Does demise of BuzzFeed News and fall of Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon signal a return to US media civility?

The closing of BuzzFeed News and the dismissals of Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon are good news for those tired of divisiveness in US media
Even so, reviving civility requires leaders who set a constructive example for a society worn out by constant polarising rhetoric

Robert Boxwell

Published: 3:30am, 2 May 2023

Why you can trust SCMP

The past two weeks have been good for anyone worn out by the divisiveness stoked by the US news media. On April 20, BuzzFeed announced it was winding down BuzzFeed News, one of the leading contributors to the shift away from the centre by many American news organisations. Most used to play it fairly straight in their reporting, even if they tended to lean slightly one way or the other.

In Jill Abramson’s 2019 book Merchants of Truth, the former New York Times executive editor cited the success of BuzzFeed and the like as one of the drivers of the Times’ shift towards injecting bias into news to keep readers happy. For example: “there was an implicit financial reward for the Times in running lots of Trump stories, almost all of them negative: they drove big traffic numbers”.

Then, on April 24, Fox News announced the surprise departure of conservative commentator Tucker Carlson and CNN parted ways with long-time host Don Lemon. Both are high-profile, divisive figures in the US media. For people who loathe those who sow division in the United States, you would have to watch President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump keel over simultaneously from heart attacks on the debate stage to top that.

Go around picking quarrels and provoking trouble in Asia and you are likely to end up in hot water. It is the same with inciting racial tensions in Malaysia or insulting political leaders in Singapore or the royal family in Thailand. However, the likes of Carlson and Lemon did all this and more in the US media every day. This behaviour is protected by the US Constitution, and it pays well.

There is an entire industry built on being as disrespectful and insulting as possible about the people you don’t like to attract eyeballs who don’t like them either, all to sell advertisements. Discerning the benefit to society of this is beyond difficult; discerning the danger is not.

The US has largely kept the world from a war between its great powers since 1945. However, it is clear today that the democratic world’s adversaries have doubts about the resolve of the US. The country’s divisions and the media’s trashing of America’s leaders probably reinforces those doubts.

01:48

Joe Biden announces bid for second 4-year term as US President

Are other cultures’ ways of keeping a lid on this stuff better? It’s hard to say. Is accusing someone of picking quarrels and provoking trouble used to stifle dissent? Yes. Does it help preserve harmony? Yes. Is freedom of the press essential to a free society? Yes. Does the American media sometimes abuse the right? Yes. Apropos of nothing other than making a point, is stoking division a stupid thing to do in a country where owning guns is legal?

Pieces about the Carlson and Lemon firings were everywhere last week. Every US media outlet that has a dog in the fight, which seems to be all of them, spun the news in one way or another. The New York Times had half a dozen stories about Carlson and Fox on its homepage on Monday and into Tuesday morning. Carlson is perhaps its biggest bogeyman after Trump because he so frequently mocks the left.

CNN had articles about both at the top of its homepage, though Carlson’s and one article saying “it’s about time” were above Lemon’s. Fox had several mentions of Lemon on Tuesday morning and no mention of Carlson. As of writing this, the Times still had pieces on its homepage.

When did the news industry become the news going after other news? That is what much of the US media does today, calling the news they don’t like lies and trashing the people who report it.

Left-wing commentators see racism and this or that phobia behind every conservative face they don’t like, and right-wing commentators see socialists and child groomers behind every liberal face they don’t like.

Tucker Carlson said in private messages he hates Trump ‘passionately’

The only thing they seem to agree on today is that “China” is now a threat to the US. Saying “the Chinese Communist Party” would be more accurate and judicious, but that seems to be a tall order for people who can’t agree on how to pronounce President Xi Jinping’s family name.

Of course, the stoking of divisions is hardly limited to the media. Biden appears to never miss an opportunity to claim he is the only one who can unite the country and save American democracy from “Make America Great Again” Republicans. If the 2020 election is an indicator, these Republicans make up a significant portion of the country.

Trump isn’t any better, although he is at least clearer about who he is after: the Washington political class, rather than the Americans who voted for them. He mostly saves his group-bashing for foreigners and journalists.

It is hard to be optimistic that the coming demise of BuzzFeed News and the jettisoning of Carlson and Lemon portend a move towards civility in American media. While this is not impossible, it would take leaders who set a constructive example for a society worn out by constant polarising rhetoric. Both major parties have people with the demeanour to do this.

Don’t bet the ranch on it, but also don’t be surprised if a candidate or two who strike a genuinely more civil tone rise to the top in this election season. The mood feels right for a bit more civility. We certainly need it.

Robert Boxwell is director of the consultancy Opera Advisors