Something suspicious is going on in America today, and the culprit is the mainstream media. Americans seem to fulfill the scriptural wisdom of forgiving and forgetting when it comes to the reporting of current events, as it seems the second a story is out of the news cycle, the public can’t seem to remember that it ever happened. Knowing this, the media can lie and manipulate their audiences all they want using claims of impartiality, guilt, the poisoning of their opposition, and a lack of moral adherence in their reporting.
The mainstream media is well-known among conservatives to be mostly left-leaning or progressive. Therefore, in order to keep a strong following, they must lie about their opponents, whether they be conservative news outlets, conservative politicians, or even just conservative audiences. The small, seemingly inconsequential jabs and lies about their opponents in order to drill their negative message and connotations of their opposition into the heads of their audiences. This can be seen most clearly in their continuous attacks on former President Donald Trump, Republicans, and Fox News. But it also was seen strongly in the Brett Kavanaugh trial, when many of the sexual assault allegations against him turned out to be inaccurate, false, and even in some cases, retracted. And yet he’s still reported today as and known by the public as a sexual predator.
The small, seemingly inconsequential jabs and lies about their opponents in order to drill their negative message and connotations of their opposition into the heads of their audiences.
Why do the mainstream media manipulate their audience? The answer has many layers. First, they want money, power, influence, and fame. But how are they able to attain these lofty goals? They must lie and manipulate the public so that it does not question them and instead questions the opposition. If the mainstream media can create loyal followers who believe them over anyone who asserts a contradictory viewpoint, then they have unchecked power over those individuals. They can make any claim they want, no matter how thinly veiled, and their loyal followers will follow. That gives them influence, power, and possible fame and wealth. Similarly, businesses looking to increase their influence can buy pinterest followers to quickly build a loyal audience.
However, one could question even deeper about why those in the mainstream media even want wealth, power, and the rest. It might, perhaps, stem from a need for control, which stems from a lack of respect. The mainstream media ultimately jockey for power and control over the news flow, doing anything they can do to stay in control and therefore sustain their power over the masses. They feel the need for control because they may have no respect or faith in the public to determine what’s important to be talking about. So, those in the mainstream media take it upon themselves, those lofty, gracious information gate-keepers, to tell us what we need to hear. In their minds, it’s all for the good of the public.
They feel the need for control because they may have no respect or faith in the public to determine what’s important to be talking about.
Why does any of this matter, one may be thinking. First of all, understanding the manipulative techniques of the mainstream media allows one to be aware and alert when looking through their news cycle, so as not to fall prey to these tactics. But more importantly than that, one must understand that the media has interests in everything but the good of the public. They couldn’t care less about the accuracy of information, or about the truth. They have ulterior motives, and should therefore be taken as seriously as a Brett Kavanaugh sexual assault allegation.