Return of TRUTH and DECENCY to the White House??? HUH?

[zigbee]

CNN ‘Reliable Sources†guest says press covering Biden ‘unfairly†with ‘snarky attitudeâ€
Lockhart tells Stelter, 'I think the press is failing.'

CNN political analyst Joe Lockhart blamed the press on Sunday for treating President Biden "unfairly," arguing that the Biden administration does not deserve to be covered with the same "snarky attitude" that was afforded to former President Trump.

During a Sunday appearance on CNN's "Reliable Sources," host Brian Stelter asked Lockhart about the media's treatment of the current White House occupant, and how it compares to his predecessor.

"I think the press is failing," Lockhart said plainly. "Theyâ€re treating him [Biden] unfairly. First off, there ought to have been a dividend for returning truth and decency to the White House, and we didnâ€t get that, we didnâ€t get that at all," he told Stelter. "Weâ€ve kind of returned to the snarky attitude we saw with Trump and in some respects to Obama."

Lockhart said the media have become more concerned with viewership and ratings than informing the public.

"I will give you an example about some of the decisions that get made. I said from the very first briefing the Trump spokespeople lied, they lied every day, every briefing and the majority of those briefings were aired on live television," he told Stelter. "Jen Psaki is in there telling us the truth, sheâ€s telling us whatâ€s going on in the government, what people need to hear, and theyâ€re rarely on live television. So that tells me this is more about entertainment than it is about news. It is more about getting viewers than letting people know whatâ€s going on in the country. And thatâ€s a failure, as far as Iâ€m concerned."

The sentiment has become a common one among Democrats and outspoken Biden allies who are scrambling to explain the president's tanking popularity and devastating approval numbers.

Stelter, who has garnered a reputation as a "bootlicker" to Biden when faced with remotely critical media coverage, appeared to agree with Lockhart, arguing that while Biden holds fewer formal press conferences than Trump, he does take informal questions from reporters "more than past presidents."

The interview comes off the heels of a widely-panned exchange last year, where the CNN host asked Psaki what the media "gets wrong" in covering the Biden White House. In the same exchange, Stelter asked Psaki to provide more advice for journalists, asking her to share guidance for reporters "to stay close to the truth in this world of lies."

I index media failures less than many folks when assessing where things have gone off track, message-wise, for Biden. But @joelockhart just made a good point to @brianstelter: “There ought to have been a dividend for returning truth and decency to the WH, and we didn't get that.”

— David Swerdlick (@Swerdlick) January 16, 2022

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

New York Times opinion staff editor David Swerdlick praised Lockhart after the segment, writing "I index media failures less than many folks when assessing where things have gone off track, message-wise, for Biden. But @joelockhart just made a good point to @brianstelter: 'There ought to have been a dividend for returning truth and decency to the WH, and we didn't get that.'"

[dunefan]

[ScarletHayes]

You can't even make this sh1t up anymore.  How can anyone be this UN self aware?  

I mean seriously, these people are going too hard on the administration?  Which part do they expect a dividend: the wide open border, covid, Afghanistan,  inflation???   I mean they've been so forthright and truthful on all of it!

[ChinaBuck]