The Mainstream Media Has a Republican Party Problem
About this episode
Guest host Nicole Hemmer talks with NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen about why mainstream political journalism is failing the democracy crisis. Rosen argues that professional norms — neutrality, 'both sides' balance, the 'view from nowhere' — were designed for an era of two small-d democratic parties and now actively mislead: they launder Republican attacks on elections and voting into ordinary partisan disputes. He calls for a press organized explicitly around pro-democracy values, where truth-telling outranks balance, and critiques horse-race coverage that treats democratic backsliding as just another campaign storyline. The conversation also covers the collapse of local news, the business incentives warping national outlets, and how journalists can cover an asymmetric, anti-democratic movement without becoming partisans themselves.