Letter: Off to the poorhouse

Published 12:15 am Saturday, September 21, 2024

“That awful power, the public opinion of a nation, is created in America by a horde of ignorant, self-complacent simpletons who failed at ditching and shoemaking and fetched up in journalism on their way to the poorhouse.” — Mark Twain

I’ve been watching presidential debates ever since I got extra credit in junior history class for reporting on the President Gerald Ford/Jimmy Carter debate. Nearly half a century later, I watched a presidential debate where the moderators were blatantly biased in favor of one candidate.

Two moderators from ABC fact-checked one candidate, yet let the other candidate stretch the truth. Time magazine got into the fact-check game when they falsely claimed that one candidate did not support taxpayer-funded gender transition treatment for detained immigrants, when it’s absolutely true that one of the candidates filled out a 2019 American Civil Liberties Union questionnaire, where the candidate wrote that she supported transgender surgery for detained immigrants.

I only mention this issue to point out how journalistic standards have declined to the point that media bias is causing Americans to be uninformed on many the issues.

When the nation is at stake, fairness in journalism is absolutely necessary in order for an informed public to decide who gets the job.

MATT JANES

Jeffers Garden