The Failure of America’s Fourth Estate

The American media's complicity in the rise of Trumpism.

Weeks after the presidential debate, the US press has been pressing President Biden to withdraw from the race.

What this says about the state of American media is both maddening and frightening.

The New York Times and my hometown paper, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution were among the notable national newspapers to use editorials call for Biden to withdraw.

They made this decision to press the president to withdraw despite the fact that his opponent, a convicted felon with over thirty convictions – someone whose previous presidency will rank among the worst this nation has ever seen, was not given the same treatment.

One bad debate, exacerbated by a cold and lack of rest, was enough for this country’s major media to call for his withdrawal.

Meanwhile, his opponent frequently sounds like he’s freebasing or a part of a bad Saturday Night Live skit.

The former president’s lucidity has been questionable for a long time.

As far back as 2019, speaking as the sitting president, the former president said:

“Our army manned the air, it rammed the ramparts, it took over the airports, it did everything it had to do, and at Fort McHenry, under the rockets’ red glare, it had nothing but victory.”

He said that the Revolutionary army “manned the air” and “took over the airports.”

This is just one example of comments that should have precluded him from being considered a serious candidate and led to mental competency hearings during his presidency.

Some of his “greatest hits:”

·     Regarding healthcare - "The U.S. cannot allow EBOLA-infected people back. People that go to far away places to help out are great - but must suffer the consequences!"

·       On global warming - "It's really cold outside, they are calling it a major freeze, weeks ahead of normal. Man, we could use a big fat dose of global warming!"

·       About Mexico - "They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

·       On fighting terrorism - "If you look at Saddam Hussein, he killed terrorists. I'm not saying he was an angel, but this guy killed terrorists."

·       Commenting on John McCain - "[John McCain is]... not a war hero. He's a war hero - he's a war hero 'cause he was captured. I Like people that weren't captured, OK, I hate to tell you."

·       Talking about his daughter Ivanka - "She does have a very nice figure... If [Ivanka] weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her."

·       On COVID-19 - “We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China. It’s going to be just fine.”

What these comments say about the Republican Party allowing him to be their presidential candidate is telling and revealing in itself.

But what does it say about American media that these comments, and dozens more didn’t prompt editorials calling for his withdrawal from any of his presidential races?

Can you imagine what would happen if Biden uttered such statements?

There are gaffes (Biden makes them), misstatements (Biden makes those too), and then there are comments that should have been followed by a trip to a white truck, and from there, to a padded cell.

The former president has been more than errant in his speech and behavior.

He has been manic, obtuse, and psychotically confused.

Add to his mental gymnastics January 6, when he stoked riotous, insurrectionist behavior, lied about joining them in their march to the Capitol, and refused for hours to intervene.

This treasonous inaction cost the lives of police officers, rioters, and could have resulted in the death of the Vice President and members of Congress.

But at no point did the Times or the Journal-Constitution encourage him to refrain from further political activities.

Yet, a sitting president who is presiding over a strong economy, lower crime rates, and is well-regarded around the world should resign because of a poor debate performance.

The state of the American media is shockingly poor.

Take the once-vaunted New York Times.

Once one of the best newspapers in the world, the Times has been making the news for its many internal controversies, and the historically low morale of its staff.

The paper has been criticized by other media for its lopsided coverage of the two candidates. One example was reaction to a poll taken with Siena College. The poll asked whether Biden was too old to be president.

The implicit bias in asking the question caused many to wonder why a supposedly responsible media outlet would ask such a leading question in a poll.

Another example of questionable journalistic practice was the Times publishing of an editorial by Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas in 2020. Cotton, who would later be one of the politicians inciting the Capitol rioting, wrote an editorial entitled, “Send in the Troops,” which advocated for the US military to be mobilized during the George Floyd riots. Cotton’s editorial included numerous factual errors and misstatements that should have rendered it unpublishable.

The morale within the newspaper has never been lower due to controversial hirings and firings that have caused staffers to question the paper’s leadership, hiring practices, and editorial content.

Then there’s the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The AJC, previously home of journalistic luminaries such as Ralph McGill, has become an editorial fence-straddler.

In the bad old days of slavery and Jim Crow, the Constitution and its then-untethered paper the Journal were predictably racist.

But as the Civil Rights movement advanced, the Constitution’s editor McGill became one of the South’s leading voices for integration.

The paper gradually became a moderate to liberal journalistic voice.

However, some years ago, the now-merged Journal-Constitution decided that it should try to appeal to more conservatives. From featuring both liberal and conservative national columnists on its Opinion-Editorial page to issuing a front-page editorial calling for Biden’s withdrawal, the paper has denigrated into a both-sides rag.

The history of editorial pages around the world have been characterized as either liberal, conservative, or leaning towards one side or another. Somewhere along the way, the Constitution lost the courage to maintain its voice. Not surprisingly, these days they please neither side.

Many former readers, including myself, had enough after the paper published its pitiful withdrawal plea.

If the paper, and the Times and any responsible newspaper had consistently published accurate, easily verifiable accounts of the former president’s many lies and nonsensical statements, and focused their handwringing and concern on his withdrawal, we might not be staring the abyss in the face.

And let’s not leave out CNN’s journalistic malpractice.

Where was the real-time fact checking of the former president’s lies?

Why was he allowed to deflect without being challenged?

They allowed him to lie and obfuscate unfettered and unchecked.

There are many theories on why the former president gets preferential treatment. Some allege that the heads of many of these media outlets are major donors to the former president.

That’s a plausible enough reason for media bias against Biden.

Another theory that has merit is that the former president is more “entertaining” than Biden.

Biden as a president has been steady and solid.

Steady and solid doesn’t make for good media copy.

Steady and solid doesn’t flash and titillate.

What does make for good media copy?

An unhinged, presidential candidate.

When he was president, he was always in the headlines for the most embarrassing reasons – for things he said, did, or didn’t say or do.

But none of his foolishness was enough for the media to tell him to step aside.

From the moment he made fun of a disabled person, he should have been shunned.

He should never have been considered serious after he said that White Supremacists in Charlottesville were “very fine people.”

But the media has aided and abetted a mentally defective, would-be dictator whose aides have created the Project 2025 strategy that if enacted would affectively end our republic.

Yet he continues to receive media passes and undue courtesy.

But let’s get rid of the sitting president who had a bad debate.

Regardless of what the media does, the voting public must take appropriate action.

Previously, they could rely on responsible reporting to help them make an informed choice.

But these days, most American media political reporting is seriously lacking journalistic integrity and moral courage.