The political media’s shift from refereeing campaign fights to joining in on the debate is coming under fire for failing to provide both sides of a story and calling out lies.
Two former Senate majority leaders, Democrat Tom Daschle and Republican Trent Lott, authors of the new book “Crisis Point,” said that the result is people have stopped looking for alternative views.
Lott, on C-SPAN’s “Book TV,” admits he’s guilty of the trend. “Well my opinion is the one that is the truth, I presume. I watch Fox, 24/7. And yet my partner, [former Democratic Sen.] John Breaux watches MSNBC 24/7. Now, we at least talk to each other and agree to disagree sometimes. But the culture has changed so much in the media,” said Lott.
Daschle said the media now participates in stories, like presidential debates. “The media used to be the referee and now they’re the participants. I really think that’s something that we still haven’t adjusted to,” he said.
“There’s no line any longer between objective and subjective. It’s all one,” added Daschle.
“And what do they like to cover,” added Lott, “Conflict. Getting a result and getting an agreement is so, it’s just not sexy. But if you can have two candidates like [Donald] Trump and [Sen. Ted] Cruz going after each other, the other guys on the platform are chopped liver.”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
