HYGO News Chris Wallace: Trump 'may have a point' about media bias
Chris Wallace: Trump ‘may have a point’ about media bias
In November 2017, Fox News host Chris Wallace received the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) Founders Award for Excellence in Journalism, honoring his 50-plus years in broadcasting and “his unbiased, piercing approach to interviews.” During his acceptance speech before 600 members of the press, Wallace delivered a nuanced address that challenged both the president and his own colleagues in the media.
Trump’s “Sustained Assault” on the Press
Wallace opened by acknowledging the president’s attacks on the media: “President Trump is engaged in the most direct, sustained assault on a free press in our history. Since early in the campaign, he has done everything he can to delegitimize the media, attacking us institutionally and individually.”
He identified Trump’s strategy clearly: “And I think his purpose is clear, a concerted campaign to raise doubts when we report critically about his administration, that we can be trusted.” Wallace cited statistics to illustrate the scale: “Mr. Trump tweeted about, quote, fake news 141 times.” He singled out one tweet in particular from February 17th: “The fake news media, Failing New York Times, NBC News, ABC, CBS, CNN is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American people.”
Wallace described his own confrontation with the White House over this framing. When Chief of Staff Reince Priebus appeared on Fox News Sunday and complained about coverage, Wallace pushed back: “I answered, you don’t get to tell us what to do any more than Barack Obama did. He whined about Fox News all the time, but he never said we were the enemy of the American people.”
The “Harder Part” — Media Bias Is Real
Wallace then pivoted to what he called the harder part of his speech. He warned the audience: “Whatever side you’re on in the debate over journalism, you’re not going to like some of what I have to say.”
He delivered the line that became the speech’s headline: “Even if President Trump is trying to undermine the press for his own calculated reasons, when he talks about bias in the media, about unfairness, he may have a point.”
Wallace proceeded to cite specific examples of what he considered biased reporting. He quoted the New York Times front page from November 10, 2016, two days after the election: “The American political establishment reeled on Wednesday as leaders in both parties began coming to grips with four years of President Donald J. Trump in the White House, a once unimaginable scenario that has now plunged the United States and its allies and adversaries into a period of deep uncertainty.” His reaction: “Reeled, coming to grips, unimaginable, plunged — could they have come up with any more buzzwords in a single paragraph?”
He then cited a CBS Evening News lead: “It has been a busy day for presidential statements divorced from reality.” A week later, the same broadcast opened: “The President’s troubles today were not with the media, but with the facts.” Wallace also referenced a CNN correspondent’s formulation about the White House having “an unhealthy fixation on what I call the 3M’s, the Mexicans, the Muslims, and the media, and their policies tend to be crafted around bashing one of those three groups.”
He even cited a White House reporter for the New York Times who had tweeted: “Would you keep working for a boss who consistently refuses to distance himself from virulent racists, anti-Semites, and white supremacists?”
The Warning to Journalists
Wallace challenged his colleagues directly: “I’m sure that some of you hear those remarks and think they’re spot on. But ask yourself, honestly, do they belong on the front page of the New York Times? Do they belong as the lead of the CBS Evening News?”
He diagnosed what he saw as the problem: “I believe that some of our colleagues, many of our colleagues, think this President has gone so far over the line to bash the media. It has given them an excuse to cross the line themselves to push back. As tempting as that may be, I think it’s a big mistake.”
As the video description quoted: “We shouldn’t be drawn into becoming players on the field, trying to match the people we cover in invective. It’s not our role. We’re not as good at it as they are. And we’re giving up our special place in our democracy.”
Wallace reminded the audience of the press’s proper role: “We are not players in the game. We are umpires or observers trying to be objective witnesses to what is going on.” He closed with a call to return to fundamentals: “There’s enough to report about this president that we don’t need to offer opinions or put our thumb on the scale. Be as straight and accurate and dispassionate as we first learned to be as reporters.”
Key Takeaways
- Fox News host Chris Wallace, a registered Democrat for decades who was praised by the Washington Post as “among the best in the business,” used his journalism award acceptance speech to challenge both the president and his media colleagues.
- Wallace acknowledged Trump’s “sustained assault on a free press” but argued that the president “may have a point” about media bias, citing specific examples from the New York Times, CBS, and CNN that he considered editorial opinion masquerading as news.
- He warned journalists that crossing the line into advocacy was “a big mistake” that would surrender the press’s “special place in our democracy,” urging them to report on the president with facts rather than opinions.