Research strongly suggests that Americans are split between an informed electorate and those delicately referred to as “low information voters” (also known as “MAGA”). As I’ve pointed out repeatedly on this blog, our current information environment reinforces misinformation and disinformation, catering to those who simply want their prejudices confirmed. The Internet has proved to be a warm and fuzzy place for those whose “research” is confined to searches for confirmation of their pre-existing biases.
That reality allows Trump to engage in fact-free bloviating–also known as lies–secure in the knowledge that a multitude of propaganda sites will obediently echo them, no matter how ridiculous or easily and repeatedly debunked.
A recent essay from the Bulwark posits that today’s media falls into roughly three categories:
There’s the state media—Fox, Newsmax, the Federalist, HughHewitt.com—which have become pure propaganda outlets.
There’s the “neutral” media—the New York Times, the Washington Post, ABC News, CBS News, CNN—which believe that politics should be covered as a sport with reports about who’s up and who’s down. Extraordinary efforts are made by these institutions to present both sides of every question, even if it means presenting the case for illiberalism or platforming people who the media orgs know are lying to their audience.
Finally, there’s pro-democracy media—outlets which understand that America is experiencing an ongoing authoritarian attempt and that they must stand on the side of small-l liberalism.
The author believes that maintaining these categories is unsustainable-that the three spheres will soon “collapse into just two: Media organizations that oppose authoritarianism and media organizations that accept it.” He quoted an editorial from a technical publication–Techdirt— which recently made a surprising announcement:
Over the last few weeks, I’ve had a few people reach out about our coverage these days . . . [and about] how much we were leaning into covering “politics.”
When the very institutions that made American innovation possible are being systematically dismantled, it’s not a “political” story anymore. It’s a story about whether the environment that enabled all the other stories we cover will continue to exist. . . .
We’re going to keep covering this story because, frankly, it’s the only story that matters right now, and one that not everyone manages to see clearly. The political press may not understand what’s happening (or may be too afraid to say it out loud), but those of us who’ve spent decades studying how technology and power interact? We see it and we can’t look away.
So, here’s the bottom line: when WaPo’s opinion pages are being gutted and tech CEOs are seeking pre-approval from authoritarians, the line between “tech coverage” and “saving democracy” has basically disappeared. It’s all the same thing.
Digital illiterate that I am, I had never heard of Techdirt. But the quoted language confirms something that most political scientists know instinctively: at base, everything is politics. The people who refuse to follow the news of what government is doing, who claim that they “aren’t political,” are kidding themselves.
When the federal government stops funding cancer research, when Social Security checks fail to appear in a timely manner, when government operatives are erasing efforts to counter discrimination (or, as they currently are, reinstating discriminatory messages and behaviors)–when federal officials are telling states to handle their own fires and floods, and threatening your employees with deportation, when insane policies are threatening to tank the economy and erode your retirement–it is no longer possible to tell yourself that “politics” is irrelevant to your life.
The article suggests that tech outlets are among the first to speak out because “they have specialized knowledge—and because they don’t have relationships with people in politics to tend to.” They are able to see clearly what is happening and willing to speak out against it.
We have seen the exact same thing with some specialized legal publications. Lawfare and JustSecurity.org were once destination sites for law nerds. Today they have become two of the most essential media organizations in America.
Why? Because since these people specialize in the law they know exactly how serious Trump’s attack on the rule of law is—and how dangerous it is.
Like Techdirt and Wired, serious people in the legal space are being radicalized—democracy pilled?—because they understand that this isn’t a game and that the liberal press does not have an obligation to present illiberalism as a point of view worthy of consideration.
The people in pro-democracy media understand that liberalism has a moral obligation to take its own side.
“Fair and Balanced” was never accurate, because “balance” by its very nature/definition cannot be accurate. And stenography–he said/she said–isn’t journalism.
I try to stay informed no matter how much it hurts. If my paid-for benefits are threatened, as old as I am, I WILL rebel. I will do whatever I can to rid the nation of this cancer now growing in our government. That means attacking Republicans who continue to bend the knee, kiss the ass and fear being primaried.
What a crock of crap! A dedicated, honest and responsible politician shouldn’t have to worry about some monied idiot taking his/her job. Are they so afraid of their constituents – the ones they’ve been lying to – that they could lose THEIR job?
My little old Irish mother always told me to “Consider the source.” then told me to always vote straight Republican. I do my best to follow her first bit of wisdom so listened to both sides which automatically made me an Independent. Until 2000 while living in Florida and being more aware of what and who was going on around me; it is human nature to become complacent regarding conditions when we remain in the same place physically, it keeps us in the same place mentally and especially politically. Research is more available and accessible now than ever before due to the Internet, not only our media sources but going directly to the source of the issues as well as the source of the information. But this also gives us the opportunity to “Kill the messenger” by tuning them out; I would much rather get my information from Rachel Maddow than Marjorie Taylor Greene every day of the week and twice on weekends.
“Finally, there’s pro-democracy media—outlets which understand that America is experiencing an ongoing authoritarian attempt and that they must stand on the side of small-l liberalism
It was that upper case L Liberalism which dumped President Joe Biden, replaced him with Vice President Kamala Harris but did NOT fully support her then blamed her for losing the election. The media jumped into the position as their primary Messenger and now can’t fight their way out of the chaotic destruction of America we are living in now. Trump is using them to get his revenge for losing the 2020 presidential election. President Biden, even at age 82 and with a stutter was the Messenger of and for democracy; the upper case Ls lost the election and destroyed Kamala Harris’ chance of furthering her successful political career; she was a major loss to the full body of our Senate. We will never be the same United States of America living with the hope of our trust and faith keeping us safe from dictatorship; it is like cockroaches which are reported to be thousands of years old and indestructible.
If one thinks CNN and the New York Times are neutral, Iv got an oceanfront piece of property for you on Holt Street.
CNNs ratings have plummeted because they have falsely reported the news for two decades.
I look at things somewhat differently! If I were to make a “pie graph” – it might include: say:
A. 55% of us – being “mostly apolitical” – as in Indianapolis residents who focus mostly on: 1.) Sports teams,
2.) The Arts (classicalish not radical),
3.) Their immediate families/ neighbors/ co-workers
4.) “Getting By” – as in raising young children, demanding jobs, dealing with health issues of self or family member – these things taking up most of their time and energy
B. 3% – perhaps – wealthy to super-wealthy – tend to either openly support – Republican/ right-wing causes – especially now – or are “liberal” – but Not when it threatens their wealth or their feelings of – “I earned it, and you should earn yours or shut up…”
C. Maybe – 10% – white people – who feel aggrieved – fear Black People, Immigrants, Trans Folks etc.
D. Perhaps – 2% who are truly radical lefties – of which I’d self-identify
E. The remaining 30% – who are – “Liberal” – generally including:
1. Many who respond here
2. A significant majority of those who are BIPOC – Black and Latina and Filipina ++
———
These numbers – are skewed – and “don’t work” in some ways – for example: A. There are an increasing number of Latino/Latina People – who identify as “white” – and are increasingly Conservative – appear – “Racist” – as well as supporting – Anti-Immigrant Policies (including some of their own families) + some who “religion” – leans them towards – the “pro-life” (sic/sick in my humble opinion) direction – where they become a “One Issue” voter – ignoring other threats of the right,
B. Splits – and ties – related to Judiasm/Israel/Gaza/”Christianity” – where – for example – there are “Christians” – who believe that Israel should – basically be larger than the current Israel would be including The West Bank and Gaza + Jews who increasingly support Republicans/Right
—–
Within this type of framework – complex it may look to most of you – we have:
1. Joe Biden and then Kamala Harris – and now – The Democratic Party – including its leadership
2. Republican leadership
and:
A. Fox – and its “allies””
B. MSNBC/CNN/PBS/CBS etc – + NY Times + sometimes the Washington Post
C. Democracy Now – Common Dreams – Christopher Hedges
The Middle Category B. above and 1. – The Democrats – seem to me to be Most Problematic. The Media – are tied to “Profit”- and rarely do investigative journalism – their weaknesses are multiple. The Democrats are similar.
Example: Voting – 2024 – 1. Republicans 2. Democrats, 3. Not Voting
Pennsylvania and Michigan – two key states for Democrats- that went for Trump
– – –
There were GLARING errors made in the Detroit Area – that turned off – Anti-Zionist – Pro-Palestinian voters – in the area – As Vice President Kamala Harris begins to make her closing arguments before the election, former President Bill Clinton decided to campaign for her by lecturing Muslim Arab American voters who oppose the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s ongoing attacks in Gaza ― going so far as to justify the massive number of Palestinian civilians killed by the military.
The 78-year-old Democrat made the stunning remarks Wednesday at a Harris campaign rally in Michigan, a crucial swing state that has one of the largest Palestinian and Arab American communities. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bill-clinton-justifies-murder-palestinians-israel-michigan-kamala-harris_n_6723f929e4b0871068feb074 – 10/31/2024 – soon before the election.
I doubt most of you know about this! Palestine – as an issue – impacts – NOT only those voters – referenced in the writing above – it also impacted Black Voters in Philly – who also didn’t buy the line that “they were doing better under Joe” – and wouldn’t vote for Donald – but often Didn’t Vote! The big – motivation for voting for Harris – was – that she was “NOT Trump”. She also faced sexism and racism – going against her.
Today – you – me – we all – need to do a Multitude of things – related to Organzing as we can, Resisting, Supporting others – and I think recognizing that we can’t count on The Democratic Party or perhaps even the Court System to protect us! Many of us – have a lot more – potential power/influence – than we realize – and it’s important that we – Use it now – and in the coming days/weeks and months.
Mahmoud Khalil – Columbia U graduate, Green Card – legal resident – wife 8 months pregnant – she is a U.S. Citizen – arrrested in NYC – detained in Louisiana – NY Federal Court – (so far) preventing his being forced out of the U.S. is an IMPORTANT, IMPORTANT – test of a lot of things: 1.) The Manipulation of Anti-Semitism, 2.) The attack on Universities and Education in general, 3) Will – the Liberals and Left – seriously Fight this – Even – when – they oppose – his stance on Israel. I’m curious how many of you – know of this case? (I’ve said too much again.)
I had to laugh at Bulwark’s assignment for media classes today. What a joke! Those so-called neutral media entities are “state media.” The classification of state media should be the neutral media highlighted. You haven’t been paying attention if you think the NY Times is anything beyond a state media mouthpiece. WaPo too. WaPo’s favorite line is “officials close to the matter speaking on anonymity.” LOL
The State Department and the Intelligentsia leak info to the press they want disseminated. Any other leaks would cause immediate firing. Don’t forget that the NSA collects all your data with the cooperation of social media, cell phones, and internet companies. How do you think they knew Trump’s buddies were lying under oath? They already knew the content in the phone calls and emails. When they lied under oath, they were busted – Manafort and Stone.
Also, neutral media wouldn’t be eliminating their harshest critics against Trump to get on his good side.
The bottom line is Bulwark and Bill Kristol are not independent media. They are propaganda and attacking Trump because he wants to bring peace in Ukraine (even though his decision-making there is unfollowable). Kristol is a Washington Hawk.
Every time a media entity quotes a think tank, look it up on Wikipedia or Open Secrets to see who funds it. ProPublica also has a database of “nonprofits” cleverly named to sound pro-American, pro-liberty, pro-freedom, etc. The Koch network is a master of propaganda. It pumps millions into these networks to twist the truth to “inform the public.” It’s all disinformation.
What about Brookings or the Atlantic Institute? Do you think they have a slant? 😉
Musk is also a purveyor of misinformation, yet many media companies embed his posts into their articles.
Divide and conquer is as old as man itself, and our media landscape plays a role in dividing up the country.
The idea of knowing there are two sides to issues, like conservative and liberal ones, almost seems quaint now. I think the GOP was always the more aggressive than the Dems in my lifetime, taking the moral high road, strenuously proposing the dire consequences of liberal behavior at every turn, much of it religion-based, but to me more of a blind eye, a refusal to accept to the natural progression of a world society that certainly differed from their view of that world. I am referring to the illiberal, mostly racist and misogynistic views on society which simply don’t jive with the tolerance and acceptance of the world around us, and those in leadership positions who appear on network tv and spout what we all know to be lies for the most part (no, Biden DID win the 2020 election, the fairest and most fraud free in our history according to experts in that field, etc., etc.); it is simply not acceptable. Sorry, but no, we can no longer listen to both sides in order to come to a decision on important things in our lives, knowing that one side is fact free. I am always so disappointed watching CNN trying to pin down some of those illiberal guests on their constant lies. It makes me cringe. Stop it.
The media doesn’t seem to be interested in the president selling cars on the White House lawn; this proves what we have believed from the beginning…Trump is Elon Musk’s shill. Will all models be left on display?
Any reaction globally from world leaders; the embarrassment to this nation cannot get much worse than this.
It’s interesting to me, that we on this blog can’t even agree on which side the media come down. It seems to me that there are too many variations of liberal to clearly state, “This outlet is liberal in their viewpoint.”.
Some think CNN is liberal, some think it’s neutral. I’ve seen items that fit neatly into one or the other category. I’ve also seen items that make me ask myself, have they caved like a tech bro?
Since I have the internet, I often get my information directly from the government. That’s changing since so many of the official sites have been cleansed of data in haphazard ways. I’m sure that most of you are aware of the purging of the Enola Gay from the DoD web site. How long before we see an Executive Order banning gays from military service?
This incident should clearly show that keywords are no way to run a government.
To me, it is indisputable that we are an over-entertained society. The extent of entertainment media in our lives is overwhelming. Sheila’s blog is more informative than entertaining (in the usual sense of entertaining), but the Internet writ large can be considered entertainment media, as our TV now comes over it. We are fully immersed in an atmosphere of images, words, numbers, colors, movement and sounds. It is almost indistinguishable from reality. Some are unable to.
It’s hard for me to explain how such revelations appear in my mind but seldom in the minds of others. I ignore sports, both played and watched, read books, both fiction and non-fiction, and converse with everyone around me, friend, foe, and unknown, at every opportunity.
I guess what we notice is an individual cultural personality trait. Most would say that my curiosity is nearly endless and my mind works overtime trying to pin down the causes and effects of everything I notice. I notice things, mentally take them apart, and reassemble parts into systems, which probably reflects my engineering training and interest in building things.
Ultimately, how I work doesn’t matter, but how we all work does—it’s the only thing that does.
I thought Trump selling Teslas on the lawn of the people’s house seemed to fit his and Muskrat’s personalities: the city slicker and the autistic savant.
I’d sure like to know where we are suppose to get honest, truthful, and reliable information about the national economy when the source is the statistics controlled by Trump. Are we really going to believe his administration’s figures on GDP, inflation, or job numbers? Is there an independent source for this kind of information?
Theresa- look at alternative media such as Common Dreams, Democracy Now. Chris Hedges, Electronic Intifada- and Google their Sources- there’s plenty out there! Compare/ Contrast- CNN- Jessica Valenti- Abortion Every Day- great on abortion/ birth control- lies in Feminist Areas
Theresa,
I subscribe to various independent media newsletters and follow thousands of people and agencies, including foreign media outlets on X and Bluesky. After you read enough books that share outside the mainstream media bullshit, you can recognize it pretty quickly. I’ll start weeding out one-sided newsletters. George mentioned some good ones; I would add Consortium News, Zeteo, World Socialist Website, Popular Information, GrayZone, ZeroHedge, and the Corbett Report. None of them are peddling establishment viewpoints.
The young lady I was following on X that was a deaf engineer who designed a financial database showing where money flowed, got doxxed. She started to see the flow of money and called it the “uniparty” which I applauded. However, she wanted to get hired by Musk to work on DOGE, so she just pointed out the democrats’ con games. I warned her again about staying neutral, but she went on Glenn Beck, and then Musk started telling his followers to follow her. Once another deaf person doxxed her, The Rolling Stone did an article on her which was picked up by The Salt Lake Tribune in Utah where she lived and owned a distillery with her husband. You should have read the comments under the article!!
She and her hubby will probably lose their business because people will protest against it. It’s a progressive community.
If you pick sides in the stupid political theatre game, you’ll miss out on reality and lose your conscience along the way. 😉
It’s clear that democracy is under attack and being chipped away at by the Trump regime. Suppressing freedom of speech and debunking the facts on a constant basis is adding to the chaos of our time.
That’s why I appreciate the reporting of HCR, giving the facts of the day in historical perspective. No sensationalism even though we’re in treacherous times. Robert Reich’s and Racheal Maddow’s research are solid, based on facts and pro-Democracy.
We need more journalists like Ernie Pyle from WWll who said his job was to “weigh and describe” what was going on. Ernie was beloved for his human-interest reporting about US G.I.s on the war front while he was also under fire. Staying with the facts while under fire (politically, economically and mentally) is again vital today and what we’re being called to do.
The words of Dorothy Parker are relevant today when she said, “What Fresh Hell is This”!
Thanks George and Todd for the info. I’ll take a look.
And, now the Dep’t of Ed. is being directly attacked, so that still more Americans can be undereducated, and that much more easily manipulated.