While discussing Trump's goal to discredit main stream journalism, David Frum explained that news outlets like CNN--who hired Trump surrogates on-air to appear to be balanced--made a big mistake because all they did was promote Trump's multitudes of falsehoods to its viewers.
CNN's Brian Stelter's discussed Trump's war on the media with journalist icon Carl Bernstein and conservative David Frum during today's broadcast of Reliable Sources.
As they debated the merits of journalism and the serial lying of the Trump administration, Bernstein discussed Mike Allen's article in Axios and explained how a few mistakes fuel Trump's barrage on the topic.
[Trump's] argument isn't broadly true: Most reporters work hard to be fair and accurate. And national outlets have risen to this historic era with unprecedented resources and consequential journalism.
As they continued to discuss the topic, Frum made a very important argument against hiring practices within the cable TV news industry. He thought the "both sides" argument was not valid either.
When he talked about the media, he rightfully excluded Fox News as a press organization that "have an interest in finding the truth."
Frum said, "Excluding Fox, the worst mistakes that press organizations have made in the coverage of Trump, has precisely occurred in their effort -- their overzealous effort to be fair to the president."
"Because the problem they cover is accurate, and accurate coverage of this president and his campaign is very different from neutral coverage. How do you fairly report the fact that the president lies all time and that he recruits people to work for him who lie all the time?"
The only way to cover the worst lying president in the last forty years is to cover him accurately without people on-air justifying and lying and creating alternate realities to apologize for his behavior.
Frum continued, "The worst mistake CNN has made has been the result of the determination to bring in-house Trump associates in order to promote Trump falsehoods. Not from Trump HQ or not from the White House, but with CNN's own brand on them."
CNN, why hire frauds and sycophants like Corey Lewandowski as an on-air analyst, which gives him credibility when all they do is lie along with the president?
Stelter jumped in to disagree, "We'll have to disagree on that one. I think we need to hear from Trump supporters, but I -- "
Frum replied, "You need to hear them, but you need to hear from them as Trump supporters. You don't need to put your own brand on them. And that has been the worst mistake, but that comes from the desire to be unduly fair.
It's a mystery that after Lewandowski was charged with battery on a female reporter and then fired from the campaign, and still getting paid by Trump, CNN hired him and branded him as a CNN analyst.
During the presidential campaign, after almost every incident of Trump acting despicable or controversial in some way, CNN had on a debate panel with at least one Trump surrogate who lied and lied.
Jeffrey Lord routinely and offensively tried to rewrite the history of race relations in America. It took his use of a Nazi salute to finally get him kicked off the air, but he did a lot of damage during the entire presidential campaign.
He should have been fired for his insulting, race-baiting behavior long before he went full Nazi.
There are plenty of political operatives who do not have to resort to the type of lying and false facts that Trump's surrogates did.
Now, it's much than it was during the campaign. More and more conservative commentators are tailoring their appearances in the mold of Trump's honorary legion of liars.
And CNN helped to make that happen as did many other networks.
