Both Sides

"Both sides all the time" is a result of confusion among the principled news media about the difference between objectivity and balance. The NYT, Washington Post and the like are defensive about being seen as liberal and biased and bend over backwards to avoid the appearance of bias, but they place concern about appearances over concern about reality. The dogged pursuit of Hilary Clinton to make her appear untrustworthy, regardless of the reality, is a simple matter of fact that could be reported directly. The long series of false accusations, often cruel and unusual, and investigations is central to our political reality. Fair reporting would prompt cries of bias, so the NYT, for example, instead joined the bandwagon calling for release of the transcripts of the speeches at Goldman Sachs, ignoring the novelty of that demand which should have been a red flag. The longstanding traditional thinking that the only way to report objectively is to meet a fair and balanced standard relies on good faith of both parties to the discussion to be effective. That good faith fell by the wayside long ago when one side decided to take advantage of this weakness in the objective news media. Foxnews is a propaganda machine that ranges over into news reporting. The NYT is too afraid of appearing to be a news machine that ranges over into liberal bias, so they avoid any reporting that could be accused of bias, even when that reporting is totally factual, accurate, and complete.