repost from /r/politics

In case you haven't heard, this guy over at MSNBC has been suspended for an undefined period of time for breaking the company's rules and contributing to a political campaign. Here is Maddow's take on the issue:




You can't beat Fox at their own game. They have defined the rules too well. You must take away from them the privilege of framing the debate. So long as MSNBC tries to be "the liberal Fox" they will only serve to reinforce the narrative of narrative replacing reporting. Everything does not have two sides. Facts do not have two sides.

For the press to serve it's watchdog roll, there must be a separation between the press and the government. Rules like this serve to enforce that separation. Far from being the champions of any particular viewpoint, the press is supposed to be, far and away, the loudest and most critical voice of the government.

Without this democracy doesn't work. That's why it's in the constitution. That's why it was written about by the political philosophers who inspired the constitution.

Unfortunately for us, the only people who can serve as a watchdog for the press, is the press.