This Chris Christie gambit is more insidious than you think
In light of increasing Republican extremism, the media is unsure how to “appear unbiased” to the dummies in the middle who think both sides are the same. So it gives airtime to a Republican like Chris Christie, an extremist who talks like a moderate, for the sake of appearances.
It’s not that viewers in the middle like Christie or would ever vote for him. But when they hear a Republican like him sounding “reasonable” on ABC, they presume ABC must be “unbiased,” meaning they can lazily trust whatever ABC tells them, without having to scrutinize any of it.
Viewers in the middle want to believe both sides are the same, so they can feel superior to both sides and don’t ever have to make an effort to support either side. Mainstream media outlets know this and pander to it, so viewers in the middle will tune in and drive ratings.
There’s no great mystery as to why an unpopular and uninteresting loser like Chris Christie gets mainstream media airtime. It’s about giving media outlets the kind of cover they need to come off as unbiased, so they can maintain a large mainstream audience, which drives ratings. These games won’t change until viewer habits do – and that’ll require educating the American mainstream that “unbiased” means being honest, not portraying both sides as if they were the same.
