Partisanship in journalism has severely divided Americans. Getting back to common ground will be difficult.
Recently, Direct TV announced that it would no longer carry Newsmax, the station that promoted itself as an alternative to Fox News, and one in which many felt more effectively represented conservative values and ideals. Despite the beating that Fox News had taken over the years as extremely right-wing, many had viewed them as sympathetic to the democratic party, particularly the way the network handled coverage of the 2020 election, when Fox first announced that Arizona had been won by Joe Biden. Afterward, viewership of Newsmax soared, and Fox, long the target of many progressives, had a new competitor. One America News, another “right wing” network had also been cancelled by Direct TV, leaving many to wonder if something shady might be happening. Though it would be absurd not to believe that all of these networks had conservative biases, were they really any more than MSNBC, CNN, or the big three of ABC, NBC and CBS?
Partisanship in journalism has long been prevalent, but at no other time in history has the political leanings of networks shown this much manipulation. With a combination of Covid-19 fears and anti Trumpism in their arsenals, journalists from once respected sources such as the New York Times and Washington Post appeared to almost go out of their way to paint narratives based on personal vendettas rather than the facts placed in front of them. It’s why doctors such as Robert Malone and Peter McCullough were censored, why the Hunter Biden laptop story was ignored, and why after three years of pushing Covid hysteria, there seems to be some slight admittance that lockdowns might have been a mistake, due to it’s impact on education and mental health. Many credible voices had been saying this for three years, but lacked a platform to speak on. If you combine the censorship from social media outlets, it’s quite amazing that conservatives could still win one branch of government, or almost any political office for that matter. According to a Gallup poll this past October, only 34%, Americans’ trust the media media to report the news “fully, accurately and fairly”, far below the 72% who said the same thing in 1972. Regardless of political affiliation, all of us should ask what, if anything can help us return to a time when journalists reported news without trying to push ideology, and if it’s even possible.
Buzzfeed, which has been reporting news exclusively online since 2006, just announced that AI technology will be used to create content, reportedly to cut costs. But this is a dangerous road to travel, as AI can be used to further agendas, rather than base stories on factual information. Since it will not be created by an actual human being, it will most likely be devoid of emotion and sympathy. Although I’m no fan of liberal journalists, at least there is still a human connection with the audience. AI entering journalism shows a continued path down a road in which society will feel cold and lifeless.
I have no doubt Americans would tune into a news station that reports fairly and honestly. That doesn’t mean journalists shouldn’t be opinionated in what they believe. This type of personality is what often makes news entertaining, and the host is more of a commentator than reporter. Before Sean Hannity was just “Hannity”, he was part of Hannity and Colmes, his counterpart being Alan Colmes, who held progressive views. There was a balance to the show, and comradery that sadly, does not exist in today’s news environment. Chris Cuomo, who was fired by CNN, recently started hosting a show on NewsNation, with the promise of fairness and accuracy rather than partisan politics. Hopefully, this promise is kept.
Journalism used to have a standard, a code of ethics, in which sensationalism was never the goal to attract ratings. But much of the news is now similar to the ethics of the National Enquirer, and it seems to suit them fine as long as a narrative can be created to support woke culture. Corporations appear to be in on this as well. There is no reason that the number one cable talk show, Tucker Carlson Tonight, needs to show multiple My Pillow commercials just because advertisers cower in fear over backlash from corporations that clearly have an agenda to promote certain ideological values. But this is what’s happening. It’s not about selling a product to the biggest audience any longer.
Let us hope the news will not be state sponsored anytime soon. Let’s hope.
Until next time
JPN