By Benjamin Frisch
This is it. The end is near. There is no other explanation. The hardest-hitting questions of a political candidate on television are coming from ABC’s “The View.”
“The View,” a celebrity talk show notorious for its softball interviews and general lack of substance is known best for moments we would rather forget. Remember former Co-host Rosie O Donnell’s “ching-chong” mocking of the Chinese language? Or maybe co-host Sherri Shepherd’s assertion that she does not know whether the earth is flat or round? These controversies never amount to much, other than fodder for the 24-hour news networks like CNN and Fox News to remind us of how asinine daytime television can be.
But something happened with John McCain’s Sept. 12 appearance on “The View.” In addition to several tough questions from all the co-hosts, Joy Behar asked McCain about his recent string of ads that accused Barack Obama of sexism and his stance on sex-ed. She told John McCain, “Now we know that those two ads are untrue, they are lies.” In one statement, Joy Behar, a comedian, showed more journalistic courage than any talking head on CNN.
This election cycle, every talking point, every press release and every ad released by any candidate is given an equal amount of skepticism; none. So many political statements and ads on both sides have been false, and very little has been done to correct them. During the Aug. 16 forum on faith, Obama stated that despite President Bush’s policies, abortions have not gone down in the last eight years, when they have. And McCain’s recent assertion that Obama wants to teach kindergarteners sex-ed is an outright lie. Yet the networks continue to have “experts” come on to “debate” the issue, when any reporter that knows how to fact check could simply present the facts and end the debate right there.
It is time that the media quit shilling for the campaigns and do its job. Asking tough policy questions is not biased, questioning experience is not sexist, and questioning intelligence is not elitist. The news networks should protect the public from the lies of politicians, not perpetuate them. Two statements, that are factually unequal do not deserve equal respect. When John McCain say’s that Obama is a sexist for saying “lipstick on a pig,” every ethical news anchor in America should point out that it is a common expression that John McCain, himself, used during a speech in the primary.
Whether we are in the end times or not, the state of television news continues to spiral downward. Perhaps “The View” will serve as wake-up call. The irony is that while the 24-hour news networks made “The View” notorious, it is now “The View” showing the news networks how asinine the 24-hour news has become.
