Suffice it to say, the media needs to be thorough all the time when covering and reporting news events.
The Impeachment Inquiry is no exception.
For the most part, the media (save the prime time commentators on Fox Island) has been very thorough in relaying the developments of the impeachment inquiry and has skilfully rebutted any talking points offered by the fringe reactionary right.
For example, Poppy Harlow of CNN has pointed out Republican talking point inconsistencies as well as one’s nonattendance at the closed-door hearings on two occasions with Conservative Representatives.
Chuck Todd had Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson (without much prompting) foaming at the mouth with discredited conspiracy theories, a visceral distrust of the United States Intelligence Services, and excuses for Trump’s behavior with regards to Ukraine.
Even Chris Wallace from Fox News has openly defended the Whistleblower and confronted Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney over his “quid pro quo” press conference admission and then subsequent denial.
However, there have been some lapses.
One of those occurred on Meet the Press on November 10, 2019, when the aforementioned Mr.Todd seemingly legitimatized a Senator Rand Paul talking point about the false fringe conspiracy theory involving former Vice President Biden and Ukraine by saying out loud “two wrongs don’t make a right.” when comparing the false Biden depiction with the accurate ones involving Mr. Trump.
Thankfully, Connecticut Representative Jim Himes (who came on after Paul) did not let the Kentucky Senator’s comments or Todd’s false equivalency go by. He forcibly (click here to see the video) articulated how Biden had not done anything wrong by carrying out United States Policy and how Trump had betrayed his oath of office. He also scolded Todd for letting Paul get away with his comments without rebutting the Kentucky Senator with the facts.
Unfortunately, Todd did not admit his error.
Journalists can not allow themselves to be worn down by politicians continually repeating the same “big lie” time and time again in the hopes that the media host or reporter will give up on challenging their accuracy.
The key to a thriving Democracy is a well-informed public and in order for that to be achieved, journalists in the media have to continually be diligent in reporting the truth and countering claims when they are false.
There is no time off for accurately reporting the news.