David Gregory’s inability or unwillingness to confront
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s distortion of the Obama administration’s tax plan
on Sunday represents the most recent example of a mainstream media more eager
to “win over” or play nice with elected officials rather than dig for the
facts.[1]
On NBC’s Meet the
Press, Gov. McDonnell made the claim that Vice President Joe Biden said the
Obama administration intends to “raise your taxes about $2 trillion.”[2]
However, the Obama administration has proposed only to increase taxes on the
wealthiest Americans.
McDonnell was referring to statements Vice President Biden
made during the vice-presidential debate last week. When asked by moderator
Martha Raddatz who will pay more in taxes if the Obama administration is
elected, Biden responded, “The middle class will pay less, and people making a
million dollars or more will begin to contribute slightly more…We’re arguing
that the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy should be allowed to expire.”[3]
Responses in everyday life, let alone politics, don’t get
any clearer than that.
All but the most partisan Republicans are at least somewhat
aware that the GOP is not above distorting the truth or downright lying for
political gain. That’s not what’s surprising here.
What is surprising, however, is how much ground political
journalists in the mainstream media have given up to the deceit that the GOP
has been pelting voters with in this election cycle alone.
By giving way to such falsehoods, the mainstream media is
essentially delegitimizing the foundation upon which it rests: the search for
truth and facts.
In the same vein, what was once a go-to source for political
facts by the American public has become little more than an entertainment
supplement to Jersey Shore and The Voice. Anchormen like David Gregory
are merely the unassuming lead roles in news reporting gone wrong.
The news media still does matter, just not in the same way
that it used to.
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