Sen. McCain defends a free press but fires at the wrong target

Sen. John McCain came out in defense of the media in an interview airing on NBC today. McCain said, “We need a free press, we must have it …. (to) preserve democracy.”

The question is, how can someone be so right and yet get it so wrong? The answer is rather simple. He’s correct; we do need a free press in America and that a free press is in danger. He’s wrong because he’s identified President Donald Trump as the threat to a free press.

The threat to a free press is an internal threat. It is a biased media that is, and has, put ‘a free press’ at risk. It is not merely dictatorial control from the government that can threaten a free press; the press is no less threatened when they abandon an impartial approach to the coverage they provide.

The problem isn’t that President Trump has called out the media for its obvious and dramatic bias; the problem is that Sen. McCain is unable to recognize the problem, or unwilling to look upon the problem of media bias with any sense of honestly. Of course, maybe, he’s just kissing up to the media in a desperate bid to keep his political hide on their good side.

The reality is this: during the latter years of the George W. Bush administration, the media lost control and became attack dogs rather than watch dogs. With the election of Barack Obama, the media switched to a role of a lapdog in its coverage of the administration. Now, with the election of Donald Trump, which caught most in the media flatfooted and by surprise, they have reverted to their prior role as attack dogs, though this a more vicious predator.

Whether lapdog or attack dog, one thing is consistent; the media is doing the bidding of one master – the political Left. What is also consistent is that, in both instances, lapdog or attack dog, the media has abandoned its vital role as the watchdogs of our society and government. And that’s where Sen. McCain is correct that we do, desperately, need a free press – a press that is equally free from government control or self-deluded-and-willing political control.

The media would also do well to remember that a free press is also dependent on some level of credibility in the eyes and ears of those who read, watch and listen to coverage. Bias is a sickle that, when recognized by the consumers of coverage, cuts credibility in wide swaths leaving a dry and infertile earth in its path.

Without a truly free press, Sen. McCain is correct to suggest that democracy and liberty are in danger. It would help, however, if he would aim his criticisms at the proper target.