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MSNBC host blasts coverage of ‘both sides’ — Analysis

The Holocaust and climate change are issues that do not have ‘another side’ worth reporting, a prominent journalist says

These are the words “both sides”Should be “removed from our media vocabulary,”Mehdi hasan, MSNBC host. He believes that there are only one way to report on stories.

Hasan is a British-born, political journalist. He made his case against balanced reporting at an event held by Knight Foundation on Wednesday.

He called reliance on ‘both sides’ a “fundamental crutch”And a “lazy way of covering our political moment [that] is deeply dangerous.” There are a number of major issues that don’t have ‘both sides’, he said. Hasan gave as examples the Holocaust, climate change, universal suffrage, and the acceptance of election results by the losing side. 

The journalist also included in the list stories featuring ‘QAnon’ claims that “America is run by a cabal of media pedophiles,” in reference to the shadowy online fringe group known for its devotion to former US President Donald Trump.

However, questions such as “what the corporate tax should” be are “perfectly legitimate” issues for debate, and for a ‘both sides’ approach to coverage, Hasan said.

This was during a conversation on US political reporting with Ben Smith (the former editor-in chief of BuzzFeed News) and columnist for The New York Times.

This event was one of several conversations Smith had with various media personalities, including the editor-in chief of Semafor news startup. The Fox News host Tucker Carlson and John Harris (the founding editor of Politico) were previous guests. Taylor Lorenz is the controversial columnist in technology for the Washington Post.

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