Well, ideally, in a liberal democracy, hold politicians accountable for whether they do what they say they will do.
I agree with that, but consider this hypothetical: Trump’s travel ban. He campaigned on banning travel from certain countries with high levels of Islamic fundamentalism. And then he did that. I think a reporter could say those facts without interjecting their view of whether that promise was a good thing or a bad thing. But Trump’s promise was deeply offensive to the value system a certain segment of society, which deems multiculturalism as axiomatically valuable. They couldn’t help themselves from reminding their viewers that they found Trump’s values abhorrent.
I think that’s where it matters whether the media attempts to maintain ideological neutrality. If CNN reported the facts, I’d watch it. But if they interject moral assessments of the facts, then I’ll watch Fox News instead. If neutrality isn’t an option, I’ll go watch the outlet that I at least agree with.
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I agree with that, but consider this hypothetical: Trump’s travel ban. He campaigned on banning travel from certain countries with high levels of Islamic fundamentalism. And then he did that. I think a reporter could say those facts without interjecting their view of whether that promise was a good thing or a bad thing. But Trump’s promise was deeply offensive to the value system a certain segment of society, which deems multiculturalism as axiomatically valuable. They couldn’t help themselves from reminding their viewers that they found Trump’s values abhorrent.
I think that’s where it matters whether the media attempts to maintain ideological neutrality. If CNN reported the facts, I’d watch it. But if they interject moral assessments of the facts, then I’ll watch Fox News instead. If neutrality isn’t an option, I’ll go watch the outlet that I at least agree with.