We Need an Honest Media
"The media is less trusted than ever; traditional politicians are ignored or doubted; institutions of all stripes are seen as uninterested in trying to achieve anything other than the preservation of their own privilege. The results are widespread social strife and seemingly unresolvable conflicts about the nature of reality." - Isaac Chotiner
When you visit the website of The Washington Post, the site's header greets you with the phrase "Democracy Dies in the Darkness." It's a laudable mission statement that underscores the role the media should play in shining a light on corruption and holding our elected representatives accountable for their actions.
Unfortunately, The Washington Post and the majority of the so-called “Fourth Estate,” are largely failing to live up to this promise, especially without a controversial Republican such as President Donald Trump in the White House. As stated by Olivia Nuzzi recently in The Atlantic: "It didn’t really require any special bravery to report honestly and critically on Donald Trump… On a purely social level, I don’t know that reporting critically on Joe Biden will feel as safe for reporters.”
Afraid of assisting Republicans going into the midterms and losing their clout with liberal influencers on Twitter, the press is frequently giving the Biden Administration a pass and many have instead focused their attention on fighting partisan battles elsewhere.
Take for example the orchestrated attempt to take down rising Republican star, Governor Ron DeSantis (R - Florida) with a manufactured outrage campaign about the state’s utilization of the grocery chain Publix to distribute the coronavirus vaccine.
The crux of the "controversy" is this: the grocery chain had recently donated $100,000 to the Governor's campaign in a "corrupt" pay-to-play arrangement. Never mind the fact that Publix "was recommended by his agency and the Florida Department of Health, not the governor’s office." Or that "Florida’s emergency management director says he first reached out to Walmart, not Publix, to execute the mission... The reason: Walmart has more locations than Publix in socially vulnerable, rural areas in Florida. But Walmart wouldn’t be ready to distribute the vaccine for three weeks... So, he reached out to Publix, a Florida-based grocery and pharmacy chain."
Publix is a brand Floridians know and trust with 831 locations that were ready to rapidly distribute vaccines to Floridians in days rather than weeks. That is the only criteria that should matter. And rather than report on that objective truth, 60 Minutes instead pursued a strategy of creating "scandal" in someone who is perceived to be an ally of Trump and a strong early contender for the White House in 2024.
It is no wonder why a recent poll conducted by Axios showed 58% of Americans think "most news organizations are more concerned with supporting an ideology or political position than with informing the public." This skepticism has led to over 60% of Americans reporting little to no trust in the media in a recent Gallup Poll, with only 10% of Republicans trusting the media “a fair amount” or “a great deal.”
Once upon a time, the press was expected to be a neutral voice reporting the facts of current events, while avoiding advocating for a specific political party or ideology. Now we have members of the mainstream press writing articles critical of companies for making donations to Republican candidates and committees. This is the kind of behavior one might expect from a Democratic political operative at the now-defunct ThinkProgress, not a so-called breaking news reporter at Forbes.
The arrogance of our mainstream cultural gatekeepers to dismiss the beliefs and viewpoints of over seventy-five million Americans and blindly portray left-of-center opinions as objective truth is shocking and unsustainable. Sloppiness, the inability to report objectively, and advocacy-disguised-as-journalism hinder the ability of our media to be the gatekeepers they claim to want to be.
When those who are tasked with reporting the truth play fast and loose with the facts with such frequency and carelessness that they find themselves being parroted in Chinese state-sponsored propaganda, maybe it's time to pause and reflect on why that might be.
Americans are desperate for objective news sources that will keep them informed and hold our elected representatives accountable regardless of their political affiliation. We want the ability to find true north in the chaos, so we can better navigate the massive amounts of information we encounter every day. It is time for the media to report the news, instead of serving as the public relations division of the Democrat Party.
