Lester Holt explained what we have all thought for some time……the Main Stream News Outlets are not delivering the news but their opinion. His exact words were “fairness is overrated “. The shame is that this charlatan of a journalist has a reported net worth of $15 Million and a yearly salary of $4 Million for being dishonest enough to sit in front of the NBC News logo and give us only his opinion. This is his justification for media bias. He is entrusted with one job as a news anchor and that is to deliver the news….he is failing at his task.
During his acceptance of the Edward R. Murrow Award for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism on Tuesday, Lester Holt proclaimed that these days it’s not necessary to present both sides to an issue.
“I think it’s become clear that fairness is overrated … the idea that we should always give two sides equal weight and merit does not reflect the world we find ourselves in,” he said, asking viewers to let him explain further before “tweeting that headline.”
“The idea that we should always give two sides equal weight and merit does not reflect the world we find ourselves in,” he continued, giving the example of the sun setting in the West. Where facts are settled there doesn’t need to be an alternative viewpoint presented, he argued.“Decisions to not give unsupported arguments equal time are not a dereliction of journalistic responsibility or some kind of agenda, in fact, it’s just the opposite,” he said, noting that giving a platform to misinformation can be “quite dangerous.”
Think about the power people like Lester Holt have given themselves and affirmed by their followers. They get to decide what they report, how they will slant the story and maybe even more important is what they decide is misinformation and give it no air time. Going back to last fall when no Main Stream News outlet would give any time to the Hunter Biden story and more importantly, his father’s role in the entire Biden shakedown of the Ukraine, China and possibly even Russia for huge payouts. This was a story that deserved to be told and might have impacted voter support for Joe Biden. By burying the facts, they influenced the outcome of an election. Some may say that is the ultimate power and that is the rush that people like Holt thrive on.
So what do we do when a person receives a lifetime achievement award in a profession that he virtually destroyed in his acceptance speech. The media has become a great divider in this country. People have incredible loyalty to the talking heads who feed their minds after they have fed their guts. People that watch NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, or MSNBC are getting a totally different story than those who rely on FOX or NEWSMAX. We no longer discuss our different viewpoints so this dichotomy of views becomes a chasm between friends and even relatives. I do not have a solution to the problem. People do with their money and to the networks, ratings is money. The networks and even CNN and MSNBC have been seeing huge declines in viewers but so does FOX, though maybe to a lesser degree. There has to be a point where these news corporations will need to rethink their position on how and what they report and that bottom line decision will not be up to Lester Holt.
It is really sad to think of the respect and high esteem we used to hold the big 3 anchors; Peter Jennings, David Brinkley and Tom Brokaw. And the late Tim Russert would be ashamed at what has happened to Meet the Press. Things change over time and we can never expect things to remain static but there is one thing that can never change and that is the truth. When we lose perspective on the truth and feel it is okay to replace it with opinion then it is official….we have lost our way. Lester Holt is proud of his award and his accomplishment but unfortunately, there are many of us that think it just took him down another notch, And that is the truth.
