The Slow Turn to Reality Based Journalism

In The Democrats Are the Party of Fiscal Responsibility David Leonhardt writes that Republicans claim to be the party of fiscal responsibility, but they are not. Not only that, but as Leonhardt continues:

"Ever so slowly, conventional wisdom has started to recognize this reality. After Ryan’s retirement announcement last week, only a few headlines called him a deficit hawk. People are catching on to the con.

But there is still a major way that the conventional wisdom is wrong: It doesn’t give the Democratic Party enough credit for its actual fiscal conservatism."

What is this "conventional wisdom" of which he writes? Why it is the inevitable outcome of both sides journalism which has been a staple of NYT journalism basically forever.

Leonhardt, the NYT opinion writer is, one could say, "shocked, shocked that both sidesism has been going on here at the NYT." though he prefers to call this "conventional wisdom" or, most glaringly "the culture of bothsidesism."

source:tenor.com

Leonhardt has written about bothsidesism previously, so this is nothing new. But his persistent resistance to recognizing asymmetry between the behaviors of Republican and Democratic party operatives is alarming. He deserves recognition for documenting the pattern of Republican adminstrations that run up deficits vs. Democratic administrations that reduce deficits.

After presenting the case, Leonhardt wraps it up thus:
"So it would certainly be false to claim that Democrats are perfect fiscal stewards and that Republicans are all profligates. Yet it’s just as false to claim that the parties aren’t fundamentally different. One party has now spent almost 40 years cutting taxes and expanding government programs without paying for them. The other party has raised taxes and usually been careful to pay for its new programs.

It’s a fascinating story — all the more so because it does not fit preconceptions. I understand why the story makes many people uncomfortable. It makes me a little uncomfortable. But it’s the truth."

Notice the necessary nod to the "Democrats aren't perfect" as if we don't know that and need to hear it. Does Fox News attack Democrats and then say "Republicans aren't perfect". I don't think so.

But the big problem with this piece is there at the end:

"I understand why the story makes many people uncomfortable. It makes me a little uncomfortable."

Sorry, but that is a ridiculous statement that screams out that Mr. Leonhardt is OK with propagating a so-called "culture of false balance" even as he criticizes it. Because, not only are the tactics of Republican party operatives unlike those of Democratic operatives in significant ways, some of those Republican party tactics rely on acting in bad faith without regard to the truth as a central strategy AND those reprehensible tactics gain greater success precisely because the reality based journalistic institutions like the NYT are so reluctant to recognize and report on patterns of behavior that go against their own false premise that "both sides do it" in equal and opposite ways on all occasions.

Publications that are considered "liberal", like New York Magazine and Washington Monthly, among others, have been documenting false balance for some time as has NYT columnist Paul Krugman. The Times slow turn to recognize patterns of behavior as facts that need to be considered part of a truthful narrative due to the Times' adherence to the doctrine of false balance has meant that the so-called "liberal' journals have been faithful to the truth, and the Times, by bending over backwards to appear objective, has missed one of the big political stories of the past three decades.