Media critics have accused them [CBS] of cowing to MAGA Republicans.
And those critics are entirely correct. This is a spineless, utterly irresponsible decision.
As Mother Jones CEO Monika Bauerlein wrote in 2019, “Journalists can’t just
dispassionately chronicle two equally valid ‘sides.’ A free press needs (and is needed
by) lowercase-d democracy. We can’t exist without it.”
I agree completely, and CBS is failing the public.
It makes sense once you consider Paramount is in limbo until a merger with Skydance, run by David Ellison, the son of right-wing billionaire Larry Ellison.
David Ellison may be more liberal and has apparently donated to democratic candidates more often than republicans. But you can imagine the direction coming down from high-up CBS positions to not engage in anything that may look partisan.
it's just a shame that the right has convinced anyone that "verifiable reality" is partisan.
You know how for years the billionaires have said if the tax environment is too onerous they will leave? Well now’s the time for them to get taxed or go. Like, what does a country really want billionaires for anymore?
If CBS is truly intransigent on this point, Walz should use it as an opportunity to absolutely eviscerate the moderators and CBS in general for not doing their jobs. Because fact checking lies in debates is very much their job, and they’d be demonstrably negligent in their public duty as journalists if they refuse to do so.
Well at least Walz can be prepared. It would have been worse if they said there would be fact checking, and then just didn't do it, or dropped the ball on it
It's disappointing that CBS moderators won't fact-check the VP debate. Accurate info is kind of important in debates, right? I mean, could you imagine sports without referees? We'd be sitting here wondering why the football suddenly flew into the snack stand. Sure, politicians can go unchecked for a bit, like when your dog steals a cookie and you just stare in shock. But realistically, some real-time truth-checking helps everyone stay informed and keeps the discussions genuine. What's the harm in making sure everyone’s playing by the same set of rules?
I think this is going to be great. Vance can't control himself, and with no one fact checking him, he's going to make up even more ridiculous s***. Just think of all the entertainment we got from the sofas and the cats and dogs. He's just a walking meme machine.
(Yes, the cats and dogs story did lead to violent racist assholes trying to do bad things, but that was caused by Vance, not by us mocking him.)