Can we still be neutral?

In the modern media landscape that is so fragmented it is rare to find a programme that draws huge numbers, but we got one last week.

Yes, it was the much-anticipated Harris v Trump the US Debate (Sky News, Wednesday) – too early in the morning. It was a sign of its significance that it was shown on so many stations or platforms – including RTÉ News, Channel 4, BBC, Sky News, Disney+ etc. I subjected myself to the whole thing as sometimes just seeing clips selected by others (sometimes others with agendas) can give a false impression. It wasn’t particularly enjoyable but the 90 minutes or so did hold my attention. As the Sky News anchor said, it wasn’t ‘edifying’.

I wasn’t impressed by either Trump or Harris. I didn’t think there were any knockout or game-changing blows – more of the ‘same old same old’.  Trump was inclined to be repetitious to an extreme degree, like he had a few talking points that he was going to drive home over and over. I thought he was demeaning towards immigrants, with the usual talk of millions coming from jails and insane asylums. He did moderate it somewhat by saying that ‘some’ are like this. Heading into bizarre territory he then started taking about migrants eating pets – the pets of US citizens! And of course, the media latched on to this and it became one of the most quoted lines from the debate – own goal!

Harris was more articulate for sure but was rather vague and disinclined to answer direct questions if she didn’t want to, right from the start. If Trump went on and on about immigrants she went on and on about ‘reproductive rights’ and women’s bodies, conveniently ignoring the little bodies of babies killed in abortions. She effectively dodged any attempt by Trump or the ABC News moderators to pin her down as to what, if any, limits she’d put on abortion.

For the most part I thought the moderators were reasonably efficient, but there were a few occasions when they corrected or fact checked Trump, in a kind-of slap-down way, which I don’t remember them doing to Harris. At one stage Trump said some ex-Governor had argued for terminating babies’ lives after birth, and one of the moderators pointed out that this practice wasn’t legal in any of the US states, but Trump had never said it was.

I’m glad I watched the immediate post-debate coverage on Sky News, set in the ‘Spin Room’– I was struck by the hostility towards the Trump side from some reporters. Republican Vivek Ramaswamy was hugely critical of the moderators but the Sky News reporter in particular was haranguing him. Another reporter was correcting him, teacher-like, when he claimed it was like a three-to-one debate (a rather extreme take, with a grain of truth). This was followed by the Sky News reporter speaking to four Democrat supporters in a row, including one pro-abortion activist.

Later that day RTÉ News programmes spoke to some American tourists in the West of Ireland – there were people on both sides, but I felt for the guy who said he leaned conservative, wasn’t happy about the idea of voting for Trump but couldn’t vote extreme left either – he was ‘stuck in the middle’.

I’d say a lot of people are stuck in the middle on the Middle East conflict. On The Pat Kenny Show (Newstalk, Wednesday), there was an important interview with Caoimhe de Barra, CEO of Trócaire, about that organisation’s attitude to Israel. I believe that the actions of the Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza are grossly disproportionate and cruel, as are the cynical and vicious actions of Hamas, but Anton Savage asked pertinent questions about whether Trócaire’s ‘overtly political’ stance on Israel would make their humanitarian work more difficult. She said they had to have a ‘principled stand’ based on humanitarian law. Fair enough, but in interviews like I think it would be wise also to highlight the war crimes of Hamas.

Also, on The Pat Kenny Show (Newstalk, Thursday) stand-in presenter Anton Savage had a really positive interview with Loreto Sister Orla Treacey about her missionary work in South Sudan. Their focus was on educating young girls and saving them from forced marriages based on cow trading! One of the past pupils, now a lawyer, was with her and was very thankful to the Loreto sisters for her education.

Now, there’s a welcome positivity.

PICK OF THE WEEK

Sunday Morning Live

BBC One Sunday September 22, 10.30am

Return of the topical magazine show that gets to the heart and soul of issues of the day, with Sean Fletcher and Holly Hamilton.

Songs of Praise

BBC One Sunday September 22, 1.15pm

Claire McCollum is on the Cornish coast to visit the remarkable ‘church of storms’, a place of prayer built on the beach where Christians have worshipped for over a thousand years.

The Vitae Monologues

EWTN Sunday September 22, 9pm

Jeremy Stanbary of Epiphany Studio Productions presents a powerful and inspiring Catholic pro-life play, which shines the spotlight on the consequences of abortion in the lives of multiple characters.