Ted Koppel, the legendary newsman and longtime host of ABC’s “Nightline,” has made headlines in recent years with his comments about left-wing media bias, and the left-wing media don’t want to hear it.
Remember when he upset CNN’s Brian Stelter in 2018 by saying CNN would be nowhere without the liberal network’s favorite punching bag, Donald Trump?
Koppel told Stelter at the time that Trump “has been wonderful for the [media] industry” and that CNN “would be lost without Donald Trump.”
When Stelter pushed back, Koppel replied, “CNN’s ratings would be in the toilet without Donald Trump.”
And what about when he declared in 2019 that Trump was “not mistaken” in his belief that the liberal media is “out to get him”?
Koppel noted at the time that some blatantly biased, anti-Trump remarks made by journalists were things that are “not said by people who consider themselves reporters, objective reporters of facts.”
The newsman added that he was “terribly concerned” about bias that was clearly creeping onto the front pages of newspapers like the New York Times and the Washington Post.
“We’re talking about organizations that I believe have, in fact, decided as organizations that Donald J. Trump is bad for the United States,” he said, adding, “we have things appearing on the front page of the New York Times right now that never would have appeared 50 years ago. Analysis, commentary on the front page.”
That one didn’t sit will with the media either.
And they still can’t let it rest, wanting to continue to justify their bias.
On Sunday, NewsNation host Dan Abrams pressed Koppel on his past remarks, specifically the 2019 comments, asking if the veteran journalist still felt that way and if he believed it impacted the media’s coverage of Trump.
After praising the Times and Post for doing a lot of “brilliant journalism,” Koppel did not relent on his views about the media’s bias.
“I think opinion belongs on the opinion page; that’s why they call it the op-ed section,” he said. “And that’s where the opinion pieces are, the columns; that’s where the editorials are, and that’s where it belongs.”
“I don’t like seeing opinion being expressed on the front page of a great newspaper,” he continued, adding that he wished newspapers “wouldn’t slip into that category.”
“It bothers me when I see them losing some of the criteria that always used to keep a wall between opinion and news coverage.”
Abrams, however, was not to be deterred in attempting to justify blatant media bias when it comes to Trump.
Because, after all, Trump deserved it.
“The response to that from some would be that Donald Trump is different, that he has to be covered differently by the media than others,” Abrams said. “What do you make of that?”
Koppel was not about to let the media off the hook that easily.
“I think if you start drawing those distinctions, it’s very difficult to know where you stop drawing the distinction,” he replied. “Do you feel that way about anybody else in politics?”
“Are we going to start picking up our morning newspaper to see who’s in and who’s out in terms of the news coverage?” Koppel continued. “Again, there is a place for that, in the op-ed section. I don’t like it on the front page.”
(H/T: Daily Wire)
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