Not here to ruffle feathers. Black lives absolutely matter, racism needs solving, and everyone definitely needs to wash their hands often and keep a respectful distance. 2020 has been a whirlwind, and we all know things are changing.
That being said- Don’t trust the media. No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, no matter what news anchors you prefer, or what newspapers you read. Almost all facets of mainstream media are funded by wealthy elitist individuals or corporations who do not have the publics best interest at heart. Follow the money if you don’t believe me. The people who payroll the mainstream media (CNN, FOX, PBS, NPR, New York Times, Washington Post, Huffpost, etc), have more to gain from dividing us on as many levels as possible. The publics power comes from our capacity to fight the authority that is trying to divide us. We can’t do that if we’re pitted against each other. The power structure we’re supposed to have in this country (three federal branches, plus state vs. federal checks and balances), is dissolving right before our eyes, and a new power structure (which eerily resembles those oligarchy types present in popular dystopian novels), is taking shape. Executive, Judicial, Legislative is being replaced by Wealthy Elite, Media, and Federal Executives. But people are too scared of and mad at each other (thanks to the mainstream media), to see it happening. If everyone in the general population started doing independent research instead of consuming mainstream media, and let go of gender, race, and class lines simply for the sake of holism, we’d see such a positive change in the collective. Ultimately, that will be the key.
Yeah, sorry, this reads too much like “they’re all crooks” both-siderism. There is media doing good work, even if it does expose the evils of your team.
I can say from my years in the military, every single time the press (local or national) has reported on an incident/activity I was involved with, they got it wrong. Usually guessing at things to fill in holes. I am skeptical of almost everything I read because of it.
“Trust” is probably the wrong word, because the mainstream media gets stories wrong. But they also publish far more stories than non-mainstream media. I’d say the batting average of mainstream media is probably far, far higher than alternative media sources.
Most media outlets – whether it’s biggies like the Times or smaller papers around the country – still abide by pretty strict codes of editorial ethics that do not bind non-mainstream news sources. And typically when the mainstream media blows a story, it is the result of some breakdown in this process, where an editor or publisher who should know better abandons these ethics.
BTW, two words that I use to distinguish “This person knows what they’re talking about” from “This person thinks unsupported nonsense from Reddit will fly here” is the use of “media” as a monolithic term to describe a group that couldn’t be less monolithic, and “elites” as a catch-all, undefined nonsensical pejorative.
Journalism is an unbelievably vital public institution, period. “Independent research” that neglects said journalism is how you end up with QAnon nutters.
