Fake News Is Not the Real Media Threat We’re Facing

[ZiprHead]

https://www.thenation.com/article/fake-news-is-not-the-real-media-threat-were-facing/

Anyone masochistic enough to tune into Rush Limbaugh regularly will soon recognize a strange pattern in his rants. Limbaugh has an extremely long list of enemies, all of whom he paints as mortal threats to the American republic. But there is one absolutely constant enemy, whom he mentions in every single broadcast, without fail. It is not Hillary Clinton, or Barack Obama. It is not the “Democrat party.” It is not even the federal government. It is the mainstream news media, whom he accuses of extreme liberal bias and hatred of America. In every single show, contempt oozing out of his voice, he flagellates mainstream media such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, or the major broadcast networks. He collectively labels them “drive-bys,” comparing them to drive-by shooters. And his strategy has been followed by virtually the whole of the conservative media machine, from fellow radio hosts like Mark Levin and Michael Savage, to television personalities like Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly, to pundits like Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham. If some hapless liberal caller to a conservative radio show, or some hapless liberal guest on a Fox News program, dares to support an argument by invoking a story from The New York Times, he or she is likely to be met with contemptuous laughter. In this milieu, the Times has no more credibility than The National Enquirer at a scientific conference on extraterrestrial life. A conservative radio talk-show host, Charlie Sykes, who opposed Trump in the election, puts it this way: “We have spent 20 years demonizing the liberal mainstream media…. At a certain point you wake up and you realize you have destroyed the credibility of any credible outlet out there.”

 

[repoman]

I agree that Limpballs is using the methods listed here. I also would say that for the most part the mainstream media (MSM) left is much more polite and reasoning with the people on the right.

However the MSM left is nowhere near as left as somewhat sensible lefties like Sam Seder, Democracy Now or the Real News Network. I mostly disagree with those outlets on immigration and identity politics, not so much on old school economic leftism. Also, maybe DN and RNN are too anti Israel at times - granted the settlements shit pulled by the current Israeli govt is getting annoying.

The way out far lefties have almost zero influence in the U.S.


I think the biggest problem is lack of basic fact dissemination and not having real reporting, but instead talking heads bloviating. The coverage of the vanished Malaysian plane did more to damage CNN's trust level than Limpballs could ever do.

And it has been going on for a long time:

 

[RVonse]

When it comes to mainstream media, Rush Limbaugh is right. None of the US mainstream media (Fox news included) are reliable to give unbiased reporting of real events. I personally believe the presstitutes must say what they must in order to stay in business. But whatever the reason, Rush is right about their bias and he brings it up to further his credibility with other issues that he oftentimes is not right about. Which I think is why he keeps bringing it up.

 

[Juma]

Left and right are directions, not absolute positions.
Comparing with the rest o the world the entire media and politics is way to the right.

 

[Derec]

However the MSM left is nowhere near as left as somewhat sensible lefties like Sam Seder, Democracy Now or the Real News Network.

Don't know about the other two but Amy Goodman is far from "sensible". She/DN even support murderers like Mumia Abu Jamal as well as Palestinian terrorists.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I agree that Limpballs is using the methods listed here. I also would say that for the most part the mainstream media (MSM) left is much more polite and reasoning with the people on the right.

Also, it isn't the "MSM left". That is bullshit propaganda.

The way out far lefties have almost zero influence in the U.S.

Talk about an understatement. From the right-wing, you'd swear that Karl Marx ran CNN.

 

[Underseer]

I agree that Limpballs is using the methods listed here. I also would say that for the most part the mainstream media (MSM) left is much more polite and reasoning with the people on the right.

However the MSM left is nowhere near as left as somewhat sensible lefties like Sam Seder, Democracy Now or the Real News Network. I mostly disagree with those outlets on immigration and identity politics, not so much on old school economic leftism. Also, maybe DN and RNN are too anti Israel at times - granted the settlements shit pulled by the current Israeli govt is getting annoying.

The way out far lefties have almost zero influence in the U.S.


I think the biggest problem is lack of basic fact dissemination and not having real reporting, but instead talking heads bloviating. The coverage of the vanished Malaysian plane did more to damage CNN's trust level than Limpballs could ever do.

And it has been going on for a long time:

Wow, you have been very thoroughly programmed by all the propaganda you consume.

 

[Will Wiley]

The problem is not fake news. The problem is the fascist/nationalist tendency of a large enough segment of Americans.
We see this ugly tendency in the cheerleading of war in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria to name but a few. America arms terrorists and enable them in many places, yet even people on this forum get very angry when America is criticised for doing this

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

The problem is not fake news.

You mean the people that use Facebook as their main source of news, and believe anything that they see that they want to be true?

 

[Tom Sawyer]

I get all of my news from Donald Trump's twitter feed. Nothing else can be trusted.

 

[ksen]

You should look at the DPRK News Service twitter feed.