by Ed Brodow
ClashDaily Guest Contributor
On CBS Sunday Morning, veteran TV journalist Ted Koppel accused Fox News star Sean Hannity of being bad for America.
During a 45-minute interview conducted by Koppel, Hannity asked Koppel, “Do you think I’m bad for America?” Koppel replied, “Yeah.” He went on to explain that Hannity and other conservative commentators appeal to people who are more interested in ideology than facts. The implication in Koppel’s statement was that conservative journalists are responsible for the distortion in the news that has been apparent for some time.
CBS aired about one minute of the lengthy interview, deliberately hiding the bulk of the discussion from the public. That in itself condemns Koppel and CBS for cherry-picking the content of the program in order to support their viewpoint. Hannity issued a worthy response on his evening news analysis show, suggesting that Koppel, CBS, and the liberal media in general are the ones who disregard facts in favor of their leftist ideology.
For the past year—throughout the presidential primaries and the election—it has become quite clear that the media is almost 100% progressive liberal, that they did everything in their power to elect Hillary Clinton, and that they intend to hold President Trump to the fire with a total disregard for the truth. Back in the 1960s and 70s, the media was respected as the objective watchdog over the political process. We believed what we read in the New York Times and what we heard from TV journalists such as Walter Kronkite, Eric Sevareid, Chet Huntley, and David Brinkley. Yes, we even believed the stories reported by this same Ted Koppel on ABC’s Nightline.
Beginning about 25-30 years ago, the focus of the media shifted from objective reporting of the news to the furtherance of the progressive agenda. With the exception of Fox and talk radio, it has been next to impossible for the public to discover an alternative viewpoint. I must admit that I used to like Ted Koppel but I did not see the same man in this new interview. What I saw was another hack apologist for phony journalism. The saddest part of this latest example of biased news reporting is the complete hypocrisy of Koppel’s statement. He accused Hannity of doing exactly what he himself and his liberal colleagues have been making a career out of, namely championing ideology over factual reportage. At the same time, it was an obvious attempt to smear the competition, another reason to be disappointed with Koppel.
Koppel’s performance on this show saddened me greatly. It also enhanced my opinion of Hannity, who refused to be intimidated by a senior member of his profession. Hannity’s rebuttal that aired on his own show was beautifully articulated. You can be sure that when I want facts instead of ideology, I won’t be tuning in to CBS.
If the media intend to survive, they need to learn the lesson of this past year. The mainstream media did everything in their power to elevate Hillary Clinton and destroy Donald Trump. They failed. We have proof that the public is not as gullible as it once was, that the propaganda disseminated by the press is recognized for what it is—not by everyone, but by enough voters, TV viewers, and newspaper readers to make a difference.
Ed Brodow is a negotiation expert, political commentator, and author of In Lies We Trust: How Politicians and the Media Are Deceiving the American Public.
Copyright © 2017 Ed Brodow. All rights reserved.
