Steve Horowitz

I come from the perspective of a 60-year old, white male US Citizen, born and schooled in Brooklyn, NY. I have a BA in Political Science, studied broadcast journalism in high school and college, I’m a former social studies teacher, a firm believer in facts and the truth, and an avid watcher of MTP. Today's 12/29/19 episode: A look at the weaponizing of “alternative facts” and disinformation in the Trump Era” was quite possibly the best and most important program that Chuck Todd has ever done for a variety of reason. Most importantly, explaining to the audience why facts matter. I have a suggestion to make. Why not make today’s topic a regular segment of the Sunday broadcast. I’d suggest making this topic, a weekly feature of the show, to counter the Trump Administrations’ slanted view of the truth, with a consistent dosage of reality and fact checking, to counter the narrative of the daily lies of the administration, and the amplification of lies that are being made by the current version of the Republican Party; as if they were part of a cult. Ok, in reality, I realize a weekly segment like this, might be difficult to pull off. So how about a monthly segment up till Election Day, like the current segment called, Data Download. In this case, call out the lies and set the record straight. Similar to the way the Washington Post does their fact-checking articles, but on broadcast TV. Perhaps the nation’s leading reporters and journalists, or Journalism Professors, could be part of a panel discussion for a 8-12 minute segment. There is a need to, as was mentioned on the segment with Dean Baquet of the NY Times, and Marty Baron, of the Washington Post, to “Market the Truth” and counter the nonsense. Unfortunately, there is a large segment of the population that need to be better informed. Again, as was implied in the segment with Dean Baquet and Marty Baron, the media, as the 4th branch of our government, plays a crucial role as the umpire of truth, in our society. The erosion of the truth and the crazy concept of “alternative facts” needs to be put in its rightful place, the trash heap. People need facts, to make the important, intelligent decisions in 2020 and beyond. Perhaps MTP can contribute to that public conversation. Thank you!