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Veteran newsman Ted Koppel has told Fox News host Sean Hannity he is "bad for America" in a wide-ranging interview about the role of journalism in the age of Donald Trump.
Key points:
- Koppel says programs like Hannity's attract audiences who prioritise ideology over fact
- Hannity defends his work as opinion not news, but believes that "journalism is dead"
- Koppel warns that opinion is overtaking news and becoming the media's "economic engine"
The CBS Sunday Morning segment examined the polarisation in the United States, the phenomenon of "fake news", and how conservative pundits like Hannity may be contributing to broad societal confusion and the inability to distinguish between ideology and fact.
"We have to give some credit to the American people that they're somewhat intelligent and that they know the difference between an opinion show and a news show," Hannity said in the interview.
"Do you think we're bad for America? You think I'm bad for America?"
"Yeah," Koppel replied. "Because you're very good at what you do."
"You have attracted people who are determined that ideology is more important than facts."
But Koppel did not single out Hannity during the interview, explaining he had said the same thing of liberal-leaning presenters — specifically MSNBC's Rachel Maddow — for blurring the line between journalism and opinion.
"I said the same thing to [Fox News host Bill] O'Reilly and I've said the same thing of Rachel Maddow's program," he said.
But Hannity defended the nature of his program as "the editorial page of a newspaper", explaining there was no pretence with regards to his show because he is public about his conservative views.
"I'm not Ted Koppel. I am a person that's branded as a conservative show," the Fox News presenter said. In the past, Hannity has openly stated he is not a journalist.
"Do you think there are many people in America that don't know that I have a point of view that's conservative or that Rachel [Maddow] is a liberal?"
But Koppel doubled down: "That's not my point."
"I am against the editorial pages taking over from the front page [and] becoming the economic engine of the network"
'I believe journalism is dead': Hannity
In the same interview, Hannity explained he thought "journalism" of the sort Koppel engaged in during the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis "is dead" and cannot be revived.
"You're absolutely right," Koppel responded.
"We are stuck in an ideological rut, and programs like yours, as popular as they are, haven't helped."
Following the airing of the interview on CBS, Hannity fired back on Twitter alleging the interview had been cut significantly from 45 minutes to less than two, and called the segment "fake edited news".
"'Fake Edited News' @CBSNews release the Unedited 45 minute interview so people can see the BS games you play in the edit room. I dare you!" he wrote.
The Fox news host said he provided many examples of media bias in the cut footage and challenged the network to air the full segment.
"If you pay attention Ted was saying ALL opinion shows are bad for America. But he was saying this while giving us HIS OPINION #hypocrisy" he wrote.
ABC/wires
Topics: donald-trump, journalism, world-politics, united-states