A Los Angeles Times op-ed from history professor Robert S. McElvaine wrote on Thursday that journalists are "failing Americans" by insisting on treating both political parties equally.
McElvaine claimed that with the nation "in the final stages of the most critical election for the survival of the American experiment since 1864," journalists bear responsibility for protecting America’s future from "right-wing" extremists.
"America’s future hangs on the defeat of the right-wing extremist authoritarians who have seized the name of Lincoln’s party. If we lose, news corporations and journalists with a misplaced sense of ‘balance,’ ‘neutrality’ and ‘nonpartisanship’ will bear a considerable share of the blame," he wrote.
His op-ed followed a study by the Media Research Center that found Republicans received overwhelmingly more negative coverage from the press than Democratic candidates in the months leading up to the midterm elections.
MIDTERM STUDY FINDS MAINSTREAM MEDIA GAVE REPUBLICANS ‘87%’ MORE NEGATIVE COVERAGE THAN DEMOCRATS
McElvaine further criticized reporters for treating politics as a "sport" rather than attacking the right-wing for pushing ideas that are "increasingly reminiscent" of Hitler’s rise to power.
"In the final days of this election season, Americans must recognize that the existential struggle we are engaged in now is not just a game. If the enemies of democracy prevail and take control of either house of Congress in the midterms, there will be no ‘wait till next year.’ They would probably refuse to accept the election of a Democratic president in 2024. The game would be over, if not permanently, at least for many years," McElvaine wrote.
He added, "The media should realize that exiting from democracy would be like departing the security area in an airport: EXIT ONLY. NO RE-ENTRY. The right-wing extremists on the Supreme Court have begun to show us what life would be like on the other side of that one-way door. It is the media’s duty to inform citizens that those are the stakes in Tuesday’s elections."
In regard to the idea that news outlets should remain "objective," McElvaine dismissed it, instead insisting that reporters "have a responsibility to become partisans for democracy."
"When one side is objectively wrong, is lying, and is exceedingly dangerous, being objective requires consistently and relentlessly laying out these facts," he wrote.
Democratic officials and their allies in the media have spent the months before the November elections, decrying what they call "bothsideism" in journalism. A Pew Research Survey in June found that 55% of journalists agreed that each side "does not always deserve equal coverage" with only 44% saying that journalists should attempt to frame both sides of an issue.
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This contrasted with reports that 76% of American adults believe journalists should give equal coverage to both sides and only 22% of adults believing they shouldn't
"Waking up Americans requires first waking up the media," McElvaine insisted.
