“Both sides are equally at fault” in contributing to criminal political violence, said former chief editor of The New York Times, Jill Abramson.
Speaking as a panelist on CNN’s GPS with Fareed Zakaria, Abramson laid blame at the feet of President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans for allegedly increasing political polarization.
Republicans and their news media allies, claimed Abramson, contribute to and benefit from a political “rage machine:”
I do think that both sides are not equally at fault, and that there’s been a bit of a false equivalency at work, especially in the discussion over the past couple of days. I think that in terms of political leadership, right now, that both President Trump and the congressional leadership on the Republican side are extremely divisive, and that they are really benefiting from a kind of rage machine that operates in this country.
Abramson did not comment on the existence of any “rage machine” shaped by Democrats and their news media allies. Neither Zakaria nor any of GPS‘ panelists dissented from her statements.
News media outlets such as CNN, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, suggested Abramson operate in good faith “to tell the news straight:”
“I think what our society desperately needs is to regain a respect for facts and the reality that there is an objective truth that can be obtained. And yes, there are many media organizations that compound partisanship, but there are a group of very high quality news organizations that try very hard to tell the news straight, and to cover stories truthfully.”
Abramson currently writes for The Guardian, a neo-Marxist news media operation based in the United Kingdom. She is also a senior lecturer at Harvard University’s Department of English.
The New York Times presents itself as a politically objective and non-partisan news media operation, a description Abramson deployed during her tenure at the Grey Lady’s helm. Zakaria also described himself as a politically balanced and non-partisan news media figure. CNN markets itself as “The Most Trusted Name In News.”
H/T Tim Hains at RealClearPolitics.
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