Fox News anchor Sean Hannity did a 45-minute interview with CBS’ Ted Koppel over the weekend about the media’s role in American politics. Koppel, who prides himself on being a non-biased journalist, made clear to Hannity that he believes his opinion-style news show is damaging to the country.
Hannity: “You think I’m bad for America?
Koppel: “Yeah. In the long haul."
Hannity: "Really? That's sad."
Koppel: "You know why? Because you’re very good at what you do and you have attracted people who are determined that ideology is more important than facts.”
Hannity responded to Koppel by providing several examples of media bias among the major news networks, giving some credence to President Trump's "fake news" claims. Yet, Hannity's detailed analysis did not make it into the CBS program. In the brief exchanges the network chose to air, it appeared that Koppel got the better of Hannity as he lectured him about the importance of media integrity. Judging by the clips that made it into the feature, it seems the program intentionally chose moments when Koppel’s calm, measured tone were contrasted with Hannity’s angry retorts.
Hannity took to Twitter on Monday to blast CBS’ decision to air an abbreviated version of their interview, calling it “fake edited news.”
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Fake "edited" news. I did about a 45 minute interview with CBS. They ran less than 2. Why did Ted cut out my many examples of media bias? https://t.co/prynzE2yLQ
— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) March 26, 2017
In his narration, Koppel also used history to suggest that conservative talk radio and cable news can peddle fake news without consequences. It all started with the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, he said, a law which mandated that broadcasters provide opposing viewpoints to their arguments.
“Now we live in a world where people can get information and believe it’s true and not get opposing views,” Koppel lamented.
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