 1619 Project author, and ex-New Republic editor Peter Beinart, and ex-TIME managing editor Richard Stengel.
A June Pew Research Center survey of almost 12,000 journalists found that most don’t believe either side deserves equal coverage.
According to the poll, 55% of respondents said that not all sides “deserve equal coverage.” 44% agreed with the statement that journalists should report on both sides.
This seems to contradict the previous response. An overwhelming majority (82%) of journalists said that journalists should not share their personal opinions in reporting. However, only 55% of them told Pew they believe that journalists are succeeding in this goal.
