A Clash Over the Media and Beltway Gridlock at Daily Download Event
Michael Steele, the former Republican Party chairman, faulted his party for moving too far right–and said that breakneck media coverage “does a disservice to game shows.”
Lanny Davis, the former Clinton White House adviser, faulted President Obama for throwing “red meat” to his liberal base–and blamed the media for ignoring common-ground solutions.
And Howard Kurtz said the media provide incentives to political figures to make inflammatory attacks that receive wide coverage.
Speaking at a Daily Download breakfast panel in Washington this morning, the three panelists fielded questions from Daily Download Editor-in-Chief Lauren Ashburn before a crowd of more than 50 people. Davis and Steele are partners in the law and lobbying firm Purple Nation Solutions, and Kurtz, a Daily Download contributor, is Washington bureau chief of Newsweek/Daily Beast and a CNN host.
The panel quickly agreed that the press is more focused on conflict than consensus. Kurtz said the sad truth is that media prefer “cotton candy” stories to hard news. All the panelists lamented the increasing role of cable news in polarizing the discussion. In particular, Steele expressed his distaste for the now-ubiquitous countdown clocks on cable news, saying bluntly: “I hate the friggin’ clock.”
There was a range of perspective provided as all three cable news networks were represented; Steele is a conservative commentator on MSNBC, Davis is a liberal commentator on Fox News.
There also was real discussion of substantive policy and the shift in Washington towards hyperpartisanship. Steele bemoaned the fact that Congress is now filled with partisans from both parties. “The Liebermans and Lugars of the world are gone,” Steele said. “What we’re left with is a well of vipers and poisonous snakes.” He also faulted the audience for demanding flashier and incendiary fare, saying: “It’s not just the journalists who report the story. It’s the consumers, too.”
Davis urged Obama to adopt the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction plan to end what he called the government’s “immoral credit card spending.” Steele also urged a multitude of changes for the Republican Party as well. When asked if the GOP needed its own version of the Democratic Leadership Council, the Bill Clinton affiliated-organization that pulled the Democrats back to the center in the late 1980s, the former Maryland lieutenant governor said “Lord, they need so much, creating an RLC [Republican Leadership Council] is the least of our problems.”
The panel ended on a note of cautious optimism that the media can overcome their desire for conflict-driven narrative and cover a positive agenda in Washington. Davis even argued the press should write about three issues where there are signs of bipartisan consensus in Congress: immigration reform, increased background checks for gun purchases and nuclear energy. But as Kurtz noted, the coverage can only be changed one story, one television segment and one journalist at a time.
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