So, as I channel-surfed a short while ago, I came across "Chicago Tonight," a nightly current events and local guide program on WTTW, Channel 11, the local PBS station here in Chicago. Lo and behold, it was a discussion hosted by Carol Marin, a long-time local broadcaster, about the role of internet blogs in the current campaign, with some sanctimonious blowhard named Guy Benson from Townhall.com and "Georgia" from our very own Daily Kos.
Sadly, the discussion eventually descended into yet another case of false equivalency from the media, which simply refuses to do its job.
First, kudos to Georgia for representing liberal bloggers well -- friendly, reasonable, articulate, accurate, and above all, responsive to the queries. Needless to say, she contrasted sharply with Guy Benson -- let's call him "Townhall Guy" -- whose sole purpose, it seemed, was to spread the latest GOP fake outrage and repeat the most outrageous lies about Obama . . . and about liberal sites like Daily Kos. More on that below.
The troubling thing about the show, however, was not the ridiculous commentary by Townhall Guy, which I fully expected, but the fact that even Carol Marin, long respected for her journalistic integrity (she famously quit as anchor rather than share a newscast with Jerry Springer), WOULD NOT SIMPLY CALL HIM ON EVEN THE MOST OBVIOUS LIES, giving them a legtimacy they clearly did not deserve.
As Paul Begala pleaded, why can't the media simply DO ITS JOB?
While Georgia did an admirable job discussing the role, influence, and future of political blogs -- you know, actually responding to the questions posed -- Townhall Guy, on the other hand, was dedicated to smearing Obama and painting Daily Kos a fringe group of radicals, and actually answering questions was not on his agenda. Not surprisingly, despite even conservative papers and commentators debunking the whole "pig in lipstick" fake controversy, Townhall Guy remained undeterred, claiming that Obama had insulted Palin. Ridiculous? Yes. Ansurd? Absolutely.
And what did Carol Marin, putative host and the "real journalist" on the set, do when faced with these comments by Townhall Guy? Did she put Obama's comment in context? Did she explain the common use of the expression? Did she point out that McCain himself had repeatedly used the phrase, even when talking about Hillary? Of course not -- she just let the claim stand as fact, and moved on to the next question. NO CONTEXT. NO FOLLOW-UP. NO REQUEST FOR SUBTANTIATION. Just, essentially (and I'm characterizing), "Wow, interesting . . . let's move along . . . " WTF?
DO. YOUR. JOB.
Even worse, in response to at least 3 different questions, rather than address the issue posed, Townhall Guy insisted that Daily Kos "celebrated" the deaths of Americans in Iraq. That's right -- this pontificating, sanctimonious pin-head accused liberals of celebrating dead Americans, and then kept REPEATING the claim. The entire discussion just turned into a forum for pin-head to push his "Liberals Hate America" theme. Frankly, I don't know how Georgia restrained herself from strangling the guy. Townhall Guy didn't even bother to pretend to be answering directly -- he just went off his "liberal bloggers celebrate American deaths" theme over and over.
So, how did Carol Marin respond when she received these inflammatory, non-responsive answers to her questions? Did she try to steer him back onto the topic? Inquire as to the accuracy of those claims about Kossacks? Follow with a single question asking for specifics? No, of course not.
Again, Ms. Marin just let them go unchallenged, and let herself go as uninformed as Townhall Guy.
DO. YOUR. JOB.
This is how this garbage gets spread. it's repeated, unchallenged, until the smear takes on "truthiness" merely by virtue of its repetition in forum after forum.
C'mon Ms. Marin and the rest of the media: DO. YOUR. JOB. Is that really too much to ask?