I experienced a pretty severe case of radio-induced road rage on my way to work this morning while listening to a piece by Mara Liasson on NPR's Morning Edition. Ms. Liasson completely misrepresented the facts surrounding the debt crisis debate in Congress and then relied solely on the analysis of a GOP political analysts to posit that both parties were equally at fault in this debate. Incredibly, the piece ends with the strong suggestion (if not conclusion) that Obama will ultimately be held responsible for all of this and that his reelection prospects will be seriously compromised if a deal is not reached soon or if America's credit rating is downgraded. Basically, the meme of the piece was that nobody has the majority of the blame and Obama will suffer. Sound like GOP talking points to you?
Here was the email I fired off to NPR:
As a longtime listener of Morning Edition, I was amazed at the total lack of journalistic integrity in the piece by Mara Liasson on the debt crisis this morning. Ms. Liasson misrepresented facts and relied solely on the analysis of a former GOP political operative to assert that both parties, in their quest to retain their respective majorities in the House and Senate, were equally at fault on the debt crisis. The piece went on to explain that regardless of the outcome of the debate, President Obama's would ultimately be held responsible for this mess.
The analysis presented is simply not truthful. Ms. Liasson employed a familiar tactic of Fox News here - create a false perception of equal culpability, or "balance", to vitiate the truth.
By any historical standard, President Obama and many Congressional Democrats have bent over backwards to accommodate tea-party demands coming out of the GOP House. Offering substantial cuts to safety-net programs like Social Security and Medicare is not something you see very often in American politics. Also, when was the last time Democrats offered up nearly $4T in deficit reduction at a time of economic peril? The fact of the matter is that the tea-party controlled GOP will not compromise and is holding America hostage to its unreasonable budgetary demands (what percentage of Americans support the tea-party budget demands?). That may not fit in well with balanced-style reporting, but it’s a fact and it’s a fact that needs to be reported.
Instead of reporting the facts and presenting real political analysis, Ms. Liasson created her own facts, surround those facts with the musings of a former GOP political operative and presented warped political analysis that fits in nicely with the latest GOP talking points.
NPR should not imitate Fox News.
Please write to NPR. This morning was one of the worst segments of news I have ever heard on that station. NPR, like Faux News, is contributing to the growing ignorance in America.