For my entire life, conservatives have operated with the knowledge of a biased media. It is not political paranoia. Studies and polls have well documented that reality over many years. The vast majority of the most influential media personalities – in front of and behind the bylines and cameras – are liberal Democrats. That is a fact.
It has – by evolution — become more so over the years in both the numbers of liberal personnel and the passion in which they infuse their own collective political ideology into what was once a profession with standards of accuracy, fairness and objectivity. News was to deal with the “who, what, where, when and how.”
There was once an ethical firewall between news and editorial – and even with the latter, most editorial pages offered columnists of divergent viewpoints. It was an era when television news would offer management opinion in the form of broadcast editorials – clearly labeling them as the opinion of the station management.
As a counterpoint, they provided the platform for editorial rebuttal. I often appeared on local stations in Chicago in that capacity.
The Shift in Journalism
In the late 1960s, journalism began to openly shift from reporting to interpreting and spinning — otherwise known as propaganda. They justified the drift from long-standing journalistic standards under the rubric of “advocacy journalism.”
Suddenly, reporters and news anchors were paroled from the traditional standards of ethical journalism and commissioned to interweave their narrow opinions into each story.
At no point in this downward evolution did journalism suffer such a complete veer into the gutter of propaganda than it did with the rise and election of Donald Trump as President of the United States.
The pillars of accuracy, fairness and objectivity collapsed as the New York epicenter of elitist national journalism joined the unprecedented, highly partisan and divisive #NeverTrump Resistance Movement as its propaganda arm.
For the past four years, much of the Democrat populated left-wing press unleashed unrelenting attacks on Trump, Republicans and conservatives – on any and all who would not join the Resistance Movement. Never in the history of news delivery has so much content become so strategically single-purposed and one-sided.
In President Trump, they saw an opportunity to shed their obligations to an informed public – relying on his personality to give credence to their unrelenting attacks. They were not entirely wrong strategically.
How Trump Fueled the Fire
Trump’s lack of communication skills, his unwillingness or inability to protect his own credibility and his propensity to exhibit his pugnacious personality at the most meaningless and inappropriate times gave his enemies more than sufficient ammunition – faux justification – for their lack of professional integrity.
As we consider the past, present and especially the future of America’s Fourth Estate, we need to understand the critical role a free and honest news media is to the very existence of the Republic. They are the information referee. If they play on the side of one team, the game is hopelessly corrupt.
Through various devices and methods, the news media has the ability and power to mold public opinion through carefully crafted narratives. They employ such tools of propaganda as out-of-context statements, selective use of information (amplifying on one side and excluding – censoring — the other), baseless claims, misleading interpretation of information, fearmongering, use of false-flaggers to create the illusion of balanced reporting, constant repetition of concocted narratives and outright misinformation – lies. All these tricks-of-the-(propaganda)-trade were seen in full view over the course of the past four years.
The media used Trump’s personality flaws as a rationale to then mount ongoing attacks on the Republican Party and the people who, in any way, supported anything he said or did. Using tactics of shaming and intimidation, they coalesced half of the public into a class of enemies.
They prompted and promoted open public attacks on that targeted “class of enemies.” As they openly admitted, the power of the media was weaponized against any who would –as they put it –“normalize Trump.”
Yes, Trump provided the left-wing media with an unprecedented amount of ammunition to be used against him – and by extension against those who supported the conservative policies his administration pursued.
The question is … now that Trump will be leaving the White House, will the partisan rage of the press swing back to some semblance of integrity? Will they spend the next four years canonizing President Biden and the leaders of the left – while blocking any criticisms of Democrats and covering-up any Democrat misdeeds.
What the Future Holds
Will the east coast media giants flex their investigative muscles in the future – or will they continue to ignore the accusations of sexual misconduct against Biden? Will they bury the investigations of influence peddling swirling around Hunter Biden – and the role of his father in enriching his son through the Ukrainian, Chinese and Russian governments? Will they refuse to even look into the President-elect’s suspicious money deals?
It does not appear that they will. It seems more likely that the left-wing members of the Fourth Estate – energized by the power they wielded in recent years — will continue to operate in subservience to the Democratic Party no matter how radical may be the policies and programs they offer up.
As in sports, when the referees are playing on the side of one team, the game is over. When the press joins in an autocratic partnership with the power mongers, the Republic is over.
The power of the media is parasitical to the political power of their allies. Without them in positions of power, media propaganda has no patron. The only way to bring existential integrity and balance to the system is to decapitate the leadership on the left by driving them out of office – and restore governance to leaders who respect a system in which governance rises FROM the people – and is not imposed upon us.
Based on the results of the 2020 election across the nation, those committed to a constitutional Republic still have power at the polls. It is critical that we use it in 2022 and 2024 to win back the leadership role in Washington as a means of forcing moderating reform on the Democratic Party and remove the umbilical cord that the propaganda press relies on for its very existence.
So, there ‘tis.
How can we expect to affect policy when the elections are rigged and the press ignores it
Amen.
Amen
Judge not, that ye be not judged. Jesus said once when people were about to stone a so called adulterous and promiscuous woman let he who is sin free cast the first stone . Democrats have been judging and throwing stones but when you look at some of the people in Democratic we will start with Bill Clinton just one question where are the media outlets that he was on Epstein 26 times there are logs 6 times he left secret service behind not a word . Then there AOC has any seen someone so hateful . Then there is Omar she marry her broken to get him citizenship . Newsom it’s okay is you child is seduced by man or woman as long as they are at least 14 and the seducing is more than 10 years older no big deal . I could go but I think we all know something is rotten in Denmark . Cuomo brother hypocrisy remember how hard it is to wear a mask then caught parading around without a mask. Pelosi no mask no one holds the Democrats to the standard they hold everyone else . BLM matters attacking a black window and her two kids not a word on the news outlets .
Answer 2 headline question. Does a bear fertilize the ground in the woods?
The Media is as crooked as this election.
Those in many profusions are required to be lesioned and held to be doing there jobs honestly. Doctors lawyers, teachers, T V repairmen, auto mechanics and many more. Why has a important job like Ethical Journalism not been set to these type of requirements and than held to regulations of truth and honesty as reporters and not to those who are only commentators