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Two of the biggest stories in the American media at this moment are about staffing choices: former Republican National Committee chair Ronna Romney McDaniel’s hiring and swift firing from NBC, and popular commentator Candace Owens’s departure from the conservative Daily Wire (best known as the home for Ben Shapiro’s mega-popular podcast).
While different in details, both stories are essentially about the same question: How can media organizations responsibly handle an increasingly radical conservative movement?
In McDaniel’s case, the issue was election denial. After her hiring was announced, NBC staff revolted — noting her vocal defense of Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election while running the RNC. Some top talent, like Meet the Press host Chuck Todd, revolted on air — leading NBC to part ways with McDaniel before she really got started.
At the Daily Wire, mainstreaming election denial is hardly a firing offense. But over the past months, Owens has outed […]
It used to be that when you read something or watched a news program, the facts were being presented. With Fox News and many other publications, lies are being told, information is slanted, and people are not getting the facts about what is actually happening. This is a dangerous element in a democracy. It’s understandable in a fascist community, but it totally works against a democratic society. There must be a reliance on facts to make democracy work. Lies are for fascists and dictators and those who don’t care about anything but staying in power.
Something needs to be done and it must start with Congress making laws that it is illegal to publish lies and misinformation. It only serves to destroy a democracy. Even social media should have some regulation about not deliberately giving misinformation or lies. It makes the democracy unreliable and unable to have people make choices about what is best for the country. Laws need to be passed and the Supreme Court needs to back it up. It has nothing to do with the First Amendment—-that should only be enforced when people deliberately lie to have the public believe what they want them to believe. Truth must reign in a democracy. Terri Quint
TV News was a regular feature in most American homes and besides newspapers, that’s where we got our news. With Fox and various social media platforms, we get misinformation and lies instead. It is hard to believe that Congress cannot pass a law saying lies in the media are illegal and has nothing to do with the First Amendment! The First Amendment should only protect the truth about facts. The Supreme Court must back up any law Congress passes that makes it a crime to deliberately spread lies and misinformation. Truth is essential for a democracy to exist and lies are what are found in totalitarian states and fascism. Does Ronna McDaniel and Donald Trump understand that? Terri Quint