Lord have mercy, how mainstream media, the supposed bastion of “balanced reporting” and “goal journalism,” has fallen.
As soon as mainstream –i.e. Company – media was celebrated as a brave watchdog prepared to talk fact to energy, come what might. Immediately, that physique of “journalists” has change into hitmen for Rupert Murdoch and people of his ilk. They’re like a Sixties police assault canine, defending the racist mobs and the cops, sweat-drenched from beating the black off peaceable protesters with nightsticks, but willingly and forcefully ripping out the flesh of these their masters goal as troublemakers.
Plus, immediately’s company media is extra “company” than “media,” dominated by that almighty greenback, and the individual or entity signing off on their direct deposits.
And the query—Has mainstream media been purchased off?—properly, if you must ask, you haven’t been paying consideration… and the media’s relying on that.
Let’s simply say the repair is in, and the receipts are digital, color-coded and stamped with the logos of billion-dollar conglomerates.
One script rule
Begin along with your pleasant neighborhood newscaster—the one with the charming smile, plastic hair and vaguely robotic supply. Likelihood is, they don’t work to your neighborhood. They work for Sinclair Broadcast Group, a mega-media monster that owns almost 200 native TV stations throughout the USA. And guess what? These “native” anchors usually learn the identical precise script, from Washington to Wichita, parroting corporate-crafted soundbites disguised as hometown information. Welcome to America, the place even your climate report has been corporately curated.
What sort of nonsense is that? It’s like going to a cookout anticipating Large Mama’s potato salad and getting a pre-packaged aspect dish overflowing with GOP-approved raisins. You didn’t ask for it, however right here it’s—lukewarm and laced with bias.
C.R.E.A.M.
Then we now have the so-called “cable information giants.” CNN, Fox, MSNBC—totally different seasoning, identical dish. These networks are owned by right-leaning billionaires or huge firms with tax shelters in locations the place the solar by no means units on the rich. Their golden rule? Don’t chunk the hand that funds the commercials.
Give it some thought: Do you actually count on NBCUniversal (owned by Comcast), or ABC (owned by Disney), or Fox Information (blessed by the ghost of Reaganomics) to problem the financial established order? Please. All of them dwell by the credo the Wu Tang Clan put to a beat: “Money guidelines all the things round me. C.R.E.A.M., get the cash. Dolla-Dolla invoice y’all!”
And the outcome? Newsrooms are extra involved in movie star wardrobe malfunctions than within the mass homicide of environmental activists—at the very least 1,733 murdered between 2012 and 2021. Or worse, they report “the information” with out reporting THE information.
Ignored information
With marching orders from those that make their direct deposits, company media dwell by the adage, “If a crucial occasion occurs wherever on the planet and we don’t report on it, it by no means occurred.” There’s not sufficient time or house to run down all of the newsworthy happenings that obtained swept below the rug. Don’t consider me? Simply roll the tape on all of the tales that one way or the other slipped previous your 24-hour information cycle:
The “Palms Off” Protest, the place 1000’s of Black, Brown, and working-class people flooded streets in opposition to warfare, police violence, and empire, was ignored.
The presence of “without end chemical compounds” poisoning our water, air, and cereal is downplayed. It’s too messy for advertisers, and moreover, Dow Chemical isn’t going to pay for a takedown of itself.
Union victories led by individuals of coloration—ghosted. You’d suppose the media would cheer on staff… however company house owners want obedient labor.
Almost half of unhoused people are employed, but we’re alleged to consider homelessness is a private failure and never a system-wide rip-off?
A New York decide referred to as for a recount of the 2024 Presidential Election in a New York county as a consequence of “gross irregularities,” and also you didn’t hear about it? Humorous how “breaking information” by no means breaks that manner.
The 50501 Motion protests—crickets. Apparently, huge demonstrations towards political corruption don’t match the ad-friendly narrative.
Rising world opposition to Trump’s insurance policies is downplayed as “extremism” or “divisiveness,” whereas white nationalism will get a PR makeover.
The rising variety of lacking Black ladies and ladies is handled like background noise. In the event that they have been blonde and lacking in Aruba, we’d have a week-long miniseries.
World protests towards authoritarian regimes? Meh. Doesn’t transfer the Nielsen scores.
African nations rejecting neocolonialism in favor of self-determination? Heaven forbid People begin pondering Africa is greater than a charity case or a warfare zone.
When Black people in Burkina Faso say, “We’re finished with puppet governments and IMF strangulation,” that’s world information. However as an alternative, we get one other 10-minute phase on Taylor Swift and her boo.
Sustaining phantasm of journalism
Perhaps “purchased off” is the incorrect terminology to make use of right here. Moderately, these ultra-conservative, hyper gazillionaires have had the media “purchased in,” as in introduced in to hitch their group because the Chief PR Entities. Large Cash Media’s job then turns into shaping and sharing tales with an anti-worker, anti-living wage, anti- democracy bent. The outcome: a media ecosystem engineered to take care of the phantasm of democracy whereas gatekeeping fact. What you see is just not what you get. What you get is no matter doesn’t threaten a billionaire’s backside line.
That is the media that gave you Trump’s each tweet on a silver platter whereas ignoring record-breaking wildfires throughout the World South. The identical media that gaslit you into pondering we’re broke, at the same time as firms rake in document income whereas their staff sleep in vehicles.
It’s like we’re all residing that Severance life. Oblivious and unaware.
Breaking Information: We are able to combat again
You don’t should be media-rich to be media literate. Right here’s a listing of the way to bypass the propaganda machine and truly get knowledgeable:
Assist the Black Press – Retailers like The Black Agenda Report, The AFRO and the Defender Community inform our tales, unfiltered.
Subscribe to Impartial Journalism – Publications like Democracy Now, The Intercept, Grist, Truthout, and ProPublica nonetheless consider details matter.
Comply with World South Media – Al Jazeera, Africanews and Telesur provide views Western media buries.
Use Social Media Critically – Comply with organizers, whistleblowers, and citizen journalists. And all the time ask: “Who advantages from this narrative?”
Host Neighborhood Media Circles – Watch, learn, and break down the information collectively. Media literacy is energy.
Name Out Media Silence – Write letters. Flood remark sections. Allow them to know we see the bias, and we’re not shopping for it.
So sure, mainstream media has been purchased off. However the resistance? It’s nonetheless free—unfiltered, underfunded, and extra vital than ever.
Decide up a mic. Cross the pen. Tune out the noise.
And no matter you do—don’t change the channel. Change the story.
