ABC News, a subsidiary of Disney Entertainment, will host the upcoming presidential debate even though Kamala Harris’ close friend and ally Dana Walden is its co-chair. The network has dismissed concerns about the conflict despite also being the subject of an ongoing defamation lawsuit by Harris’ opponent, Donald Trump. Public trust in mainstream US media has declined steadily, and it isn’t hard to see why. The Harris-ABC News coziness may prejudice that once-vaunted news organization more than Donald Trump’s debate performance.
Kamala Harris and Disney
Walden is Disney’s highest-ranking television executive and oversees ABC News. She befriended Kamala Harris in 1994, though their husbands have been friends since the 1980s. The Waldens have donated money to Ms. Harris’ political campaigns since at least 2003 and are described by the vice president as “extraordinary friends.”
Yet concerns of potential journalistic conflicts were still denied. “ABC News has built its longstanding reputation on journalistic integrity,” the network said in a statement. “All editorial decisions are in the hands of ABC News management and the seasoned journalists and producers of ABC, who hold themselves to the highest journalistic standards.”
The Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics says: “Journalists should . . . [a]void conflicts of interest, real or perceived. Disclose unavoidable conflicts.” ABC News is disclosing an avoidable conflict, which it deems worth the money for debate coverage despite a strongly perceived conflict of interest.
Donald Trump vs ABC News
If potential favoritism toward Kamala did not suffice to create a perception of conflict, Donald Trump's recent court win to proceed against ABC News in a controversial defamation suit might be perceived as a motive for the network to discredit him. The case challenges the media giant’s assurances that its "seasoned journalists and producers . . . hold themselves to the highest journalistic standards."
In an interview on ABC News, “seasoned journalist” George Stephanopoulos stated multiple times that Trump had been found “liable for rape” in his lawsuit with writer E. Jean Carroll. Refusing to dismiss Trump’s subsequent defamation claims, Chief US District Judge Cecilia Altonaga ruled that at trial the case would turn on “whether it is substantially true to say a jury (or juries) found (Trump) liable for rape by a jury despite the jury’s verdict expressly finding he was not liable for rape.”
This factual dispute threatens claims of journalistic purity by ABC News. Unaddressed by Judge Altonaga was an additional dubious journalistic tactic employed by Stephanopoulos in the interview of Trump supporter Representative Nancy Mace (R-SC) on his show This Week, when he asked her how, as a victim of rape herself, she could endorse Trump. Mace called his question “disgusting” and said she was “not going to sit here on your show and be asked a question meant to shame me about another potential rape victim.”
Misinforming the public about facts and then using false charges to victimize a rape survivor for her political views does not smack of the highest of journalistic standards, let alone provide assurance that Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will be treated equally in the upcoming debate. Ironically, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) seeks to impugn the integrity of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, Jr., for flags displayed by his wife due to a claimed appearance of impropriety. AOC would remove a Supreme Court justice for his wife’s protected political speech, but ABC News will not recuse itself from overseeing a highly contested, historical presidential debate because it “holds itself” to high standards and shrugs off appearances.
Growing Public Distrust
Distrust of mainstream media has increased steadily in recent years, especially among Republicans. Democrats are much more likely to trust ABC News, which was rated by Media Bias/Fact Check as "Left-Center biased" because "Story selection tends to favor the left," and "they underreport some news stories that are favorable to the right.” Perhaps that's why the network is nonplussed about claims of blatant conflict.
The mainstream media projects its loss of public credibility onto the Trump scapegoat. The New York Times reported, “[H]e and his allies are often quick to accuse news organizations of bias when they are displeased by coverage.” A 2021 Gallup article titled “Americans’ Trust in Media Dips to Second Lowest on Record” similarly attributed lost confidence in mainstream media to the Orange Man:
“After a brief recovery in trust among Democrats and independents early in the Trump administration, their trust has fallen off a little in recent years. Democratic trust remains well above where it was before Trump came into office and made attacks on the media a core message of his presidency.”
The same article notes: "Between 1972 and 1976, 68% to 72% of Americans expressed trust in the mass media; yet, by 1997, when the question was next asked, trust had dropped to 53%.” Trust in the mass media was plummeting well before Trump came along and made that distrust “a core message of his presidency.” The media treatment of Russian collusion, the Hunter Biden laptop, and the COVID-19 pandemic has not aged very well, which can hardly be pinned on Trump.
ABC News feeds Left-Center-biased storylines to its Left-Center-consuming viewership. Its obvious ethical conflicts as debate-overseer – both in favor of Harris and against Trump – may well further taint Americans’ trust in the network. This will, presumably, be laid at the feet of Donald Trump for his contentious willingness to challenge a biased press.
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