The TV networks know that Trump is going to lie, but out of fear of White House retribution, they will be airing his immigration address from the Oval Office.
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CNN reported:
The major television networks will provide wall-to-wall coverage of President Donald Trump’s prime time address on border security on Tuesday.
NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox broadcast network all said on Monday that they had agreed to the White House’s request for air time.
CNN, Fox News and MSNBC will all carry the address live, as well.
The big question is why?
Why are the networks going to flush millions of dollars in ad revenue and spending for primetime programming down the drain to give Trump a forum for lies? Especially, since Trump is an unpopular president, who is giving an address that isn’t going to draw big ratings, the networks’ decision makes no sense from a business point of view.
The answer is that the networks are afraid of playing into Trump’s hands and looking biased:
Yeah, the "networks are just doing this for ratings" critique doesn't really apply here, IMO. It's more than they're trying to figure out the least-worst option for their reputation as news brands (i.e. they want to seem nonpartisan). https://t.co/L1AfKkfaee
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) January 8, 2019
The years that Trump has spent demonizing and attacking the press have paid off. The media was afraid of looking biased, so they are going to give Trump a platform to lie live from coast to coast.
The least that the networks can do is follow Trump’s speech with a fact check and a Democratic rebuttal. It would help the credibility of the networks of they fact-checked Trump in real time on the screen while he was talking.
The networks will be showing it, journalists like me have to cover it, but the good news for the American people is that they don’t have to watch it.
My advice to every person who is outraged by this decision is that they vote with their remote, and ignore Trump’s address.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
