45 and Corporate Media
Maybe controversial opinion but in my view, 45s constant bashing of "Fake News" is, in part, corporate media's fault and we need to be honest about that.
Throughout election 2016 (and before, let's be honest) corporate media gave highly sensational, non-journalistic coverage that was overwhelmingly partisan. And I want to be clear, we're talking about conservative (e.g. Fox) as well as more liberal (e.g. MSNBC and CNN) corporate media outlets. Indeed, shortly into the primaries it was clear that CNN, a major news network, was favoring Clinton because her campaign showered them with monetary gifts. Moreover, it's been clear for some time that much of corporate media in at least recent years is sensationalist, biased, and in short non-investigative. (This invites another conversation of the fall of print investigative journalism but that's a different conversation.)
My point is we can't pretend 45s bashing of corporate media as "Fake News" is just one of his idiosyncrasies and not—in part—corporate media's fault.
THAT SAID, there is also bullsh*t that must be called when 45 screams "Fake News!" We know, because he's often said this openly, that he gets his news not from intelligence briefings but from Fox and Friends. (Side bar: Fox and Friends sounds like something you'd find on Nick Junior, not a major news network. But I digress.) It's even been shown that he will tweet things minutes after they were reported on Fox and Friends (sometimes almost verbatim)! So there's, of course, ideological realities at play when 45 chooses to deploy "Fake News."
All that said, while, like a lot of things, sh*t's complicated, liberal's and progressives can't just scapegoat 45 for the bullsh*t their/our corporate media has aired.
You want to see change? Keep corporate media accountable and invest in independent, investigative news sources (e.g. Democracy Now!). Also, maybe help a journalism student get through school, we need them more than ever. I know a few if you need some suggestions!












