Signage appears at CNN center, Thursday, April 21, 2022, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

The so-called liberal media establishment sure likes to cozy up to right-wing extremists.

Just this week, CNN gave one full hour of its most valuable prime-time slots to noted liar and conspiracy theorist Vivek Ramaswamy. Their justification? Ramaswamy “is a significant candidate for the GOP nomination, having made every debate stage thus far…”

Really? He’s a failing presidential contender eking out a miniscule 5% or less in the polls, fully 45 to 50 points behind the likely GOP nominee, Donald Trump.

Even the network’s own senior media critic called out the misstep. Oliver Darcy wrote:

“…the question is: Why would any major news network help to validate such a preposterous figure by putting him on stage and allowing him to infect the public with his conspiracy campaign?”

It is a very good question. Ramaswamy’s entire hapless run for office has been a race to the bottom, filled with vile lies and disinformation. His greatest hits include the false claim that Jan. 6 was an inside job. Yet there he was on CNN prime time with one of CNN’s marquee journalists, Abby Phillip, for an entire hour.

Darcy put it this way:

“…handing Ramaswamy a microphone and putting him on a stage affixed with CNN’s iconic branding to answer audience questions helps validate him and provides oxygen to the menacing wildfire of delusions he has pushed into the public discourse.”

As if to acknowledge their misjudgment, CNN post-townhall coverage is some of the most detailed, aggressive fact checking a news organization has done on a candidate. There’s even one story where the cable network promises to show you how Phillip fact-checked Ramaswamy in “real time.”

Instead of platforming a liar and then spending time and money unpacking the lies, why not just pass on the interview in the first place?

It’s not the first time — and sadly won’t be the last — that mainstream media has damaged its credibility by amplifying extremists. Of course, the Trump “town hall” on CNN last May is the worst of the worst.  Like with Ramaswamy, the Trump program née political rally was an embarrassing exercise in non-stop propaganda. The fallout from that very bad effort cost then-CNN President Chris Licht his job and did untold damage to the network’s credibility.

Not to be outdone by CNN, NBC News followed with its own Trump interview debacle in September. In this case, there was minimal pushback to the barrage of Trump lies, with most of NBC’s fact checking in a story posted to its website, not in the actual interview.

NBC didn’t stop there. For a GOP candidates forum, the broadcast network further muddied its reputation by partnering two of the most vile propaganda organizations there are: video sharing platform Rumble and Salem Radio Network. As I wrote for Heartland Signal at the time, both are organizations with a determined right-wing bent and content that feature antisemitic rants, conspiracy theories, propaganda, Christian nationalism, lies and bigotry.

These are just a few of the more extreme examples of mainstream journalism powerhouses sullying their brands AND helping legitimize right-wing extremists. It’s a dangerous trend that hurts both journalism and our democracy. Why is it happening? I think there are several reasons:

  • Both sides. It’s appropriate to present different perspectives about a controversy. But it is simply lazy and a false equivalence to present a bunch of lies and conspiracy theories as a legitimate point of view. When journalists treat this stuff as “one side” of a debate, they have taken a pass on the truth. And journalism without the truth is not journalism.
  • For years now, Trump has targeted journalists, and many now fear for their safety. Add to that the online attacks that so many reporters endure when they cover MAGA, and many opt to cover the extremists rather than face Republican reprisal.
  • Access journalism. Journalists rely on access to get information, so they offer up media opportunities and pull their punches all in exchange for scoops.
  • Spectacle sells. Who cares if the guest or the website carrying your debate is spewing poison if your network gets a larger audience or a few more clicks on social media? The media is hungry for the Trump audience bump that was such good business for media organizations across the board. See my point above about journalism and the truth.

None of these are good reasons to give over precious airtime, column inches or website real-estate, as well as long standing credibility to extremists. There’s the mistaken notion that fact checking will balance out the disinformation, misinformation and lies that always result from these high-profile media spectacles. It won’t. Attention is jet fuel for bad actors.

It is worth noting that since the Ramaswamy cavalcade of lies, CNN has done some effective fact checks on known purveyors of misinformation. First, Kaitlin Collins pushed back on 2020 fake elector lies by Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson (R), and then Kasie Hunt provided plenty of receipts when she interviewed conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The media must be more careful about who gets that attention and how. Our democracy depends on it.

Jennifer Schulze is a former Chicago journalist who talks media every month on WCPT 820AM on “Live, Local & Progressive with Joan Esposito” with former Chicago Tribune editor Mark Jacob. You can follow her on Threads @jenniferschulzechi or Twitter/X @NewsJennifer.