How the smackdown took over cable news

The Washington Post

CNN anchors like Jake Tapper, Erin Burnett and Brianna Keilar have been making headlines by pushing back against disinformation from Trump official. "In the months leading up to the 2020 presidential election, the spokesman-and-surrogate smackdown has become a popular cable-news ritual," says The Washington Post's Paul Farhi. "Once reluctant to brand transparently false statements as lies, or betray frustration with their interview subjects, even the most traditionally neutral anchors now seem eager to join the fray — or perhaps compelled into it by the slippery interview stylings of the Trump White House and campaign staff." He adds: "A good smackdown gives a TV journalist a chance to look tough and skeptical and in command of the facts, while giving left-of-center viewers the enjoyable catharsis of watching a prevaricating Trump surrogate fighting against inconvenient facts. For many, the approach is long overdue."