Media columnist Margaret Sullivan in today's Washington Post:
In political media, as in love, there aren’t many chances to correct a serious wrong.
But the news media will get just that on Wednesday when Robert S. Mueller III testifies before Congress, months after his long-awaited report on Donald Trump and possible Russian collusion to swing the 2016 election was competed.
Recall how gullible — and therefore misleading to the public — the news media was in March when Attorney General William Barr characterized the unreleased report in a four-page letter.
Coverage of that letter set in place an inaccurate narrative that has been almost impossible to dislodge.
Many news organizations, including some of the most prominent, took what Barr said at face value or mischaracterized the report’s findings.
Most of the credulous stenographers of the mainstream media got it terribly wrong last March when they foolishly trusted Trump's consigliere William Barr to be telling the truth about the damning findings of the Mueller report. If they blow it again following Mueller's testimony tomorrow (for example, reducing it to "partisan bickering"), you'd have a hard time convincing us they're not "the enemy of the people."They essentially transmitted to the public — especially in all-important headlines and cable-news bulletins — what President Trump desperately wanted as the takeaway: No collusion; no obstruction.
The soul of our country and its democracy are at stake every day. Figure that out -- or don't, to your everlasting shame and peril.
Sadly, the mainstream media seem to be locked into irreversible decline. Their timid interpretation of the need for even-handedness commits them to both-siderism and to giving serious weight to the rantings of known liars. Bizarre as it seems, commentators like Stephen Colbert and Samantha Bee, along with the blogosphere, have become the best sources of honest news.
ReplyDeleteI hope the MSM will recover. American newspapers have a glorious history of exposing truths about the powerful. But for now, the Trumplings' bullshit seems to have them befuddled.
Infidel -- Agree, and I would add John Oliver to the list of "comedians" whose news sense, acuity, and honesty is far superior to mainstream outlets. It's far from perfect, but my hometown Washington Post has at least allowed its reporters to call Trump's recent tweets racist, which the effing New York Times couldn't bring itself to do. As the coming year unfolds, it will be hard for the timid souls in the corporate media suites and newsrooms to call out Trump for fear of being labeled partisan and therefore not trustworthy - which is what Trump is counting on.
ReplyDeleteIt's sadly true, Infidel. It has taken more than three years for anyone in the press to call Trump a liar. I remember that shortly after Trump's election, CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley said in a broadcast that Trump had trouble with the truth and within weeks he was “relocated” to 60 Minutes.
ReplyDeleteIt's Corporate. It's our journalism being handcuffed by big money and the corporate bosses who want to keep their big bucks flowing. We can't expect that to change. I don't know how we reset the clocks to the time of Edward R. Murrow or Walter Cronkite. It's sad that we have to rely on late night hosts to speak the truth and that satire sources like The Onion are no longer satire, but truth.
How can we fix it? I don't know.