Two years of journalism have been centered on the idea that the Republican Party was a group of Jim Crow segregationists and violent election-denying rioters trying to suppress black vote. Journalists find it surprising that the country is so polarized.
Hallie Jackson, NBC reporter, announced that 80% of voters in both political parties believe the other side is going after America. Our pollsters believe that many people are being motivated to vote this year out anger or fear.
To be more precise, NBC asked its voters whether they believed that the Democratic or Republican Party agendas “pose a danger that, if it is not stopped, will destroy America’s as we know.” Eighty-one per cent of Democrats chose the disaster-movie scenario, while 79 percent of Republicans selected the same.
Dante Chinni, an NBC analyst, concluded that “when you view elections in these terms, the vitriol will be intense.” It can be difficult to shake hands at the conclusion and promise to do better next year, even if your voters believe there isn’t one.
Bizarrely Jackson suggested that Sunday’s “solution” to polarization could be groups led Adam Kinzinger or Liz Cheney…as though the House January 6 Very Select Committee hadn’t been at the center of the media’s polarizing narrative regarding the Republicans killing democracy.
Jackson questioned Willie Geist loudly: “Are these groups gonna actually gain any traction? Willie?” We don’t know what the future holds. They have been trying to gain traction for the past two years.
Liberal media should be free to polarize people and tell them – along with Cheney and Kinzinger- that the Republican Party should be cut down to its studs over January 6. They are allowed to be offensive cartoonists of GOP under the First Amendment. They shouldn’t pretend that their full-throated advocacy doesn’t polarize or aren’t nonpartisan when it sounds to many voters as a Democratic National Committee strategy memo.
Pelosi’s January 6 panel construction was partisan and polarizing. The Republican minority was not allowed the right to choose its own members and no one was allowed to speak against the dominant narrative in those nationally televised hearings.
This committee was covered by the media in a similar echo chamber. Sunday show anchors invited committee members to highlight their anti-Republican talking points and rarely challenged them.
If the media felt that they could or should play a role “de-polarizing” America or trying to forge calmer consensus, they should start by creating their own product. They could push all politicians to work together and find common ground.
Their Trump-era business model was designed for a partisan audience. It echos inside a self-righteous bubble. Your badly disguised Democrat newspaper’s motto “Democracy Dies In Darkness” doesn’t help to create a bipartisan governing environment. You are running a permanent political campaign.
Liberal media have the option to respond to the midterm election by continuing to follow their current course. They can continue fighting the partisan war and rely on fear, panic, and keep going. They should be aware that the glum warning about American polarization is absurd. They should also know that they will not be mistakenly viewed as impartial moderators or referees in a two-party system in the years ahead.
