By William Haupt III | The Center Square contributor
A kid uses social media apps on his phone. Photo by Eric Pilgrim | DVIDS
"Any dictator would admire the uniformity and obedience of the U.S. media." –Noam Chomsky
In the European feudal era, there were three estates; the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners. In 1771 upon opening up of the House of Commons to the press Edmund Burke announced, "The gallery in which the reporters sit is now the fourth estate." Burke dubbed the press an "independent branch of government" whose only duty in Parliament was to watch over the people's government.
If Burke was alive today, he'd be cursing that press. Throughout the years, media has suppressed the other three estates and it is the only remaining estate. They are no longer watchdogs over the government but their lapdogs. Media has become hit-men that do dirty work for the highest bidder.
When truth sold papers and reporters would dig up stories that sold them, gum shoes searched archives to find real news. It helped keep government honest until politicians learned how to use media for their benefit. Once politicians and media joined forces, truth in reporting soon vanished.
When papers like the Penny Saver, whose profits came from advertisers, entered the market, media soon followed. This new source of revenue made media less dependent on reporting factual news. When media abandoned objective reporting for profits, that ended the mission of the fourth estate.
Today's fourth estate is a dangerous collective power with broad influence. It consists of all news media: TV, radio, the press, and social media. They mix fact with fiction and call it news. This is not the journalism we learned in college or as rookie reporters, but yellow-dog journalism at its worst.
The unholy alliance of Democrats and liberal media has married power with money to force-feed liberal idealism down the throats of passive Americans, who take little or no interest in politics. "If you do not take an interest in politics, it doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you." – Pericles
The merging of the left and media has been a success in controlling elections. Democrats have the money and liberal media has the power to elect progressives to office, and promote their agendas. Media turned community organizer Barack Obama into a global celebrity. They ran cover for his mistakes for eighth years and "back-paged" every foreign and domestic policy blunder he made.
Donald Trump was brutally punished by liberal media and Democrats from the day he took office. Although he was the most successful president in years, he was impeached twice. After he left office, the left convicted him of 34 bogus felonies in a Democratic Kangaroo Court, to shame and discredit him. "When somebody challenges you, fight back. Be brutal, be tough!" – Donald Trump
Liberal media takes their orders from Democratic operatives and will light a fire or put one out with one call from the DNC. When Hunter Biden's laptop was found loaded with information that linked Joe Biden to suspicious dealings with China and the Ukraine, liberal media refused to report it and blocked it on social media. Yet a recent NY Post poll found that over half the voters believe truthful coverage of the laptop scandal would have changed the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
A striking example of how Democrats use the power of liberal media to influence public option is how they turned the failures of VP Kamala Harris, whose approval ratings were the worst in history, into positive talking points overnight. The day after Democrats announced she'd replace Joe Biden on the presidential ticket, her past was forgotten and she became liberal media's newest superstar.
In vetting Harris, media praised her ascent through California politics as San Francisco's DA and Attorney General and her one year as U.S. Senator. Yet she had the worst conviction rate of any DA in the state. She was also the center of a scandal with San Francisco’s crime lab. As Attorney General, her Smart on Crime policy increased violent crime by 10%, its highest mark in 22 years.
For the last three plus years she's been criticized by the same media and members of her party for her vague answers to serious questions about domestic and foreign policies. She has struggled to articulate any coherent ideologies or express harmonious positions on any issues except abortion.
"If I am elected, I will make abortion a federal right for every woman in America." – Kamala Harris
As vice president, Harris failed to make any impact in her roles as Border Czar, on Gun Violence Prevention or Artificial Intelligence. When questioned about her failures, she avoids answering by repeating herself with odd vocal mannerisms, maladroit laughs and painful rambling “word salads.”
Despite her lack of merits and achievements at every stage of her career, the left has deemed her their perfect candidate in the 2024 presidential election. Harris checks every box: She is an ethnic minority, a woman of color, will do what she is told and the most progressive candidate in America.
Media in today's society has immense influence and it has a profound impact on all aspects of our lives. Media shapes public opinion and our beliefs. It molds how we view society and the world by glorifying their agitprop to sculpture and discipline our social, political, moral and cultural values.
As prodigies of Voltaire, the media has dethroned the clergy and has become the new arbiters of moral rightness. Today, we allow media to control our lives. They decide what thoughts and words are acceptable. Media chooses who is blacklisted from society and which national companies and public institutions we should or should not support in a world they firmly believe belongs to them.
Media knows Democrats can't accept losing. Since the 2000 Florida presidential election, the left united with liberal media to control the narrative in every election. When the middle class workers refused to accept eight more years of progressive absolutism, they elected Donald Trump. And this election they'll do everything possible to keep Donald Trump from entering the White House again.
Since media abdicated its mission to convey accurate, unbiased information, it's preeminent we get our news from legitimate, trustworthy sources, such as non profits who must report accurately or lose their 501 IRS status. Ethical journalists report news without personal opinions supported by facts and statistics. Being fair, honest and objective maintains the public's trust and their credibility.
How long are we going to allow liberal media and progressives to control free elections before we fight back? How long are we going to watch them pass questionable laws for special interests and identity groups that don't benefit the general public? How long will we allow liberal media to fuel our political divide to empower them over us? This is our republic. Can we save it? Only if we wish.
"The United States is unusual among the industrial democracies in the rigidity of the system of ideological control - 'indoctrination' - exercised through the mass media." – Noam Chomsky
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RELATED ARTICLE
Mark Zuckerberg admits censorship and vows to curb election donations
By Ashley Oliver | Washington Examiner
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg made weighty promises to Congress on Monday ahead of the 2024 election, saying he planned to fight any pressure from the White House to censor content on his social media platform and that he would not donate his controversial “Zuckerbucks” in this year’s election.
Zuckerberg said in his most explicit criticisms yet of the Biden White House that senior officials “repeatedly pressured” the tech billionaire’s company to suppress content related to COVID-19 on its Facebook platform in 2021.
“Senior officials from the Biden Administration, including the White House, repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire, and expressed a lot of frustration with our teams when we didn’t agree,” Zuckerberg wrote in a letter to the House Judiciary Committee.
He said he believed the pressure from the White House, which came to light through a sweeping lawsuit brought by two Republican attorneys general in 2022, was “wrong,” that he regretted not being more vocal about it, that he made misinformed content moderation choices, and that his company would “push back” on any future pressure.
“I feel strongly that we should not compromise our content standards due to pressure from any Administration in either direction—and we’re ready to push back if something like this happens again,” Zuckerberg wrote.
The Facebook founder also addressed his and his wife’s “Zuckerbucks” spending in the 2020 presidential election, which involved the Zuckerberg Chan Initiative funneling more than $400 million into local election offices.
Critics at the time claimed the massive private donations from Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, improperly influenced the election after the funds were used in major battleground states that saw close races.
“My goal is to be neutral and not play a role one way or another—or to even appear to be playing a role. So I don’t plan on making a similar contribution this cycle,” Zuckerberg wrote.
