Bernie’s Time Machine: Is Cable News Harming America?
The answer seems obvious now, but it was a legitimate question a decade ago.
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“Cable didn’t start the fire. Cable didn’t start the polarization… But [it’s] adding to the polarization.”
I’ve written a lot in recent years about how I believe cable news has been one of the most polarizing forces in our country. But a decade ago, the debate on that topic was a bit more nuanced. Former ABC News journalist Ted Koppel was adamant that cable news was a big problem. He argued that many news consumers have trouble distinguishing between opinion and hard-news reporting, and that cable news commentary was prioritizing ideology over facts.
After a high-profile exchange between Koppel and Fox News’s Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly brought me on his show to discuss the topic. I think some good points were made, though Bill got a little sidetracked on defending President Trump’s approval rating at the time (which kept me from getting out some of what I wanted to say).
Still, I suppose it was a worthwhile discussion.
