The war has been long drawn, since the start of the presidential election campaign. The battles have been acrimoniously bitter, and have been of the no holds barred variety. Most times, the tactics on both sides have been scorched earth in nature with no quarters given, and no prisoners taken.
Yes, the war between the current President of the United States and the media has been of the type usually described as of epic proportions and doesn’t look like cooling down anytime soon as recent events continue to prove.
Things came to a head when President Trump zeroed in on CNN, branding the network as a ‘fake news’ outlet, and going in on them every opportunity he gets by calling them out on all sorts of lies and misinformation.
He insisted that their stories about his connection with Russia and Russians are nothing but fabrications and lies with his tweets, and was recently vindicated, at least, partially, when CNN had to fire some of its reporters and retract a story they had published about the president’s connection with Russia.
In the news right now is a tweet Mr Trump sent out, of a video of himself beating down another man whose head was covered with the logo of CNN. It is an edited old video of Mr Trump’s appearance on the famous WWE show from years ago which the President tweeted as a way to claim victory in his battle against the mainstream media.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBRbc05wUM4
President Trump inciting violence against journalists.
The critics have been out in full force in condemnation of the tweet. The attacks, mainly from the mainstream media and their attack dogs, have been as far and wide ranging as ever. From calling the tweet unpresidential, whatever that means, to terming it an incitement to violence against journalists, these agents have been relentless in their attacks.
It’s, however, important to note that just a few shorts weeks ago when comedian Kathy Griffin did a photo shoot with a severed and bloody dummy head in the image of President Trump, many of the same people who think this funny video of a WWE fight will incite violence thought Ms Griffin was only exercising her right to free speech.
Wherever you might fall on this debate, no matter what you think or believe about Mr Trump, I think every American should be glad that we have a president who is willing to fight against the American mainstream media, and the enormous powers they wield.
The reason I say this is simple.
Think back to everything you believe is wrong with this country, and think about what role this mainstream media played in bringing about those things. From the bank deregulations that culminated in the worst economic crash since the great depression, to the debacle that is the Iraq war that took the lives of thousands of young Americans in addition to helping devastate our economy.
A true media is supposed to inform and educate the public when things like that are going on, but did our mainstream media warn Americans about any of those things? No. Instead, they championed those lies while knowing they were lies, and aided and abated the criminals in our government while they wreaked their havoc on our country and our lives.
While our economy was being pillaged by Wall Street for the benefit of the 1% and to the detriment of the 99%, did our media warn us? No. Instead, they led the propaganda war on the citizens to help sell the lie and smooth the way for the theft.
So, what makes you think that this fight against President Trump is for your benefit? Why this sudden change of heart to begin protecting you when all they have done before now is side with those who have exploited you?
Who owns the media, anyway?
Like all reliable watchdogs, the media are expected to bark, but when its many-faceted voice is owned by a small number of corporate masters, concerns about its willingness to keep barking arise.
The trend of media conglomeration has been steady. In 1983, 50 corporations controlled most of the American media, including magazines, books, music, news feeds, newspapers, movies, radio and television. By 1992 that number had dropped by half. By 2000, six corporations had ownership of most media, and today five dominate the industry: Time Warner, Disney, Murdoch’s News Corporation, Bertelsmann of Germany and Viacom. With markets branching rapidly into international territories, these few companies are increasingly responsible for deciding what information is shared around the world.
Is it any wonder that these monopolies are pushing to label any dissenting voice that does not agree to go with whatever slant they have chosen as fake news? This was after their massive powers to control the conversation was considerably whittled down during the last election when Americans rejected the candidate they pushed for Donald Trump. This is why President Trump’s gumption to stand up against this budding media hegemony should be admired and applauded.
What America has is no true media, but a propaganda arm of the establishment whose sole duty is to sell their lies and keep Americans ignorant of the truth. The latest example is how the whole media has been harping on the lie that Russia meddled in our last presidential election and elected President Trump.
Of course, it is coming to light now that the stories have all been lies, a fact that has been clear to many Americans from the beginning, but that didn’t stop the mainstream media from harping on it on a daily basis, for over six months. This was obviously all done in a bid to discredit and delegitimize President Trump, but the question must be “to what ends?” If you think it’s in a bid to help you, you’re not thinking very well.
