Opinion: The media still haven’t learned
how to cover the GOP threat to democracy
Columnist|
Today at 12:04 p.m. EDT
Not one
of the five major Sunday talk shows mentioned the revelation that Sen. Mike Lee
(R-Utah) had supported efforts to overturn the 2020 election despite no
evidence of fraud, as my colleague James Downie reported. It’s a small
example of a larger problem.
Republicans
who appear for TV interviews are rarely — if ever — asked basic questions about
the ongoing threat to our democracy. For example, do they believe President
Biden was legitimately elected? Do they regret supporting Donald Trump during
his impeachment trials? Would they support the defeated former president if he
ran again, even though he instigated a violent assault on the Capitol?
Nor are
they asked about a spate of laws that Republicans are pursuing at the state
level to make voting harder or politicize election administration. Or why they
oppose reauthorization of the preclearance provisions in Section 5 of the
Voting Rights Act.
Old
news! Not relevant! Really? Multiple news outlets have dedicated themselves to
covering democracy, yet coverage has not changed much. The GOP is not consistently
identified as the party seeking to impair voting or thwart the House select
committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection. Days can go by without
national newspapers or cable TV programming mentioning the coup attempt or
voting suppression.
What
would improved coverage look like? Media can start with these six changes.
First,
they should provide regular updates on efforts to suppress voting, ballot and
election chaos created by new laws and candidates running for key state-level
offices (e.g., secretary of state, attorney general, governor) who still
support the “big lie” that the election was stolen. The national media should
cover efforts such as those in Wisconsin to “decertify” the 2020 election (yes,
Trump supporters are still stuck on that!).
And they should continue to cover the negotiations underway to reform the
Electoral Count Act. The media should explain the possibility that a GOP House
majority might not allow an elected Democratic president to take office in
January 2025. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) should be asked
about this at every news conference and in every interview.
Second,
the media should ramp up coverage of civil and criminal prosecutions stemming
from the attempted coup, including the investigation underway by
the district attorney in Fulton County, Ga. The media should also track
disbarment claims filed against lawyers who pursued bogus claims.
Third,
when Republicans are mentioned in print or introduced on air, their position on
challenging electoral votes, the “big lie”, the attempted coup, voting rights
legislation and the Jan. 6 commission should be noted. This is relevant
information to determining whether these people have credibility and are
pro-democracy. So long as Republicans can easily evade questions about their
ongoing support of the “big lie” and its primary proponent, the media
effectively enable the GOP’s assault on democracy.
Fourth,
Republicans need to be pressed about their plans if they take majorities in the
House or Senate. Will they try to impeach Biden? Do they think they are
entitled to block a Democratic president’s qualified nomination to the Supreme
Court if a vacancy emerges? Why should voters trust them not to shut down the
government and default on the debt? Would they seek to short-circuit the Jan. 6
investigation? How can people who tried to disenfranchise voters be trusted
with power?
Fifth,
when major news breaks about the attempt coup — such as revelations that a
senator lied about the extent of his involvement in the effort to overturn the
election and badger state legislatures into overriding the will of their voters
— the media should demand comment, both from the person implicated and from GOP
leadership. It should be more than a one-day story.
Finally,
Republicans who refuse to show up for debates, such as Senate candidates Herschel Walker in
Georgia and Rep. Ted Budd in North
Carolina, should be asked at every opportunity why they are hiding. Media
outlets should cover the debates anyway, even if they feature only a single
candidate and an empty podium.
There
are plenty of other ways to keep the public informed about threats to our
democracy. Unfortunately, democracy often remains an afterthought in political
coverage. As a result, the media treats the GOP as if it were a normal party,
covering its insane conspiracy theories and lies about the 2020 election as if
they were horse-race stories. (Look, he got former president Donald Trump’s
endorsement! Look how cleverly she sticks with the MAGA line!)
The
media have committed to taking the side of democracy and truth. So far, the
results are unimpressive.