Former MSNBC host Joy Reid.

A student of mine once asked if it was more important to be accurate or entertaining in TV journalism. I explained that ethically, it is crucial to be factual, but ratings are important  — so on balance, an extremely charismatic person that could make people have an emotional reaction could be more valuable than a boring host who only conveys facts.

TV host Joy Reid is charismatic, and she delivers her comments with a strong cadence and power. It was announced that she will be leaving MSNBC this week. Before the 2024 election, she said that her goal was “to keep Hitler out of the White House,” and on her MSNBC show, she said that the Trump rally at Madison Square Garden mirrored a Nazi rally at MSG in 1939.

But that’s not right. She was correct that some of the language was disturbing — and there were things at the event that were vile and absurd, including calling then Vice President Kamala Harris the anti-Christ. But that does not make it a Nazi rally.

Reid played a clip of Sid Rosenberg, who is Jewish and a radio host, saying at the rally that it was “out of character for me” to speak at a Nazi rally, and her analysis was that Rosenberg “said the quiet part out loud.” Not at all. He was being sarcastic and poking fun at people who called it a Nazi rally.

And Reid has a history of being problematic on Israel.

Karen Bekker of CAMERA, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis, wrote that Reid’s show on the Monday after the October 7 attack “would have been right at place if it had aired on Iranian state TV”:

Her guests Peter Beinart, Ayman Mohyeldin, Ali Velshi and Lt. General Stephen Twitty ignored Hamas’s dedication to genocidal violence as expressed in its charter and in its leaders’ rhetoric, omitted any mention of offers of Palestinian sovereignty and independence, and sought to imply that the carnage was inevitable due to Israel’s actions – therefore excusing and justifying Hamas’s barbaric attack.

I did not see that episode. On another show, Reid said that she hated the killing of all children, whether it was at a kibbutz or in Gaza. I think all people of good conscience want all children to grow up and live in peace. But Reid was making a moral equivalence between Israeli children who were intentionally massacred by Hamas, and unfortunate cases where children may have been accidental and unintended victims of Israel’s war of defense against Hamas.

Reid had some good moments, saying that if one disagrees with actions by the government of Israel, it would not be logical to take it out on American Jews. She was right to speak out about the tragedy in Gaza, but wrong to put the blame mostly on Israel with very little on Hamas.

But it begs the question: had Harris won instead of Trump, would Reid still have her show? Fox News, which is correctly considered the most pro-Israel cable news network, has Trey Yingst deliver award-worthy reporting — but for some reason he calls Hamas “militants” or “fighters,” which is incorrect, because Hamas is deemed a terrorist organization by the US. Many ignore his mistake, but I don’t and it is noteworthy that most others on the network do call them terrorists.

Accuracy is tough to come by when it comes to Israel, and I hope the lies that are spread by the media and others vilifying Israel won’t be believed. Still, no journalist should fear being punished by being accurate in their criticism, even if controversial.

Do journalists tell people what to care about, or are journalists covering what they know people already care about? Right after October 7, 2023, the general public seemed to care about Israeli hostages, but now, not so much. At the beginning of the Russia invasion of Ukraine, there were flags everywhere, and yet I haven’t heard a word about how many Ukrainian children were kidnapped and if they would all be returned in any possible deal.

We can’t have it all. But I’d like someone who is both accurate and entertaining, or at least will apologize and make a correction when they’re wrong.

Overall, we need to keep an eye on the media — and realize that things are not always as they seem.

The author is a writer based in New York.