Rand Paul just gave a master class in how the Big Lie — election denialism — exploits the "both sides" rule set in journalism. "Was the election stolen?" @GStephanopoulos asked. There was no second question. They fought all the way through. Rand kept saying: hear the other side!

A clip of Rand Paul using the platform of ABC News to continue the Big Lie, with plenty of pushback from George Stephanopoulos, which in turn led to — stop me if you've heard this —"liberal bias." https://twitter.com/ThisWeekABC/status/1353345810327625728 ABC News: what are you doing here? What end is served?

After all, @ABC, there is an alternative to asking Big Lie denialists "was the election stolen?" followed by hand-to-hand combat around every "just raising questions" maneuver they have in stock for you today.

Just call the question closed and move on. As an organization.

I don't think ABC News knows why it participates in election denialism this way. (People who follow me say ratings, I doubt the ratings would change at all if the Big Lie came off the board.) But there's no question that Rand Paul knows why he does it: https://twitter.com/RandPaul/status/1353358885755645953

If you want to know why I am using the term, "the Big Lie," what it means in historical context, how it works as a propaganda method, and why it matters that ABC News broadcast it today, sit down and read historian Tim Snyder's essay, "The American Abyss." https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/09/magazine/trump-coup.html

You can have an evidence-based newsroom. Or you can have the "both sides" formula for advertising your even-handedness. With the Republican Party in its current state you cannot have both.

Former senior VP for NBC News: https://twitter.com/DeanLuk/status/1353362875214155776

Here's an article I wrote arguing that journalists should weigh the evidence and come to a conclusion instead of falling back on "both sides." It's from 2004. http://archive.pressthink.org/2004/06/04/ruten_milbank.html An 18 year-old with a blog about the cable news industry makes an appearance in it: @brianstelter

Those who think @GStephanopoulos should have demanded evidence from Rand Paul when Paul went into his election denialism routine need to consult Brandolini's law. https://twitter.com/ziobrando/status/289635060758507521 The invitation to offer evidence leads to more paper-thin claims that you now have to debunk.