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The Outrageous Hypocrisy of the Media
This morning I was nearly spitting teeth when I saw the main editorial from the Editorial Board of the Orlando Sentinel. (We subscribe only to the Sunday paper which entitles us to the weekly e-newspaper; I like their puzzles page.) The title was “Election Day 2020: A Referendum on Truth.” It was an attack on President Trump.
Seriously?
Yes, it was an editorial. It focused only on “Trump’s Lies” during his administration. It listed several sources of information, like their colleagues at the Washington Post and the New York Times.
I decided to write to the Sentinel and share my thoughts:
I know that it’s old news to discredit the media for lying—your deceptions are legion.
There are the lies you told about the Russia conspiracy, promoting lies by Adam Schiff, Chuck Schumer, The Squad, Dick Durbin and Dianne Feinstein, John Brennan, James Clapper, and James Comey. How about all the lies you perpetuated by not discrediting years of FBI misdeeds, Obama’s abuses of power, and gleefully misrepresenting the current President’s words? How about your protecting Joe Biden and his long list of lies?
You are an abomination to the field of journalism. You have justified lying to the public in order to protect your partisan goals. You are—were—the fourth estate, that legendary body that is supposed to dive deeply into rumors, stories, and questions—you should be embarrassed and ashamed.
You are supposed to educate us and inform us. You are supposed to assure us that you have turned over every rock and discovered every falsehood perpetuated by those who are supposedly leading our country.
All of them.
You made these points in your editorial:
Trump’s lies don’t just erode American confidence in the presidency, they create a basic mistrust of our political system, whether it’s the elected officials making laws and policies or the millions of federal, state and local workers enacting those laws and policies.
Skepticism of government can be healthy, but Trump is corroding fundamental faith in our institutions by normalizing lies. It may take generations to recover from the damage, if it’s not already too late.
You are a disgrace. I am disgusted by the fact that you are supposed to represent the media and in many ways the events of this country to the entire world. You clearly have no ethos, no conscience, no commitment to guiding us in troubled times. You are the ones who are eroding faith in our media; you are the ones corroding fundamental faith in the media by trying to normalize lies.
You exacerbate the country’s troubles.
And you are the ones who will never recover from your dereliction of duty.
* * * *
(I have been trying to maintain a more positive attitude but have fallen off the wagon.)
Published in Journalism
Yeah, me too. We’re having friends from California for Thanksgiving (since they’re not allowed to have any fun there) and we’ll either be giggling or crying.
Hey, Susan, tell them how you really feel!! We don’t take the Seattle paper fish wrap, but Ray subscribes to the web site. Most if their content these days is from other papers that shall remain nameless anyway. All garbage.
Yes, Mum. You’re right, Mum. Whatever you say, Mum
(Guys, when Queen Boudica gets like this, just agree with her.)
Susan: it’s more like falling off a balance beam because there is just so little room to maintain a positive attitude. I hope that those who pray will pray for a good, clean election and peace in country.
Actually you could laugh together until you cry, @justmeinaz!! Have a great time when they come.
And now I feel so much better! Lying is the behavior I hate the most. When I see others doing it, it makes me nuts. I wrote the piece and even let it sit for a couple of hours, @rushbabe49, and I was still upset. But I’m better.
Oh, @colleenb, that’s an excellent image!! It feels like that. But I’ll keep trying, because I will not let them take me down. I’ll pray right along with you.
As always, @percival, thanks for making me laugh! I love the photo!
What is it in the conservative mindset that requires us to believe in the possibility of a just and truthful media? I can understand Mollie huffing and puffing on a daily basis for the last 5 years ‘can you believe what they’ve done? surely the corporate media’s credibility is destroyed now!’ because that’s how she puts food on the table. But what makes the rest of us spend energy (psychic or otherwise) decrying the failure of the establishment organs to live up to an ideal they are not pursuing? Why do we let ourselves be convinced that the ‘profession’ of ‘journalism’ is anything other than an institution dedicated to the preservation of the (left-liberal) establishment? By (wrongly) assuming that ‘truth’ and ‘credibility’ are important to media outlets we persistently mislead ourselves about their goals and motivations. So we keep up our subscriptions and write outraged letters to the editor – and, if we’re politicians, we give interviews to CNN and appear on The View – and are inevitably shocked at the results. Enough! The news media is about truth in the way Lamborghini is about luggage space – it’s just not. Stop being distracted.
Because a trustworthy media is a necessary part of maintaining the fabric of the nation. Having a trustworthy media is part of returning to a high-trust society. We must believe this is possible and attainable if the country is to endure.
Are you following the news? I don’t expect ideals to be met. But completely ignoring Trump’s accomplishments, repeatedly lying about current events and blatantly ignoring outrageous efforts to sabotage the presidency–. Gosh, I think it’s right to call them out. Do you have any standards at all for the media?
Distracted from what? Also do you really think Mollie goes after the MSM just to put food on the table? Boy you are jaded, @genferei.
OH, I DO!
Glen Greenwald resigned from the Intercept because they wouldnt publish his story on Bublinski.
Which is ironic give that he helped start The Intercept.
Yes. Here is his explanation, including a brief history of The Intercept: “My Resignation from the Intercept.”
Waaaay back in the olden days, the media inflated their egos through the Watergate mess. That was when I think they got started on the whole concept that they, and they alone, were the Saviors of Truth. In the 1800s newspapers were openly partisan. You read a certain paper, you knew that they were expounding the philosophy of a particular party/thought group, and it was all quite clear.
Two things I see going on now:
And then ….Donald J. Trump won the election???? What the H3LL???? From inside their own little worlds where they, The Press, are the Revered Oracles, this was just incomprehensible.
Didn’t those troglodytes out there in the hinterlands know who ran this country?? Didn’t those weirdos out there READ THE NEWSPAPERS?? The Press Knows All. They proved it in the 1970s.
Come on, man.
Very insightful, @cowgirl! There may be some truth to your comment about Watergate. The press has clearly decided that they know what’s best for us, haven’t they. Yuck.
We have to kill them by not buying them and not buying anything advertised by them. The first is easy the second probably impossible because you have to know who advertises in them and everybody advertises in local papers. So, if necessary we have to organize groups who pay someone to buy review and inform us, then all write those who advertise and to the extent possible not buy from them.
@susanquinn – The cartoon that you chose is funny! You gave a perfect example of freedom of speech in the cartoon and your comments back to the newspaper. Compare that to what is happening in France over the last few days – three people killed including one beheading because of the trial on the Charlie Hebo cartoon!!! They were attacked at a Catholic Church! BLM burned a Vietnamese church in Philadelphia this past week. The Orlando reporters have their heads stuck in a Florida golf course sand trap and have no clue what is happening in the real world. And good for you for sending that letter!!
Thanks, FSC. I got a form letter back; clearly my email doesn’t meet their format, and I’m not prepared to re-write it. They’d never publish it anyway. But hopefully someone saw it and got the message!
Here’s Mollie’s latest article on the media’s manipulation.
But there was no ‘trustworthy media’ at the founding. There was no ‘trustworthy media’ during the entirety of the 19th century. There arose a self-regarding (they would say ‘crusading’), agenda-driven journalism at the dawn of the Progressive Era, but the good Roosevelt had their number, branded them muckrakers, and seduced it to his own ends. Somewhere – quite recently in the history of the nation – there arose a fantasy that journalism was a calling to truth. This has never actually manifested itself in practice, but leads folks of good will astray.
The answer is not to somehow force the ‘profession’ to live up to ideals it does not care about, that have never been pursued, and are probably unattainable. It is to remember, and to remind ones fellow citizens, that the press lies. Always has. Always will.
The fabric of the nation is not built on such mirages.
By all means call them out. They are partisan. They do lie. They have sabotaged the presidency and are, indeed, trying to steal the election. This is true. This should be shouted from the rooftops.
The real danger comes from people having been convinced that this is not normal behaviour, and therefore the press enjoying an unearned reputation for truthfulness and neutrality. It is vital that this fairy tale be debunked. Partisan lies are what the press is, and always has been, about. If more people recognized that, their power to distort reality would be diminished.
From pursuing achievable ends. Trying to ‘reform’ journalism is a lost cause. Combatting it is not.
No, I think she sincerely believes that journalism should be the pursuit and dissemination of truth. She writes wittily and well about the myriad occasions where it turns out that journalism has been partisan and deceitful. But it will ever be so, and by implying that it might not – and that it does not wish to be – she is perpetuating a dangerous fantasy.
Fair points, to an extent, @genferei. But I liked this comment by @cowgirl, in part:
Waaaay back in the olden days, the media inflated their egos through the Watergate mess. That was when I think they got started on the whole concept that they, and they alone, were the Saviors of Truth. In the 1800s newspapers were openly partisan. You read a certain paper, you knew that they were expounding the philosophy of a particular party/thought group, and it was all quite clear.
I believe the problem is that the largest newspapers with which most of the media are in lockstep are colluding to a much greater extent than they used to. Much greater. I don’t think the general population has caught up with the degree to which they have shifted. And the social media make it even worse. Where does a person go for relatively objective information? You and I have figured that out, but most people have not. I want to emphasize that I don’t expect the press to hold up high ideals (which used to be taught in journalism schools and aren’t any longer) or to have no bias at all. I just think they are way out of control and there’s nothing much we can do about it. You might want to check out the link I listed for an article by Mollie in Comment #22. She makes the point even better than I do.
You also said:
Partisan lies are what the press is, and always has been, about. If more people recognized that, their power to distort reality would be diminished.
Who is responsible for telling people the media lies? The media? How do you suggest we get the word out?
So how do we “combat” the journalism? And what is dangerous about what Mollie is calling for?
The press being openly partisan is how it works here in Canada.
And of course the UK works like this.
It is being diminished, but my point above was that we need a fair press. We need accurate reporting. To keep the people informed and to hold those in power accountable. It’s a double-act. To not have a fair press is dangerous to a nation. And I don’t have the time right now to fight about this, but I hope to return and fight about this.
I’d add that having an openly partisan press is not mutually exclusive with having a fair press. It’s entirely possible to advocate fairly for your side, whether through opinion/argument or through choosing which news stories to report.