Part One:
We wonder why so many centrist Democrats and media have jumped on the Joe Biden bandwagon, as if he had suddenly demonstrated his “electability” and fitness to run against Donald Trump. Biden has won exactly one primary (in 3 decades of trying) and has made exactly one admirable speech. Do these prove that somehow Biden — despite a multitude of shockingly poor speeches & electoral performances — can now be relied upon to defeat Trump in the general election? What are all these gullible people going to say when they hear Biden’s next several gaffes, or when he loses many other primary elections? What do we mean by the word “electible”? Why aren’t Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren equally (or even more) electible than Joe?
We speak to Richard Tofel, President of Pro Publica, about Pres. Trump’s demonization of the media. We’ve all gotten used to Trump calling the media “enemies of the people.” We have to take this seriously. These words were first used by Robespierre, then by Hitler and Stalin, and later by Mao Tse-Tung. Shockingly, when autocrats have used these words, they have in fact gone on to kill their “enemies.”
Trump has also started filing lawsuits against reporters and news outlets that have spoken out against his false statements and inhumane policies. Before he became president, Trump acknowledged his bad faith: He knew his lawsuits were legally baseless, but he brought them anyway, in order to “send a message” by making his opponents’ lives miserable.
We consider Tim Snyder’s book “On Tyranny,” and agree that silencing the press is the first step toward fascism. We recall the old adage: When a snake tells you who he is, you should believe him and take his warning seriously. You should plan and take action *before* he bites you in the neck.
Our democracy can’t survive without a robust and free press. We need investigative reporters to expose what our government (and its opponents) are up to. And we need people who have the courage to speak truth to power, without being intimidated by threats or retaliation by those who would be dictators.
Part Two:
Our guest is Linda Feldman, reporter for the Christian Science Monitor. She moderator a panel discussion for the Common Ground Committee entitled “Facts, Fake News & the Media.” The panel included Maggie Haberman (NYTimes) and Chris Wallace (FoxNews). Feldman had not thought they needed help finding “common ground,” because she saw Haberman and Wallace simply as good reporters, not as partisans. But the public perceives the corporate owners as being “traditional liberal” vs conservative right-wing.
It turns out, however, that many news organizations will take the very same news story (from AP News, e.g.) and cover it very differently. They use provocative headlines, they open their pieces with a paragraph leading readers in one direction or another. And they place the piece in a particular location — the front page vs the obituary page.
The reporters felt that their job was not to get into arguments with presidents, nor to fact-check them. They should only report on them. But how can they not challenge a politician’s factually inaccurate statement? Of course, they must do this respectfully, and they can’t call out every misstatement. But shouldn’t the media be more than just a vehicle for free advertising which a politician can use – without any accountability – to publicize whatever message they want the public to hear?
We also discuss the outrageous treatment of PBS’s Mary Louise Kelly by Secretary of State Pompeo. Again, the intent was clearly to intimidate the reporter’s “nerve” in calling out a public official for his actions. And Kelly handled the incident professionally, being calmly persistent without being unduly aggressive, and without letting herself over-react.
