thependulumswings

Have you seen the selective edit of Bill Barr’s interview used by Chuck Todd on Sunday’s Meet the Press?  Yesterday, it was all of the (out)rage on conservative talk radio as well as on the Fox News Network.

And that, unfortunately, is exactly the point.  It’s already yesterday’s news.

As the Russian Collusion, Mueller Investigation, and Impeach Trump continues to fall further apart and the heat from the AG is now on the those that brought the, umm, Trumped-up charges both sides have predictably dug in once again.

No less than former President Barack Obama came out to weigh in on this heavyweight fight.  He, oh so elegantly, worried that this possible pardoning of General Flynn was a subordination of the rule of law.  Adam Schiff said that is would set the Justice Department’s credibility back 50 years to the Watergate era.  Should Schiff be the one talking about credibility?  We digress.

NBC, so regretful of their national broadcast error, said in a tweet written by no one you know that it regretted the inadvertent editing.  If you watched the show, but don’t have a Twitter account that follows NBC News, you would not ever see the insufficient regret.

President Trump, acting like a former TV star of The Apprentice called for Todd to be fired.  But, he added that he knew that he wouldn’t be.  And, that too is exactly the point.

In today’s fractured nation, both sides immediately line up behind their political preference, truth and principles be dammed.  If you don’t believe that ask either Tara Reade or the dumbfounded #metoo members.

The result, or possibly the cause as well, is that anything and everything can now be said with little to no fear of reprisal.  Journalism, as it was once known, is no longer.  Chuck Todd knowingly deleted the last two sentences of Barr’s response to support his narrative and knew beforehand that he had cover to do it.

In yesteryear, editors checked and rechecked material for accuracy before it was written or spoken.  Two sources on everything was mandatory.  Quotes were painstakingly quoted word for word.  Credibility was cherished and was the long term goal.

No more.  Now, the goal is twofold.  The first goal enables the second goal.  The first goal is ratings.  If you have ratings the ad revenue streams in.  Everyone gets fed.  Want to get fed?  Feed the base that you appeal to some red meat.   If you don’t have ratings you don’t have a show.

If Chuck Todd couldn’t carry the ball for Meet the Press he would have met the NBC human resource team just before being escorted out of the door long ago.  Today you don’t get fired for misspeaking, inaccuracy, inadvertent omissions, inadvertent misquotes, or outright lying (Brian Williams).  You can get fired if you sexually harass your makeup artist (Chis Matthews) or frequent contributors (Bill O’Reilly).  And you will get fired if your ratings don’t produce enough ad money for the time slot you compete in.

With a divided country you can almost say anything you want.  Why? Because soon you will be yesterday’s news.  And in today’s journalistic world apparently that is a good thing.