"60 Minutes" and Lesley Stahl are in the pockets of Kamala Harris and her Democratic ventriloquists
CBS’ “60 Minutes” long has been a leading liberal voice, although its practitioners don’t see it, ignoring the criticism as an unfounded conservative trope.
Now arrives more evidence, as if there hasn’t been enough, that some of their segments are so lopsided that any denials by the program would deserve ridicule.
Presented for your consideration is Sunday’s attempt by the program’s senior hack, Lesley Stahl, to explain why grocery and other consumer prices have remained so high.
Stahl’s report blamed “greedflation” for the high prices, meaning that grocery chains and other retailers are jacking up prices to harvest huge profits.
“Greedflation” is the latest theme of left wing senators likeElizabeth Warren (D-Mass), Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Tammy Baldwin—the latter two are fighting desperately to be re-elected.
At best, it is a simple-minded explanation for a complex problem. There’s legitimate disagreement over the cause(s) of higher prices. Economists disagree. Politicians disagree.
(For in-depth discussion of the question, see NPR’s “Are greedy companies to blame for grocery inflation?” and Forbes’ “‘Greedflation’ Statistics & Trends 2024.)
One explanation, generally supported by conservatives, is that inflation is inevitable when the federal government floods the economy with so much money. Trillions of dollars. Such as the grossly misnamed Inflation Reduction Act.
But Stahl ignored that side of the story. She did a good job of reporting her (Democratic) side of the story. But completely shut out the other side.
It’s not journalism. It’s a gross violation of journalism ethics. At least it used to be. Now, reporting both or more sides of the story is out. Balance is out. Objectivity is out. Reporting the “truth” as reporters believe it to be is in.
By that standard, the late Tim Russert, widely praised for his fair reporting, would not be welcome in most newsrooms. Bernard Goldberg, a media critic and a producer, reporter and correspondent for CBS News for 28 years spotlights a quote from Russert:
The key to [fair journalism] was always respecting another person’s views and never suggesting that anyone had a monopoly on correctness. And that should be the centerpiece to being a journalist. You don’t go out there bringing to your profession an attitude that you know what is right for the country or you know what view is the progressive one or the appropriate one to have.
Stahl, a contemporary of Russert, should know about that. That she now is a handmaid of the Kamala Harris campaign, is an embarrassment and worse, a great disservice to the public that depends on professional journalists for their news.