By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times

The media will be discussing the election and how the surprising end came to be that Donald Trump was victorious for the next few days. The media are in a state of shock, as Trump upended prediction after prediction. How did it happen that the shoo-in candidate lost? And how did it happen that his win entirely eluded the media and the polls?

On Tuesday morning, virtually every media source was stating that Trump had less than a 25% chance of winning. Twelve hours later, the numbers were reversed. What happened?

Perhaps the answer lies specifically with the media itself. The electorate noticed something strangely off. Never before in an American election was there so much slant and media bias. The electorate, from the simple people on the street to the educated pundits distrustful of the left-leaning media, noticed the favoritism and partiality and decided to do something about it. The more they noticed the unfairness of it all, the more they were motivated to change things.

Staying Away From A False Matter

In Parashas Mishpatim (Sh’mos 23:7), dayanim (judges) are told, “Midvar sheker tirchak—stay away from a false matter.” The media are supposed to be unbiased and report the news fairly, without slant. The issue of staying away from falsehood and sticking to truth does not just apply to judges, it applies to all people. This would include the media.

It is highly likely that people, the voters, noticed this and rebelled. “The mainstream media has tossed aside all pretense of objectivity to beat Donald Trump,” wrote former NPR CEO Ken Stern at Vanity Fair.

A recent Gallup poll shows that Americans have noticed the bias and unfairness in reporting. The poll shows that trust and confidence in the mass media “to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly” has dropped to its lowest level ever in Gallup polling history. For the first time, only 32% of the public say that they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media. This is down 8 percentage points from last year.
Gallup began asking this question about trusting the media in 1972. Its highest point was in 1976, when the numbers were at 72%. This was because of the investigative journalism regarding Vietnam and the Watergate scandal. Throughout the 1990s, it hovered in the low- to mid-50s. It has consistently been below 50% since 2007.
Not Just A False Matter

The implication of the Talmud (Shavuos 30b–31a) is that it is not just a false matter that we must stay away from, but even if it is a true matter, but will lead to falsehood in the world, this too must be avoided.

Regarding the matter of falsehood and false presentation and bias, we are commanded in something that does not exist with any other prohibition. The Mesillas Yesharim (chapter 11) notes that this is the only mitzvah in which we are commanded to stay very far away from something. We must run from it. It does not say this in regard to other matters.

The Yad HaKetanah (Hilchos Deyos, chapter 10) writes, “Sheker—lies. [The sages] have already said that the foundation of the entire world lies with truth . . . But when there is falsehood alone—this is despicable before Hashem. ‘And the lying mouth I do hate.’ (Mishlei 8:13). And even others [not just judges] must distance themselves from it.”

Falsehood Everywhere

And it was not just the media’s lies that the public was sick of. It was the government’s as well. The IRS, if we recall, was unfairly targeting conservative nonprofit organizations. It targeted those that were supporting Israel as well. According to Rick Moran at PJ Media, it is still happening. He writes, “A federal judge in Ohio has had it with the IRS foot-dragging on applications from conservative organizations for exempt status and has ordered the agency to quit stalling.” The order, in a filing that was unsealed Friday, states, “Three years after being assured by the IRS that they had stopped singling out conservative organizations for special scrutiny, the targeting continues,” Moran says.

Bias Is Wrong

Lest the reader think that as long as the media report the facts, it is irrelevant whether these facts are reported with bias, the Sefer Chofetz Chaim disproves this. The Chofetz Chaim writes in the introduction to his sefer (Asin #13) that a mixture of sheker—even just a little bit of it—is forbidden by the Torah just like the lie itself. The commentaries to this explain that the Chofetz Chaim added this point to state that even if it does not affect the outcome of what the person is saying, it is still forbidden.

Others Noticed The Bias As Well

Representative Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) also noticed the bias, and had sent a letter to the heads of the four major TV networks—CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox—threatening to hold a hearing “to explore network media bias in coverage of the 2016 presidential campaign.”

According to a USA Today column seven days before the election, there actually was admission by the New York Times and Washington Post newsroom staffers that “they have willingly abandoned the concept of neutrality in covering the Trump campaign.” According to the Times’ media columnist and its senior political editor, Trump represents such a threat to democracy that it is incumbent on the Times to call him out on the news pages, a prerogative usually reserved for the editorial section.

Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank echoed that sentiment more recently, writing that “in an ordinary presidential campaign, press neutrality is essential.” He then listed numerous examples of how he considered Trump’s pronouncements and temperament to be so abnormal as to make it “absolutely appropriate to take sides in a contest between democracy and its alternative.”

The Maharal writes that the human soul was created with a natural propensity toward the Divine. This includes an aversion to lies and falsehood. In this author’s opinion, it is this inclination that created such an upset in the election. Fascinatingly enough, in a turnabout, it was the obfuscation by the media that brought about Trump’s election—not his defeat. 

The author can be reached at [email protected].