Michael Goodwin: Why big leftist TV anchors biting the dust is a gain for America

What do you call it when three big leftist TV anchors bite the dust within the span of a few days? A good start. First it was Norah O’Donnell at CBS, then Jim Acosta at CNN and now it’s Chuck Todd at NBC.Who says all the news is bad? Their loss of prime pulpits is America’s gain.

Despite their different networks and roles, the common denominator is that they all believed they were too important to merely deliver the news. Citing the facts in an honest and fair fashion was beneath them.They oozed contempt for the working and middle classes and saw themselves as members of a ruling elite. They told viewers how to think about everything and created narratives that reinforced their prejudices, especially when it involved Donald Trump. For eight years, all stories involving him ended the same way: Trump is bad, wrong and often evil.

Everything else is detail. They were often out of touch with the nation and reality.On many big stories, from the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax to the origins of COVID-19 and Joe Biden’s health and family corruption, they spread state propaganda and misinformation. Because they were standard-issue Democrats in disguise, their fall from grace is something to cheer as Trump begins his second term. Yet the vast majority of TV news continues to tilt so far left that three evictions must be just the first step if there is to be meaningful change. The next step should include the networks imposing something of an informal fairness doctrine on their news programs.

Let viewers draw their own conclusions instead of being force-fed progressive mush. Advocates and partisans should be limited to separate segments or programs and clearly identified as such. Short of that, it’s still possible the departures of O’Donnell, Acosta and Todd, along with related events at the major networks, are signs that more fairness is coming to a television screen near you. To be clear, I’m under no illusion that we are entering a new golden age ...