CNN's Ryan Girdusky fiasco is part of a much bigger problem in mainstream media

[demmiblue]

By obsessively trying to have ‘balanced’ discussions, mainstream television news keeps platforming extremists

On Monday evening, CNN took the rare step of removing a panelist during a commercial break as far-right activist Ryan Girdusky was banned from the network after he made a violently bigoted joke directed at progressive Arab-American commentator Mehdi Hasan, implying that he was a member of the terrorist group Hamas.

“There is a line that was crossed there, and it’s not acceptable to me; it’s not acceptable to us at this network,” NewsNight host Abby Phillip said after the program returned from the break. It was the right decision, but unfortunately, Girdusky’s disgraceful conduct is part of a much larger problem within mainstream journalism of platforming extremist Republicans.

Before I started Flux, I was a writer and producer for The Hill, where I worked on multiple shows, one of which was “Rising,” a bipartisan news opinion show. Like most mainstream media shows, we were constantly trying to have balanced panel discussions. But we always had a problem: It was very difficult to find Republicans who weren’t crazy.

...

Gidursky, a known racist who previously wrote articles for the white nationalist activist Richard Spencer and gave friendly interviews with the Proud Boys hate group, has been actively working to ban Black and LGBT authors from school curricula. He should’ve never been on CNN.

...

This irrational “both sides” compulsion has led to a situation where accurately identifying fascism is more controversial than actual fascistic actions and rhetoric among Republican politicians. Calling out hate, bigotry, and extremism should never be more contentious than tolerating it in our public discourse. Donald Trump obviously has played a huge role in polluting the American conversation, but the mainstream media shares much of the blame as well.

https://plus.flux.community/p/cnns-ryan-girdusky-fiasco-is-part

[Scrivener7]

1. Those darn face eating leopards. Always eating the faces when the media doesn't expect it.

[dalton99a]

2. .

[TBF]

4. Thanks for this - know thy enemy - this must be an extension

of Project 2025?

All of the suspects: https://www.americanmoment.org/board-of-advisors/

Their "about" page reads just like the forward of Project 25 -- are they rebranding??

"American Moment’s mission is to identify, educate, and credential young Americans who will implement public policy that supports strong families, a sovereign nation, and prosperity for all. American Moment hosts events, produces original content, and builds networks to create personnel who will implement our priorities in government, business, and public policy organizations.

Our priorities are as follows:

1. The American family, rooted in faith and tradition, is the bedrock of this nation and must be supported.

2. Law and order are essential to national prosperity and cohesion.

3. Immigration must be restricted to promote national solidarity and the economic well-being of all Americans.

4. U.S. foreign policy and, specifically, the use of military force must be restrained and oriented toward the national interest.

5. China, and the elites who enabled its rise, are generational threats to American prosperity."

https://www.americanmoment.org/about/

[HUAJIAO]

38. WOW ! Read the whole thing! OMG !!! School for fascism...

[flamingdem]

3. They want eyeballs and profits

Therein lies the problem and their poor choices.

[edisdead]

5. Both sides means divide and reap the money.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

33. Yep. Those "discussion" shows have to get more and more extreme to attract crazier and crazier viewers.

[onetexan]

6. The media's normalizing of fascist/racist behavior & offensive language

And their sane washing of the Con is part of what enabled the fascist right's rise.

[Evolve Dammit]

25. Yes indeed

[Farmer-Rick]

7. Just like WaPo not endorsing a candidate

If the filthy-rich owners of these corporate media platforms objected, it would not happen.

But they approve.

[Clouds Passing]

8. Ryan looked genuinely stunned when the rest of the panel took him to the woodshed, live on air!

The US is in desperate need of a mass deprogramming from this hate cult.

[Prof. Toru Tanaka]

28. Good.

The right thing was done here in taking this stinking garbage to the curb on-air.

The wrong thing was done in allowing the stinking garbage in there in the first place.

[yardwork]

9. The media is not trying to be balanced.

The media is trying to create viewership by hosting brawls.

[Wednesdays]

20. Geraldo and Jerry Springer got viewership, too.

[progressoid]

10. "It was very difficult to find Republicans who weren't crazy. "

Boy howdy. That is an understatement.

[czarjak]

11. Former Trump Aminstration tools being given a platform is infurating too.

[ShazzieB]

12. I saw that clip. (I think someone posted it here at DU.)

I couldn't understand much of what was being said because of people talking over each other, but I caught the beeper comment. I knew something offensive had happened by Mehdi's reaction, but the meaning of it went right by me!

So now I know, and I'm horrified. Gidursky is an ass.

[BigmanPigman]

35. I had to read the transcripts.

[ShazzieB]

37. Do you have a link to those?

I'd really like to take a look.

[BigmanPigman]

40. This is what I read....the transcripts

?si=kEyR-X4dITMT4dyN

Go to the transcripts at the beginning. You have to click "transcripts" to get it.

[ShazzieB]

42. Thanks!

[LisaM]

13. Pretty good article, wrong on one thing.

Every Democrat I know and IMO most elected Dems in Congress do want national healthcare. They are just facing terrible obstacles to getting it.

[mitch96]

14. I blame CNN for putting this known dickwad on the program and giving him a platform to spew his hate

shame on them..fair and balanced my ass..
m

[dchill]

15. "It was very difficult to find Republicans who weren't crazy."

There it is. So they just quit trying, it seems.

[robleb]

16. I stopped watching CNN

since they have included deplorable and bat-shit-crazy panelists like Ryan Girdusky, Scott "head up his ass" Jennings, and David "penis head" Urban. Can't CNN find any conservatives that haven't drunk the kook-aid?

[Mopar151]

30. Rare as a sunshine dewdrop!

A few have stopped by MSNBC, if for nothing more than to prove their own existence!

The Republicans need to have an intra party brawl, to remove criminals and extremists.

They need to purge the MAGA from their ideology. IMHO, Eisenhower's 1956 platform would be a good place to start.

[Seinan Sensei]

36. Hey Girdusky

I hope your last name becomes a meme, a neologism
Kinda like Rick Santorum's last name did
Your legacy, jackwad

[iluvtennis]

17. CNN knew who he was before they brought him on. n/t

[Beartracks]

18. After softening up the media for years with claims of "liberal media bias," Republicans know that...

... the media now feels obligated to platform rightwing crazies in a misguided desire to appear "balanced." Republicans have thus ALWAYS played the media, and by extension, played the American people.

=============

[Klarkashton]

19. Now the maga will rant about how they have been

Silenced by the "radial left deep state fake media"
We are contending with a movement of extreme right wing maniacs and don't know how to deal with it.

[Bev54]

21. CNN loves the Jerry Springer style panel. I find it disgusting and that is why I quit watching a few years ago

[markodochartaigh]

22. Much of the media

has allowed the Overton Window to be moved so far to the reich that it now overlooks the dump. They shouldn't be surprised now when the stench is difficult to keep out.

[RJ_MacReady]

23. Medhi Hassan is more restrained that I

I would have stood up in a threatening manner telling him to repeat what he said. We need to stop showing these people respect and civility they show us none at all.

[Evolve Dammit]

26. Medhi can take care of himself pretty well

[cab67]

24. it goes beyond electoral politics and racism.

- though I do not wish to minimize their impact.

In my large-enrollment gen-ed science class at my university, I have a couple of lectures outlining proper scientific reasoning and the skills needed to discern legitimate scientific advances from pseudoscientific quackery.

Until very recently, it was common for network talking-head panels to include "both sides" when discussing issues such as vaccine safety and climate change.

Thing is, from the standpoint of science, there aren't two sides to these issues. Vaccines are safe and effective. Climate is changing, human activity is the primary cause, and unless we do something, it's not going to end well for us. But because of what I describe as a "misplaced sense of democracy," there's a perceived need for "balance" if some people dispute the findings of a scientific report. This did a lot of harm, leading people to hesitate because some special interest loudmouth claims there's controversy.

There's less of this today, but it persists, as Girdusky's knobbery demonstrates quite clearly.

[lapfog_1]

27. The best thing Jon Stewart every did

was take down the idiotic show "Crossfire".

But he couldn't stop the genre.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

29. "... a member of the terrorist group Hamas"?

Was Hamas named in the discussion?

The "exploding phone" tactic was used against Hezbollah in Lebanon, I thought.

Anyway, stupid "joke".

[GoYouPackersGo]

31. I would LOVE to see someone shatter Gidursky's face with a ball bat. nt

[pat_k]

32. Like Bezo's absurd claim of "independence"

Far right hate and the fascism promoted by it should be treated as what it is by every segment of society, public and private: a serious social problem that we must muster considerable resources to address

This is not a political divide. This is the result of an intolerably toxic, delusional reality than an increasing number of people are losing themselves to. The rage and hate is physically dangerous to the individuals immersed in it and is destroying our ability to function as a civil society. It is playing out in the political area -- as it is in other aspects of our society, but there is nothing "political" about it.

Bezo's assertions of "independence" or "principle" must be rejected by all quarters.To pretend he is just staying out of a "political debate" advances the "sane washing" of a social problem that poses a greater danger to society as a whole than drug addition

The purpose of independent journalism is to serve the public with integrity; it is to share the unvarnished facts with the public to enable them to make informed decisions.

The endorsement of Kamala Harris was drafted by the WaPo editorial board to fulfill this purpose; this duty.

As the owner, Bezos is ultimately responsible for ensuring WaPo fulfills it's purpose; it's duty.

It is a perverse betrayal for the Washington Post to "stand down" while magazines and organizations that have rarely, or even never before endorsed a presidential candidate recognize they MUST take a stand against Donald Trump.

It is not independence. It is flagrant disregard for moral principle and decency.

Since 1857 The Atlantic has only endorsed five candidates. And three of the five were the opponents of Donald Trump.

We endorsed Abraham Lincoln for president in 1860 (though not, for reasons lost to history, in 1864). One hundred and four years later, we endorsed Lyndon B. Johnson for president. In 2016, we endorsed Hillary Clinton for more or less the same reason Johnson won this magazine’s endorsement in 1964. Clinton was a credible candidate who would have made a competent president, but we endorsed her because she was running against a manifestly unstable and incompetent Republican nominee. The editors of this magazine in 1964 feared Barry Goldwater less for his positions than for his zealotry and seeming lack of self-restraint.

WNBA's Seattle Storm 'proudly' endorsed Harris for president. In 2020, the team backed her bid for the White House alongside President Joe Biden, which many believe made it the first sports franchise to endorse a political candidate for president.

[slightlv]

34. I think they're afraid we're going to bring

back the Fairness Doctrine. It was, no doubt, a lot of hassle when it was in effect. To actually try to balance political thought and speech among politicians from both sides. And it DOES need to make a comeback. Without it, we've seen republican extremism rise to higher and higher screeches, all the while the screaming about a non-existent "liberal" media continues.

[TomCADem]

39. I Think The Focus on the "Mainstream Media" Is Out of Date Given Modern Social Media

This is not the 1990s or even the early 2000s. Most people under 65 do not rely on cable news for their news and information. Instead, they increasingly rely on social media. Yet, people on this Board still rarely call out social media platforms such as facebook, youtube, tik tok, twitter, etc., which pump millions of hours of content with no accountability.

Thanks to such platforms and the algorithms they apply to distribute content, millions of Americans live in entirely disconnected realities and this disconnection can be from reality itself as folks live in a world where COVID is a hoax, Trump won the 2020 election, vaccines have tracking systems, immigrants are hunting household pets as a food source, and Hillary was running a child slavery ring out of pizza shop in DC.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/radical-ideas-social-media-algorithms/

Radical ideas spread through social media. Are the algorithms to blame?

Global communications technology has streamlined the power of suggestion.

Behind every Facebook ad, Twitter feed, and YouTube recommendation is an algorithm that’s designed to keep users using: It tracks preferences through clicks and hovers, then spits out a steady stream of content that’s in line with your tastes. The longer you spend on the platform, the better the algorithm is doing—and the deeper down various rabbit holes you go.

Some of these forays are harmless; many end in nothing more than an innocuous kitten video or a list of things that will (and definitely won’t) survive your microwave.

But others can have more dire consequences. Guided by suggested hyperlinks and auto-fills in search bars, web surfers are being nudged in the direction of political or unscientific propaganda, abusive content, and conspiracy theories—the same types of ideas that appear to have driven the perpetrators of several mass shootings. That includes the alleged Christchurch gunman, whose white supremacist and Neo-Nazi fascist views appear to have motivated the slaughter of at least 50 people earlier this month.

[Skittles]

41. these are people who would be fired from most reputable jobs

their behavior is just disgusting