Former NBC reporter Lisa Meyers tells
The Des Moines Register the quality of television journalism is going downhill and that reporters have picked sides.
Meyers is scheduled to give a talk in Des Moines on Thursday, and told the Register, "I am going to talk about the deterioration in the quality of journalism you see on TV. There is less and less interest in network television today holding the White House or any other part of government accountable."
Meyers said she believes newscasts are catering to an audience thought to care less about serious news.
"I think most of the political coverage these days has all the depth of Twitter," she said.
"I also worry that journalists today appear to have chosen sides when it comes to political coverage," Meyers added. "I think you see that in the sagging approval numbers of TV news over the last few years."
Viewers question whether they are getting straight news or political bias, she said.
Newscasts have added celebrity news and feel-good stories, which Meyers said have a legitimate place. But she said they should not take the place of in-depth stories or investigations.
Meyers didn't specify any networks in her criticism, but a
recent New York magazine article on the troubles of NBC News and its suspended anchor Brian Williams used Meyers as an example of Williams' cutting stories that were "divisive."
"… Myers couldn’t get Williams to air a segment about how the White House knew as far back as 2010 that some people would lose their insurance policies under Obamacare. Frustrated, Myers posted the article on NBC’s website, where it immediately went viral. Williams relented and ran it the next night," the article stated.
Meyers did address the Williams controversy with the Register, saying she isn't privy to the internal investigation.
"I think Steve Burke (CEO of NBC Universal) did what he had to do," she said. "I think Andy Lack is a great choice to lead the network. He is a strong leader and a great experienced newsman. He has relationships with a lot of key people and people trust him."
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