The New York Times dropped this article online and they have rightfully been taking a lot of public backlash over it.
For context, over the weekend Trump publicly said if he becomes president again he will pull the U.S. out of NATO. That’s not even the worst of it. He later doubled down and said Russia should attack NATO countries. Yes, really.
This morning, he said the U.S. shouldn’t “give” money or aid to other countries but should give loans instead. Trump said this in reaction to the backlash the media is largely downplaying over his comments about NATO countries and U.S. allies around the world.
As a reminder, the whole world is and has been following the political situation in the U.S. very closely for some time. Most of the world celebrated Biden’s victory in 2020. Do you know who wasn’t happy to know Biden would be the new president in 2021? Putin, Xi and Kim Jong Un.
Biden made it a point to publicly tell America about a private interaction he had with Xi when they were Vice Presidents of their respective countries several years back. Xi views the American Democracy as the biggest threat to China culturally and politically more than anything else. That’s because people in China want the same freedoms we take for granted in the U.S. and other democracies. This is to say nothing of Russia’s Alexei Navalny.
As for why the media is deadset on pushing the idea “A second Trump presidency might not be so bad” lately, it’s because for all the hate he directed at their industry, he wasn’t “boring” for them to cover. Biden is boring for the news media to cover because unlike Trump, Bush 43 and Clinton, he’s not “exciting” or “edgy” and neither is his cabinet.
Obama was exciting for a while but by 2013, they started their pressure campaign to push Trump run in 2016. Then when they eventually got what they wanted–and regretted it behind closed doors–they dedicated almost all of their airtime to Trump. Despite everything Trump did as president–and especially during his exit–the media STILL wanted him back.
This is also why despite the fact they know Trump’s White House bid is now legit dead–I’ll get to that later–they’re still talking about him as if he still has a viable shot at winning the election. Not just Right Wing Media but most grievously, mainstream media outlets.
The whole news media industry needs to tell people the truth and the WHOLE truth. Decades of clearly biased reporting and spin is why we now have a generation of young people who don’t watch or read the news. They don’t watch or read news media largely because in their minds, what they see shared on Social Media is either more up to date or more likely to be true. I don’t just mean politics but news in general.
This brings me to Western societies feeling largely overwhelmed by daily headlines saturated with often rapid-fire negative news stories. We’re talking things from Mass shooting events to natural disasters to acts of violence to some conflict-triggered humanitarian crisis somewhere in the world.
Eventually, people get apathetic and numb to what’s going on. That’s exactly what started happening in the U.S. in particular over the last 30 years. People will then naturally look for escapes from reality. Escapes the entertainment and leisure industries in particular were all too happy to provide.
“Live in your world. Play in ours”.
A sad irony is we now have at least three living generations of people Democracies who want someone or something else to do all the thinking and decision-making for them. I mean in general, not just politics. People don’t want to think for themselves. People want to be told what to think and what to believe without having to put in the effort themselves because it’s “easier”.
And the media is explioiting that. Even more so now.
Before I move on, at this point it’s probably fair to say we need to build a new media industry. One built on facts, fact-finding and impartiality. Those who are on the side of common sense and speaking truth to power no longer have a place in Corporate Media. It’s beyond redemption at this point as a whole and especially in the area of politics. Enough’s enough.
No more billionaire-controlled media outlets. We need to go back to the smaller regional media organizations that built their credability and reputation on facts and integrity. More so given too many sold out in the name of money and influence in recent decades.
When it comes to politics AND current events, NONE of the existing media outlets can be trusted at face value. Not CNN, not MSNBC, not the New York Times, Not the Washington Post and certainly not Fox “News”. Social media platforms–especially Xitter–are no exceptions.
For the majority who probably don’t know, Right Wing Media predates the rise of Fox “News” in the early 1990s. It predates Rush Limbaugh’s radio show which started in the 1980s.
The concept of a separate news media ecosystem that specifically catered to Conservative Politics came about in the 1970s by those who felt “their” ideologies and values weren’t being represented in news media outlets. More so in the aftermath of the Civil Rights era and Roe v. Wade. So, they spent decades building the Right Wing Media and now Social Media ecosystem we see today.
I’ve said this before and it’s become much more obvious now: There is and never was a Left Wing Equivalent to the Right Wing Media ecosystem.
For almost 30 years Conservatives and Republican talking heads long accused the Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC and the New York Times of being “Leftist”. Ironically, now they all look no different from Fox “News” in terms of how they characterize coverage of people from both political parties.
At this point, Corporate Media or Mainstream Media (MSM)–they’re both the same industry–is beyond redemption. What some call Fourth Estate and what others call the unofficial Fourth Branch–in reference to the American media industry–has fallen. It’s more than fair to say that now.
America is heading to a very dark place and the media is not covering it. To be more specific, it’s avoiding talking about it. Why? Because of conflicts of interest first and fear of violent retaliation from the Right second. Don’t take my word for it on that second one. Just ask CNN.
All that said.
It is a fact people are being manipulated by the media. I learned about media literacy back when it was still being taught at the high school level about 24 years ago.
Now would be a good time for people to educate themselves on the ways mass media can and does use undue influence, mild hypnotism, redirection techniques and the power of suggestion largely for financial gain. THAT is what makes the news media so powerful…and dangerous when it utilizes everything it has to misrepresent and mischaracterize people they decide they don’t like.
That’s also what makes political Bothsidesism by the news media so dangerous. By pushing a false equivalency to appease one side, the media by extension given itself permission to not talk about the clear, present and active threat White Christian Nationalism is to America right now.
Most sane Americans have NO CLUE–NONE–we may be in the final 9 months of the American democracy. Why? Because the news media collectively decided years ago you don’t need to know what’s coming. I haven’t said this in quite a while but this is conspiracy fact.
Fortunately, there are people who are willing do the media’s job for them. I am one such person. Another is The Young Turks (YouTube). More recently there’s The Lincoln Project and MeidasTouch. Even the Hacktivist group collectively known as Anonymous is on the move. These, other grassroots movements and many people world wide and stepping up to try to give people a chance to prepare for what’s coming later this year.
I am well aware that I’m starting to sound conspiratorial at this point. The problem is unfortunately, failure of imagination is why America is in its current situation. The American traitors working to destroy the country from within are out in the open and they want everyone to know what they’re doing as well as why. They’re openly telling everyone.
If you want an idea of what we are up against, follow Jim Stewartson (@jimstewartson) and Steve Hassan (@CultExpert) on Xitter. Those two would be real good starting points. Dr. Hassan also has a popular podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube called The Influence Continuum on that note. I strongly recommend checking it out.
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