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There's been lots of talk about political media & how to reform it. Here's a clarifying frame:
The mission of political media in a democracy should be to create a disincentive for lying & cheating. If there is no such disincentive, then the media is, ipso facto, failing.
The mission of political media in a democracy should be to create a disincentive for lying & cheating. If there is no such disincentive, then the media is, ipso facto, failing.
No media can ever hope to eliminate lying & cheating; the incentives to do so are perpetual, baked in the cake. But at a minimum, media should strive to create a context in which politicians *think twice*, in which they balance the temptations of lying against the penalties.
The current situation in US politics is one in which there are, to a first approximation, NO disincentives to lie or cheat. You can do it right in the open, repeatedly, for years, and the media won't change the way it treats you. You might get dinged for a news cycle or two ...
... but there's no enduring risk, no chance that the media will treat you like a liar, that the other members of your party will shun you, or that you'll lose your privileges or influence.
If you want to reform media, change that. Work backward from there.
If you want to reform media, change that. Work backward from there.
