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Episode 216: Sunday Morning News Shows and the Problem With ‘Agenda Setting’ Court Stenography

Added 2025-03-12 18:24:31 +0000 UTC

“It’s fair to call the deteriorating situation at the US/Mexican border a crisis,” declared NBC’s Meet the Press in 2021. “[CNN anchor Dana] Bash presses Netanyahu on Gaza death toll: 'Is Israel doing everything possible to... avoid civilian casualties?',” boasted CNN’s State of the Union in 2023. “Principle over party… The latest high-profile Republican endorsement for Harris. And she got another Cheney endorsement,” announced ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos in September 2024.

These shows – ABC’s This Week, NBC’s Meet the Press, CNN’s State of the Union, CBS’s Face the Nation – are fixtures of a major genre of television: the Sunday morning news show. Since the 1940s, these weekly shows have featured panel interviews with government officials, lawmakers, candidates, and other political figures, usually from the US, as part of their stated missions to “tackle pressing issues,” produce robust discourse on current events, and hold electeds and aspiring electeds accountable.

A relic from a different era, these Sunday News Show still loom large today. No, they don’t have particularly high ratings, but much like the role editorial boards of major newspapers play, they matter to people who matter. They shape the agenda and tell lawmakers, advisers, CEOs and other people who wield power across our political, economic and social systems what to care about that week and how to analyze the current moment.

But to what extent do they serve any real journalistic function? To what extent do they actually ask difficult and challenging questions? Do the Sunday morning shows truly illuminate our political moments and interrogate the powerful, or essentially do the opposite? And what effect do these shows, known for “setting the agenda” in Washington, have on policymakers, news media, and the public?

On this episode, we discuss the history, ideology, and effects of Sunday morning news shows, look at how—despite their lofty claims to revelatory and challenging journalism—they prioritize and revel in prestige and access, flattering existing power structures and further enabling reactionary policy.

Our guest is FAIR's Julie Hollar.

Guest

Julie Hollar is senior analyst and managing editor at Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR).

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Show Notes

How Sunday Morning News Shows Promote an Anti-Palestinian Agenda for Washington

Adam Johnson and Othman Ali | December 18, 2024 | The Nation

Students Left Out of Discussions About Student Gaza Protests

Felipe Rendall | August 15, 2024 | FAIR

What Is the Point of Sunday Political “News” Shows?

Jonathan Reiss | June 28, 2022 | DAME

Sunday Shows Hit Snooze on Climate Alarm

Julie Hollar | April 22, 2021 | FAIR

For Sunday Shows, Border Is ‘Political Crisis,’ Not Humanitarian Emergency

Julie Hollar | March 25, 2021 | FAIR

How the Trump Era Broke the Sunday-Morning News Show

Jason Zengerle | February 11, 2021 | The New York Times Magazine

The Sunday Shows Set the Agenda in Trump’s Washington

Scott Nover | August 20, 2018 | The Atlantic

Editorial Boards: Protectors of Establishment Ideology

Adam Johnson and Nima Shirazi | November 15, 2017 | Citations Needed

Do Sunday-Morning Talk Shows Need a Makeover?

Brian Steinberg | August 22, 2014 | Variety

The death of the Sunday shows

Dylan Byers | April 21, 2014 | Politico

Why Do the Sunday Shows Suck So Much?

Paul Waldman | October 8, 2012 | The American Prospect

Right and Early

Peter Hart | April 1, 2012 | FAIR

Frank Stanton, Broadcasting Pioneer, Dies at 98

Holcomb B. Noble | December 26, 2006 | The New York Times

What’s Not Talked About on Sunday Morning?

George Farah and Justin Elga | April 1, 2001 | FAIR

A Critical View of Sunday Morning Talk Shows

June 17, 1991 | C-SPAN

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Transcript

For a full transcript of this episode, go here. You can also find transcripts of past episodes, live shows, Beg-a-Thons, Interviews and News Briefs here.

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