Capehart Claims Media Isn’t Necessarily Liberal

Adriana Stone 0 1 min read

Capehart Claims Media Isn’t Necessarily Liberal

Media wars are loud right now. Big moves are happening. Paramount eyeing CNN. Bari Weiss at CBS. People are arguing about bias. And Jonathan Capehart jumped into that fight on PBS.

The moment got awkward fast. David Brooks offered a centrist take first. He said, “And I’m a guy who—I don’t know Bari Weiss particularly, but I support what they’re trying to do. I think it’s time to mix up the media. That we got a little too progressive, a little too elite, and if Bari Weiss can change the mind-set, all power to her.”

Brooks then warned about motives: “But if this is being done for lobbying and business, which it sure looks like it is, then that’s the real deterioration in the business we’re in.” That’s a fair point. Business deals change newsrooms. Money shifts priorities.

Then Capehart pushed back. He tried to blunt the argument about widespread liberal media. He said, “Well, I would argue that the media isn’t necessarily liberal, when you look at the fact that the number one cable channel and the number one viewing channel is Fox News Channel.”

That line landed oddly. Plenty of conservatives will say Fox is the only major outlet consistently defending conservative views. But Capehart insisted a liberal conspiracy across media is overblown. He added, “This idea that there are liberals out there running around through the media indoctrinating people and changing—you know, setting the narrative, I just think is wrong. I think bringing a Fox-like mentality and demeanor to CBS News and potentially to CNN, I think in the end makes the American people worse off.”

He doubled down on the role of journalists. “Our job as journalists, and I’m speaking specifically of CNN in this case in this deal. Folks turn to CNN for news. They turn to them for just what is happening in the country. And if what’s happening at CBS is bound—could happen at CNN, then our country and our profession will be in worse shape.”

Translation: Capehart fears a ratings-driven makeover. Conservatives see a newsroom shakeup as overdue. Both sides worry about trust. One side calls bias baked in. The other says viewers can pick channels they trust. Either way, the media landscape is shifting. Expect more battles, more heat, and more opinion masked as news.

Here’s the tweet clip of the moment:

The debate will keep going. Networks will chase viewers. And the rest of us will judge the coverage ourselves.

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