One of the key reasons I resigned from MSNBC is due to how ratings determined most of their election coverage. I watched substantive conversations get sidelined for shallow political discussions (usually negative) about Donald Trump. In fact, MSNBC often dedicates more time to Trump than either FOX News or CNN. Not only does Joe Biden lose out, but all of the candidates in the 2020 cycle lost out, as well as other important topics like judicial nominations and fatal police shootings. Recently, it was agonizing to watch CNN host Don Lemon acknowledge the election coverage they should have been discussing (in his unscripted crosstalk with Chris Cuomo), only to retreat to the Trump dominated formula they and all the other networks have relied upon since 2015 (in his scripted segment). Unfortunately, the flawed coverage will continue even after the election, no matter who wins, and in the end, the public will remain the true loser.
Read my full column for CJR on the subject, "Television Journalism will remain broken post-Trump."
Print and broadcast journalism lost me permanently with Trayvon Martin, Nicholas Sandmann, George Floyd, Michael Brown, the Benghazi incident, the George Floyd incident, and now the Coronavirus incident. I have zero trust in journalists. I have no trust in "unnamed sources." I don't rely on hearsay and media personalities. Instead, I look for original sources. I don't jump to conclusions. Usually, the sensational mass media coverages are heavily edited and serve the mass media agenda. In the case of Trayvon Martin, Nicholas Sandmann, George Floyd, and Michael Brown, the agenda of the media was obvious: Sell the world on the idea the American has a seething racial problem and that the white male is the most evil thi…