Veteran broadcast journalist Ted Koppel has long railed against news shows that wear their politics on their sleeves. And on Sunday, he pulled no punches with Sean Hannity. Koppel interviewed Hannity and White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, among other influential figures, for a piece titled “A Polarized America” for "CBS Sunday Morning" where he told the Fox News host and staunch supporter of President Trump that his brand of opinion-based journalism was harming the country.
Ted Koppel explains about harmful journalism
During the interview, Koppel, the veteran U.S.
anchor, said that the conflation of opinion and editorial content was dangerous. Referencing talk show hosts who tread a fine line between news and comment, Hannity said: “Do you think we’re bad for America? You think I’m bad for America?”. “Yeah,” Koppel replied. He tried to explain his reasons, but was interrupted several times by Hannity.
To explain the evolution of the increasingly partisan American media, Koppel pointed to a 1987 decision by the Federal Communications Commission to overturn the so-called Fairness Doctrine, which stipulated that radio and television programs had to present both sides of a political question on air.
Sean Hannity lashes out at Koppel
Hannity fired back on Twitter alleging that his interview had been cut significantly from 45 minutes to less than two.
The Fox news host said he provided many examples of media bias in the cut footage and challenged the network to air the full segment.
Fake "edited" news. I did about a 45 minute interview with CBS. They ran less than 2. Why did Ted cut out my many examples of media bias? https://t.co/prynzE2yLQ
— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) 26 March 2017
None of the other guests Koppel spoke with - White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, New York Times editor Dean Baquet, and AEI scholar Norm Ornstein - complained on Twitter about their edited interviews.
President Donald Trump has frequently appeared on "Hannity" and other Fox News programs. On Saturday, he encouraged his supporters to watch the network's "Justice With Judge Jeanine," in which host Jeanine Pirro called for House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) to step down, blaming him for the failure of the American Health Care Act.
