Comedian Bill Maher went toe-to-toe with "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane on Friday over whether journalism is to be trusted in an age of social media and extreme partisanship.

On his show, "Real Time with Bill Maher," the host brought up social media and how some states are cracking down on the negative influence it has on society.

The conversation quickly turned to the reliability of modern journalism after MacFarlane took aim at comments left on articles posted to social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

"The second you start reading the comments, your initial impression of that article is radicalized one way or the other," MacFarlane said, noting that journalists go through a rigorous process before publishing a story, unlike random internet commenters, who espouse opinions.

Maher interrupted to ask, "What if it's just slanted? What if it's not wrong? It's just slanted?"

"Then write a letter to the editor! Do your research and formulate your argument coherently," he said.

MacFarlane defended media, saying that he trusts journalists when the subject of social media and partisanship turned heated. HBO

Maher said a letter to the editor takes some time to be published and then it's too late because nobody remembers the original story.

MacFarlane clarified his view: "It's like there's this thing we take for granted, now that the journalist who did the work gets to have their piece put on the same shelf as everyone else's spur of the moment bullshit."