The same network that touts just one regular “conservative” analyst, David Brooks, (who many would argue isn’t even really a conservative,) announced Wednesday that they were launching a "conservative" political talk show, to debut April 13.
Called In Principle, the PBS show will reportedly follow in the style of William F. Buckley’s Firing Line, which aired from 1966 to 1999.
AP reported that the Friday night, half hour broadcast will be hosted by Washington Post op-ed columnist Michael Gerson and former news anchor for The BlazeTV Amy Holmes. While the press release made no mention of what guests were in the lineup, Gerson did acknowledge that he already had a handful of polarizing issues he wanted to bring on the show, such as “race, gun control, and whether conservatism is the right message for the working class.”
In case you couldn’t tell from the topic choice, Gerson is more known for being a Trump critic than a strong conservative. On his Twitter account, you can see Gersen being praised by liberals left and right for his “harsh and eloquent” criticism of the president and his “center-right” views.
He’s an evangelical Christian and conservative; a former aide to Bush 43 and one of the harshest and most eloquent critics of @realDonaldTrump. The disillusionment of @washingtonpost columnist @MJGerson. #AxeFiles https://t.co/017woOsmzU pic.twitter.com/yBzoU3srhL
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) February 26, 2018
While any attempt to be less partisan should be applauded, putting a once-a-week, thirty minute show with another mainstream media “Republican” as a host, isn’t very encouraging. Not to mention that PBS has a history of trying this type of venture before, only to be cut short because of backlash from the network’s liberal stations, producers and partisan media critics.
In 2004, PBS debuted two shows with conservative hosts, the WSJ’s Journal Editorial Report and Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered. Each show lasted just about a year.
Perhaps the network knows this new show won’t last either, because they are giving it just an eight week run before deciding whether or not to continue broadcasting it.
In the meantime, we can rely on PBS “balancing out” its heavily partisan lineup with “conservative” columnists from the New York Times, who are seemingly only there to bash the Republican party and its policies.
