Bob Costas recently joined Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast where the iconic play-by-play voice took a few minutes to break down the Fox News vs CNN rivalry as if they were the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
As the interview appeared to be wrapping up after about 90 minutes, Maher asked Costas if he had anything to plug. After initially responding ‘No,’ Costas then said “I had a whole Fox News-CNN thing that I was going to load up on, but it can wait.” But Maher’s ears perked up at the thought of the potentially juicy commentary, and he implored Costas to proceed.
“CNN, for whatever its flaws and blind spots might be, and there are certain things that don’t fit a narrative that they’re comfortable introducing even though they’re factual and pertinent, that happens at CNN,” Costas admitted. “But if you were someone from outer space and somehow you understood English, and you watched CNN for a week and you watched Fox for a week, you’d have a much better understanding of what was happening in the world from watching CNN than from watching Fox.”
Last month, Maher welcomed Fox News host and late-night TV ratings leader Greg Gutfeld to his podcast.
“Greg Gutfeld may be a very nice guy, may be a nice guy to hang around with,” Costas said. “But I heard him say once, with a straight face, ‘The difference between us and CNN is we apply the same principle no matter what the situation is.’ Want to talk about a moment for a spit take? Are you kidding me?!”
It should be noted that Costas is a correspondent for CNN and Maher’s weekly television show airs on HBO. CNN and HBO are both owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.
With those considerations in mind, it was interesting to hear Costas cite CNN’s “flaws and blind spots,” during his diatribe against Fox News. He admitted CNN will omit covering things that don’t fit a particular narrative. But according to Costas, the flaws of CNN and Fox are a “false equivalency.”
Audiences know CNN has left-wing bias, while Fox News is unapologetically conservative. However, it’s one thing for a news outlet to have bias, it’s another to irresponsibly ignore facts.
Currently, Fox News is being sued by Dominion Voting Systems for defamation. There, Dominion alleges the cable news network “recklessly disregarded the truth” to promote 2020 election conspiracy theories from then-president Donald Trump. Fox News maintains that they acted within the First Amendment, claiming Trump’s allegations about the election were newsworthy.
“You (Fox News) who not only covered for Donald Trump, but demonized anyone who dared to criticize him even when they had all the evidence at hand, you guys are so in the bag and such a propaganda outfit,” Costas continued. “One of the articles of faith for Fox and their viewers is ‘the mainstream media.’ The mainstream media is flawed and could use a course of correction. But the idea that you’re getting this instruction from Fox News is perverse.”
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com