The mainstream media has historically tried to balance left and right in its political
coverage, and present what it views as a reasonable center.
"Telling both sides of a controversial story."
— Now that may sound good in theory, but the old politics no longer exists,
and the former labels “left” versus “right” are outdated.
Today, it’s democracy versus authoritarianism, voting rights versus white supremacy.
There’s no reasonable center between these positions, no justifiable compromise.
Equating them is misleading and dangerous.
You hear the mainstream media say, for example, that certain “Republican and Democratic
lawmakers are emerging as troublemakers within their parties.”
These reports equate Republican lawmakers who are actively promoting Trump’s big lie
that the 2020 election was stolen, with Democratic lawmakers who are fighting to extend health
care and other programs to help people. But these are not equivalent.
Trump’s big lie is a direct challenge to American democracy.
Even if you disagree with providing Americans better access to health care, it's not going
to destroy our system of government.
You also hear that both sides are gripped by equally dangerous extremism.
"Both the radical right and the left"
"Growing trend of far-right extremism"
"The rise of left-wing mobs"
"Far-right terrorists"
— Labeling them “radical left” and “radical right” suggests that the responsible position
somehow is between these so-called extremes.
Can we get real?
One side is trying to protect and preserve voting rights. The other side is trying to
suppress votes under the guise of “election integrity.”
But there isn’t and never was a problem of “election integrity.”
The whole issue of “election integrity” in the 2020 election was manufactured
by Donald Trump and his big lie about voter fraud,
"If you count the legal votes, I easily win. If you count the illegal votes, they can try
to steal the election from us."
— and was bought and propagated by the Republican Party.
Today’s Republican Party is behind what historians regard as the biggest attack on
voting rights since Jim Crow, but the media frames this as a right-versus-left battle
that’s just politics as usual.
Equating the two sides is false and dangerous.
Or compare the coverage of Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, on the one hand, with
the coverage of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar on the other.
"Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene is sparking controversy, again."
"We should be looking at the most extreme on both sides and I would bring up
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar."
"What you are talking about, just big picture, is a radical agenda compared to the way politics
is done right now."
You’d think they were all equally out of the mainstream, some on the extreme right,
some on the extreme left. Well, that’s bunk. Marjorie Taylor Greene
and Lauren Boebert, in addition to spreading dangerous conspiracy theories, harassing colleagues,
and promoting bigotry, don’t actually legislate or do anything for their constituents.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar both organize to help everyday people, deliver
for their constituents, and have pushed legislation to provide universal school meals, expand
affordable housing, and combat the climate crisis.
Equating all these lawmakers suggests that the responsible position is halfway between
hateful, delusional conspiracy theories on the one hand, and efforts to fight white supremacy,
save the planet, and empower working people on the other.
It’s similar to what the media did following Donald Trump’s infamous condemnation of
“both sides”
"I think there's blame on both sides."
— after the deadly violence sparked by neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville,
Virginia in 2017.
In the ensuing weeks, America’s six top mainstream newspapers used just as much space
condemning anti-Nazi counter-protesters as they did actual neo-Nazis.
But research shows white supremacists pose a significantly graver threat than those trying
to stop them. White supremacists are animated by racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, and other
forms of bigotry, violence, and hate. Battling white supremacy is not the same as
advocating it. Passing laws to prevent voter suppression is not the same as passing laws
to suppress votes. Fighting for our democracy is not the same as seeking to destroy it.
The media equating both sides, one “left” and one “right,” suggests there’s a
moderate middle between hate and inclusion, between democracy and proto-fascism.
This is misleading, dangerous, and morally wrong.
Don’t fall for it.