“ABC owes America an apology for treating us like we can’t handle the truth,” said an NBC executive, dripping with irony. “They think they’re the gatekeepers of information, but the American public deserves better. We deserve candidates to speak without being interrupted by ‘gotcha’ fact-checks.”
NBC’s request for a national apology has become the stuff of satire in itself. Some are calling it the most ambitious demand since James Cameron asked audiences to sit through three hours of Avatar. “Who apologizes to an entire country?” joked one commentator. “Are they going to send out handwritten letters to every household?”
For now, ABC has remained notably silent on the matter. Insiders say the network is weighing its options, unsure whether to offer a vague, PR-crafted apology or to double down and refuse to give in to NBC’s demands.
One thing is for sure: apologizing could set a dangerous precedent. If ABC apologizes for fact-checking Trump, what’s next? Will networks have to apologize every time they point out that a candidate’s claim isn’t quite grounded in reality? Will fact-checking itself become an endangered practice in an era where “alternative facts” are embraced as valid?
It seems ABC is stuck between a rock and a hard place—apologize and lose credibility with those who believe in journalistic integrity, or stand firm and risk further blackouts from NBC Comcast.
