Does demise of BuzzFeed News and fall of Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon signal a return to US media civility?
- The closing of BuzzFeed News and the dismissals of Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon are good news for those tired of divisiveness in US media
- Even so, reviving civility requires leaders who set a constructive example for a society worn out by constant polarising rhetoric
In Jill Abramson’s 2019 book Merchants of Truth, the former New York Times executive editor cited the success of BuzzFeed and the like as one of the drivers of the Times’ shift towards injecting bias into news to keep readers happy. For example: “there was an implicit financial reward for the Times in running lots of Trump stories, almost all of them negative: they drove big traffic numbers”.
There is an entire industry built on being as disrespectful and insulting as possible about the people you don’t like to attract eyeballs who don’t like them either, all to sell advertisements. Discerning the benefit to society of this is beyond difficult; discerning the danger is not.
Pieces about the Carlson and Lemon firings were everywhere last week. Every US media outlet that has a dog in the fight, which seems to be all of them, spun the news in one way or another. The New York Times had half a dozen stories about Carlson and Fox on its homepage on Monday and into Tuesday morning. Carlson is perhaps its biggest bogeyman after Trump because he so frequently mocks the left.
CNN had articles about both at the top of its homepage, though Carlson’s and one article saying “it’s about time” were above Lemon’s. Fox had several mentions of Lemon on Tuesday morning and no mention of Carlson. As of writing this, the Times still had pieces on its homepage.
When did the news industry become the news going after other news? That is what much of the US media does today, calling the news they don’t like lies and trashing the people who report it.
Tucker Carlson said in private messages he hates Trump ‘passionately’
The only thing they seem to agree on today is that “China” is now a threat to the US. Saying “the Chinese Communist Party” would be more accurate and judicious, but that seems to be a tall order for people who can’t agree on how to pronounce President Xi Jinping’s family name.
It is hard to be optimistic that the coming demise of BuzzFeed News and the jettisoning of Carlson and Lemon portend a move towards civility in American media. While this is not impossible, it would take leaders who set a constructive example for a society worn out by constant polarising rhetoric. Both major parties have people with the demeanour to do this.
Don’t bet the ranch on it, but also don’t be surprised if a candidate or two who strike a genuinely more civil tone rise to the top in this election season. The mood feels right for a bit more civility. We certainly need it.
Robert Boxwell is director of the consultancy Opera Advisors