Is Media "Helping To Divide The Nation?"

THERE IS A LOT OF HANDWRINGING ABOUT THE MEDIA,
AND ARE THEY BALANCED ENOUGH, ARE THEY CREATING MORE DIVISION?
ARE THEY FAKE, ARE THEY NOT FAKE?
WALTER ISAACSON, FORMER
CNN CHAIRMAN AND CEO, VERY RESPECTED IN THE COMMUNITY AND
THE INDUSTRY, NOW AT THE ASPEN INSTITUTE, IS ON BLOOMBERG TV,
HE WILL TALK ABOUT IT.
I THINK HE'S HALF RIGHT BUT I THINK HE
ALSO LEAVES OUT A HUGE PART, WHICH MAKES HIM HALF WRONG.
FIRST WATCH.
>>THE FRACTURING OF JOURNALISM, TALK TO US ABOUT HOW YOU SEE
FOX'S ROLE HERE IN PERHAPS SMOOTHING SOME OF THE
DIVIDES IN THE COUNTRY, OR EXACERBATING THEM.
>>THAT'S DEFINITELY TRUE THAT THE DIVIDES IN OUR COUNTRY HAVE
BEEN EXACERBATED BY ALL FORMS OF MEDIA, WHETHER IT'S IN THE
BLOGOSPHERE OR CABLE NEWS, PEOPLE GETTING MORE PARTISAN.
>>THE HALF THAT IS TRUE IS OBVIOUS.
IN THE BEGINNING --
ACTUALLY, IT DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU MEAN BY THE BEGINNING.
AND THE
MODERN ERA THERE WAS THE WALTER CRONKITES, ETC., AND THE IDEA
WAS THAT THE NEWS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE OBJECTIVE.
NOW, THAT'S NOT
REALLY THAT TRUE, EDWARD R. MURROW, ONE OF THE LEGENDS OF
NEWS, WAS CLEARLY OPINIONATED, HAD A PERSPECTIVE, SHARED IT ON
AIR.
WALTER CRONKITE, HIS MOST FAMOUS MOMENTS WAS WHEN HE SAID
VIETNAM, WE WEREN'T WINNING AND HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION,
THAT'S AN OPINION.
AND WHEN HE CRIED OVER JFK BEING SHOT, VERY
UNDERSTANDABLE, A MOMENT OF EMOTION AND PASSION.
SO I THINK
EVEN THE PAST IS BEEN JUDGED IN A WAY THAT'S NOT ACCURATE, LET
ALONE THE FACT THAT IF YOU GO FURTHER BACK TO THE FOUNDATION
OF THIS COUNTRY THE PRESS ACTUALLY USED TO BE DEEPLY
PARTISAN AND FAR MORE VICIOUS THAN IT IS TODAY.
THAT'S A FACT,
YOU CAN GO CHECK THAT OUT AS WELL.
BUT IN THE MODERN ERA,
THERE WAS A THOUGHT THAT THERE IS OBJECTIVITY, AND OFTENTIMES,
BY THE WAY, DELIVERED BY ORGANIZATIONS LIKE ASSOCIATED
PRESS, MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS DOES A WONDERFUL JOB, I THINK THE
GUARDIAN DOES, INTERCEPT, ETC.
BUT IT GOT WARPED AT SOME POINT TO MEAN BALANCE OR NEUTRALITY
INSTEAD OF OBJECTIVITY.
SO THEN THEY JUST SAID REPUBLICANS SAY
THIS AND DEMOCRATS SAY THAT -- LOOK, THE ORGANIZATION THAT HE
RAN, CNN, WAS THE MOST RESPONSIBLE IN MY OPINION FOR
THAT KIND OF FALSE EQUIVALENCY.
SO IS THERE MORE PARTISANSHIP
NOW?
YES.
FOX NEWS COMES, THEY ARE DEEPLY PARTISAN, AN ONLINE
IT'S VERY CLEAR, BREITBART IS ON THE RIGHT, GLENN BECK IS ON THE
RIGHT, THERE ARE MANY BLOGS ON THE LEFT, OBVIOUSLY WE ARE CLEAR
ABOUT OUR PERSPECTIVE AND WE ARE PROGRESSIVE.
I THINK AT LEAST
THERE IS MORE HONESTY ONLINE, WHERE PEOPLE CLEARLY LABEL THEIR
PERSPECTIVE, AND YOU'VE HEARD ME SAY THIS 1000 TIMES, I THINK CNN
AND THE REST OF THE ESTABLISHMENT MEDIA ALSO HAVE A
PERSPECTIVE, AND ESTABLISHMENT PERSPECTIVE AND BIAS, WHICH THEY
DO NOT CLEARLY LABEL.
THAT IS WHY THEY SEE SOME ON THE LEFT
AND RIGHT AS FRINGE AND NOT ACCEPTABLE, AND OUTSIDE OF THE
RANGE OF ACCEPTABLE OPINION, ACCORDING TO THE GRAND POOBAHS
WHO RUN CNN.
BUT IS IT MORE PARTISAN?
I WILL GRANT THAT THAT IS TRUE.
LET'S WATCH A LITTLE MORE.
>>PEOPLE CAN STEP BACK FROM THAT, I DON'T JUST PUT FOX IN
THAT CATEGORY, I PUT EVERYBODY IN THAT CATEGORY INCLUDING ALL
OF US.
IF WE COULD STEP BACK FROM KNEE-JERK PARTISAN
REACTIONS THAT WOULD BE GOOD.
>>YES AND NO.
IF YOU ARE HAVING A PARTISAN REACTION AND YOU SAY
THE DEMOCRATS ARE RIGHT NO MATTER WHAT, THAT'S USELESS.
NOBODY ONLINE IS INTERESTED IN THAT, BY THE WAY.
OR IF YOU SAY
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IS ALWAYS RIGHT.
OF COURSE THAT'S USELESS.
AND PEOPLE ONLINE I THINK ARE FAR MORE SOPHISTICATED THAN TV
VIEWERS, AND THEY DON'T FALL INTO THE NORMAL TEAM PLAY -- MY
FAMILY HAS ALWAYS BEEN A DEMOCRATIC FAMILY OR REPUBLICAN
FAMILY, I'M TEAM REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT.
ARE THERE ALSO PEOPLE
ONLINE THAT ARE NOT MORE SOPHISTICATED?
OF COURSE!
I KNOW
THAT TOO.
BUT GENERALLY SPEAKING I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S A SHOW
WITH A DEEPER CONNECTION TO THE ONLINE AUDIENCE THAN WE HAVE,
AND I CAN TELL YOU RIGHT NOW THAT THE VIEWERS ONLINE DO NOT
LIKE PARTISANSHIP.
ON THE OTHER HAND THEY WANT YOU TO BE HONEST
AND CLEAR WITH YOUR PERSPECTIVE, AGAIN I THINK WE DELIVER ON
THAT, AND TO BE FAIR TO BREITBART IT'S CLEAR WHAT THEIR
PERSPECTIVE IS, AND MANY OF THE RIGHT-WING AND LEFT-WING BLOGS.
BUT WHAT I THINK WALTER ISAACSON IS GETTING WRONG THERE IS HE
THINKS, WELL, THAT MEANS WE CALL IT DOWN THE MIDDLE.
NO, NO.
NO.
AND I HOPE I'M NOT PUTTING WORDS INTO HIS MOUTH, BUT I'VE SEEN
THIS TIME AND AGAIN, AND IN THE CONTEXT OF THAT INTERVIEW IT
APPEARED HE WAS SAYING IT -- IF YOU THEN SAY, SINCE I DON'T WANT
TO BE PARTISAN I WILL SAY WHAT THE REPUBLICANS ARE DOING AND
WHAT THE DEMOCRATS ARE DOING ARE EQUAL, THAT'S NOT TRUE.
THAT'S
NOT OBJECTIVELY TRUE.
I CAN GIVE YOU MANY EXAMPLES, I WILL GIVE
YOU ONE, A NUMBER OF FILIBUSTERS THE REPUBLICANS DID DOUBLED OR
NEARLY TRIPLED THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF FILIBUSTERS.
BY THE
WAY, THAT IS UNDERCOUNTING.
IF YOU LOOK AT JUST STRICTLY THE
NUMBERS OF FILIBUSTERS, I THINK IT'S AROUND DOUBLE, BUT IF YOU
SEE THAT THE DEMOCRATS ACTUALLY DIDN'T FORCE THEM INTO
FILIBUSTERS ON MANY OTHER ISSUES THAT THEY COULD HAVE, IT WOULD
HAVE GONE WAY PAST THAT NUMBER.
SO WHO WAS MORE OBSTRUCTIONIST?
THERE IS A LITERAL ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION, IT'S THE
REPUBLICAN PARTY.
IF YOU SAY TODAY THE DEMOCRATS ARE
OBSTRUCTING REPUBLICANS' PLANS, THAT IS FAIR, AND I'M NOT SURE
YOU SHOULD EVEN CALL IT THERE EITHER -- BUT DON'T CALL IT EVEN
IF IT ISN'T EVEN.
IN REALITY NOW, AND HERE IS WHAT YOU WILL
NEVER HEAR IN THE ESTABLISHMENT PRESS PARTLY BECAUSE OF THE
OPINIONS OF ISAACSON AND OTHERS THAT WOULD CONSIDER IT UNDULY
PARTISAN, ONE PARTY IS PLAYING BY QUEENSBURY RULES -- WHEN
OSSOFF LOST HE HAD BANNERS IN THE BACKGROUND SAYING HUMILITY.
WHAT KIND OF POLITICAL SLOGAN IS HUMILITY?
ON ONE SIDE THEY HAVE
KID'S GLOVES ON, ON THE OTHER SIDE THEY ARE PROUD -- ROGER
STONE IS NOT HIDING IT, HE IS SO PROUD OF ALL OF HIS LIES AND
DECEPTIONS AND TRICKS, HE BRAGS ABOUT IT TO ANYONE WHO WILL SEE
IT.
NOW ROUNDLY ACKNOWLEDGED AS THE PERSON WHO GOT DONALD TRUMP
TO RUN. AND IT'S PROVEN HOW OFTEN DONALD TRUMP LIES.
IF YOU
CALL THAT EVEN, YOU'VE DONE A DISSERVICE TO JOURNALISM.
IF YOU
SAY WE DON'T WANT TO SEEM TOO PARTISAN SO I WILL SAY I CAN'T
TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS, WELL,
THAT'S NOT JOURNALISM, AND YOU'VE HURT THE IDEA OF THE
MEDIA AND THE PRESS.
SO WHICH PLAN COVERS MORE PEOPLE?
OBAMACARE HAS A LOT OF ISSUES WITH IT, WE TALKED ABOUT THE
ISSUES WHEN THEY WERE PASSING IT, I DON'T THINK IT CONTROLS
PRICES NEARLY WELL ENOUGH -- BUT DOESN'T COVER MORE PEOPLE?
ABSOLUTELY.
WILL SENIOR CITIZENS PAY MORE UNDER THIS NEW
HEALTHCARE PROPOSAL?
ABSOLUTELY, SOMETIMES THREE TIMES MORE,
SOMETIMES FOUR TIMES MORE THAN THAT USED TO PAY.
BY THE WAY
IT'S ALSO FAIR TO SAY SOME YOUNG AND HEALTHY PEOPLE WILL PAY LESS
UNDER THE REPUBLICAN PLAN.
THEN YOU TALK ABOUT A TRADE-OFF.
REPUBLICANS GIVE A GIANT, ABOUT $700 BILLION TAX CUT TO THE
RICH, THAT'S A FACT.
AND 23 MILLION PEOPLE WILL LOSE THEIR
INSURANCE, AND SENIOR CITIZENS WILL PAY A LOT MORE.
ON THE
OTHER HAND WHICH PEOPLE GET TAX CUTS AND HEALTHY YOUNGER PEOPLE
WILL PAY A LITTLE LESS FOR THEIR INSURANCE.
BUT ON PLACES LIKE
CNN THEY ARE SO AFRAID TO SAY IT, BECAUSE THEN DONALD TRUMP
AND EVERYONE WILL SAY YOU ARE ON THE LIBERAL MEDIA, YOU ARE ON
THEIR SIDE, YOU ARE BEING PARTISAN, FAKE NEWS, ALL THAT
STUFF.
NO, LAY OUT THE FACTS NO MATTER WHERE THEY FALL.
AND I
THINK THEY ARE SO SCARED TO BE CALLED PARTISAN, THAT IS NOT
WHAT THEY ARE DOING TODAY.
THAT'S THE REAL PROBLEM WITH THE
ESTABLISHMENT MEDIA TODAY.

Is Media "Helping To Divide The Nation?"

Latest Posts