Cable News and Education: Democracy is Suffering
Owen Wong, Online Assistant Editor
October 30, 2020
2020 has had more than its fair share of insane events, COVID-19, Iran’s accidental shooting of a passenger plane, and the congressional impeachment of Donald Trump, to name a few. But to add to 2020’s list of events, is the possibility that an American President will not leave office if he is voted out.
A brief survey of the internet will reveal countless articles suggesting that American democracy is failing. Right wing pundits tote Trump’s line that Joe Biden will not accept the election if he loses. On the other side, left wing activists, and those simply observing the facts, are aware that Trump is laying the groundwork to remain in power if the 2020 election doesn’t favour him.
Trump’s threat to democracy has left many, both in and outside the US wondering: How did this happen? Could this happen to me in my country?
One unlikely culprit for the rise and support of Trump is cable news. It is estimated that 38% of Americans frequently watch cable news networks such as CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News. Contrary to popular belief, evidence suggests that voters who watch partisan news networks such as FOX, are unlikely to change their political beliefs because of the biased presentation of the news. In other words, viewers take into consideration the news source’s bias and this information filtering means that voters don’t change their party preferences.
It seems as though partisan networks cater to their pre-existing supporters and are so clearly biased that non-conforming voters are aware they receive a biased interpretation of the facts. What is dangerous for democracy are news networks such as CNN, which appear to be fair, bi-partisan, and politically neutral. To democracy, these networks are a wolf in sheep’s skin.
A recent micro-documentary by Vox suggested that these seemingly neutral news networks understate the extraordinary claims made by Trump. Out of the desire to appear fair, when Trump makes an outlandish claim, CNN will interview campaign strategists, and party leaders from both sides of the aisle, presenting viewers with an unbiased perspective. The problem with covering a populist like Trump in this way is that the lies, racist remarks, and comments that seem to undermine democracy are normalized. Because hosts, fearing they will lose viewership, are too scared of being viewed as partisan to remark about how extraordinary some of Trump’s unprecedented remarks are.
But the danger of seemingly neutral news networks extends beyond the normalization of insurgency. These networks are often the primary source of news for many citizens. Journalists are vital to the health of democracy, they bear witness to newsworthy events and fact check, yet they infrequently have the political, historical, or economic expertise to idea check populists. For example, Trump has frequently referred to Mexican and Muslim immigrants as an existential threat to America. This kind of claim is broad, multifaceted, and fear inspiring. As such, it is difficult to fact check in the same way that a statistic or simple fact could be discredited. Because cable journalists, often providing 24 hour coverage and an immediate response to the latest news are not experts in the field of migration studies, they lack the ability to fully discredit the lies of a populist. As the 20th century political philosopher Isiah Berlin noted, ideas hold power, and only those trained to think about ideas can disarm them.
As developed countries around the world promote education that is focused on job training and economic growth, disciplines in the liberal arts such as philosophy and political science have become less popular. As Martha Nussbaum argues in her book Not for Profit, the decline of disciplines that promote the critical analysis of ideas is a threat to democracy. She suggests that democracy is in jeopardy if citizens, who have the power to elect their leader, are unable to question their beliefs, the dishonest and misleading rhetoric of politicians and ideas that might at the superficial level be appealing to accept.
At the level of knowledge production, news networks in the pursuit of neutrality normalize extraordinary claims and often lack the political, historical, and economic expertise to disarm ideological propaganda. At the level of knowledge consumption, citizens often lack the critical thinking skills to question the beliefs that excite and mobilize them. When confronted with a populist leader who is unafraid to lie and delegitimize public institutions and the democratic process, the weaknesses in the democratic process are exposed. While the impacts of these weaknesses should not be overstated, the normalization and inability to disarm erroneous ideas combined with the relatively widespread lack of critical analysis at an individual level is enough to provide a chance that a clearly unstable President will remain in power.
While the recent events in the United States have been a case study for this article, the potential for a populist who has little respect for democracy to rise to power is not unique to America. Most developed countries reward individuals with highly technical skills with status, and money, but undervalue an education that focuses on the critical analysis of ideas. Furthermore, the normalization of extraordinary political claims, and the inability for breaking news networks to disable these erroneous ideas means that the institution of democracy is threatened everywhere.
When people lack the ability to question ideas that appeal to them, and the institutions that convey the news lack the ability to disarm ideological propaganda, non-democratic populists may rise to power.
Socrates understood that voting was a skill. He believed that democracy was only good if the demos, the people, had that skill. In an era where many lack that skill and neutral news agencies struggle to truly educate voters about political events, democracy will continue to struggle.
If democracy’s future is to be bright, reform is needed beginning with cable news agencies, and education. Populists leaders aren’t usually the problem. They are a symptom of a broken system. Donald Trump and his unwillingness to say he’ll accept a peaceful transition of power is proof of just how broken the American system is.