Bill Maher Says Objective Journalism Is Dead On ‘Real Time’

Last night on HBO‘s Real Time with Bill Maher, the host went after mainstream media for accepting opinionated news over objective journalism as the new way of reaching the public.

Maher’s panel included two media pros: Ari Melber, host of MSNBC’s The Beat With Ari Melber and staff writer for The Dispatch, along with Sarah Isgur, host of The Dispatch Podcast, and contributor and political analyst for ABC News.

Maher began the discussion by mentioning this week’s court filing in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit against Fox.

In the papers, it was revealed that top executives and news hosts including Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham didn’t buy into then-President Donald Trump’s allegations of 2020 election fraud, even though they gave air time to those who pushed that theory.

Maher insisted that this is simply irresponsible journalism. Isgur explained why she believes objective journalism is a thing of the past. “We’ve seen a shift away from ad revenue,” she said. “Now it’s all about individual subscribers.” That’s why news organizations are catering to “ideological niches.”

Melber claimed “people at Fox know they’re lying,” adding the hosts “were in on it.”

Maher played devil’s advocate and challenged Melber, asking whether he feels MSNBC is guilty of doing the same thing at times. Isgur reminded Melber that MSNBC was notorious for always claiming that Trump was close to going to prison.

Melber replied saying the MSNBC network “should be open to constructive criticism,” but conceded that “the media has a responsibility, and sometimes falls down.” He later slammed the practice of treating debate as “narrative hunting.”

Coastal bias also plays a role in coverage, the panel agreed, pointing to the recent Ohio train derailment as a subject that hasn’t received enough media coverage.

Maher pondered if MSNBC will be critical of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s slow response to the disaster.

Melber blamed Trump for leading a movement “completely trying to delegitimize fact.”

Maher then mentioned this week’s New York Times fight over its coverage of Trans people and their issues. Maher said that coverage “can’t pretend” that another side of the debate isn’t valid, as a petition that included Times staffers and celebrities insisted upon.

“So to their credit,” the Times pushed back and said, “No. We are going to be even-handed.”

Isgur circled back to her comment about the media business now being “a subscriber business model, and so they have to cater to (Trans activists). This subscriber- based model is a problem if you want objective journalism. Maybe your subscribers don’t care about (objectivity), they just want to hear their side is right about everything.”

Citing the civil rights movement and the Selma coverage, Melber said part of the reason for the pushback at the Times and other media outlets is that journalists are trying not to repeat the mistakes of the past.

Isgur said: ”When you start censoring truth and not allowed to talk about truth because it hurts your feelings – that’s (wrong).”