Trump coverage faces criticism from sportscaster Bob Costas

Legendary sportscaster Bob Costas slammed several media organizations for how they have dealt with President Donald Trump as he spoke at an event at Syracuse University on Monday night.

The former voice of baseball and the Olympics hit out at ABC News’ decision to settle with the president over George Stephanopoulos’ comments about the E. Jean Carroll lawsuit. Costas also needled Paramount over attempts to settle a “60 Minutes” lawsuit. He described the ABC News settlement and the reported Paramount offer as a “ransom.”

Costas said media companies make mistakes and have “blind spots and misplaced narratives,” but he said he doesn’t think anyone should make the jump to make the correction for Trump if it only benefits him, according to Mediaite.

“But if the answer to that is MAGA media, if the answer to that is Donald Trump’s view of the world, which is only through a prism of what benefits him, there are no higher ideals,” Costas said. “There are no principles at work other than what benefits him. I’ll stay with where we are without correction if the correction is what Donald Trump represents.

“And what also has happened here is that, because he is the president, to a certain extent, who he is and what he does, and what is done in his name, has been normalized so that responsible journalists have to pretend that there’s always two sides to this. There really isn’t two sides to much of what Donald Trump represents.”

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Costas suggested that networks didn’t need someone to defend Trump or the White House on issues in the name of objectivity or being balanced.

“Look, if someone is contending that the Earth is flat, in order to appear objective, you are not required to say, ‘Well, maybe it might be oblong.’ No, it’s not,” he said. “Certain things are just true. And regrettably, something that’s true in America right now is that the president of the United States has absolutely no regard, and in fact has contempt, for basic American principles and basic common decency.”

Costas received the Fred Dressler Leadership Award, which “is given to individuals or organizations that have made distinct, consistent and unique contributions to the public’s understanding of the media,” according to the Newhouse School’s website.

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