I must admit (albeit somewhat shamefully) that Wednesday night’s Republican presidential debate was the first political debate I have ever watched in its entirety. Before I turned on the debate, I was expected to be sickened by the ideology of the Republican candidates; instead, I was more repulsed by the clearly-biased conduct of the liberal moderators, with whom I had expected to agree. As a Democrat myself, I definitely agreed with their criticism of the Republican candidates, but from a journalistic perspective, the moderators were being unfair. Though I wouldn’t go as far as to say I agreed with Rubio’s comment that liberals have control of the media (in fact, I actually scoffed when he said that – think of Fox News’s huge viewership!), on Wednesday night, the left certainly did have an advantage over the Republican candidates. I will admit that I cheered whenever the moderators slung an insult at the candidates – for example, Becky Quick’s contemptuous, wry remark that giving candidates time was “at the discretion of the moderator” – this level of bias has no place in journalism.

On a separate note, after Wednesday’s guest speaker came to discuss political coverage, I drew the conclusion that ratings are ultimately the downfall of good reporting. The problem with the modern media is that it is simply too profit-driven, which would be acceptable if the news media was a retail company instead of an information source. My views on political reporting have not changed much – I still believe that money is the worst motivator for the news media, though it seems to be the only effective incentive for non-cable outlets – but after the debate and the guest speaker, my preexisting views were only compounded with another dose of skepticism.