More Media Malpractice

One of the major reasons why Americans are divided and hostile toward one another is that we live in alternate universes—not literally, but functionally—separated by the “news” made available to us and that which we choose to believe.

This from hotair.com.

We have all seen the polls that show Americans have been losing trust in the communist/globalist-colluding mass propaganda media for a long time. According to the information that is out there, only 36% of Americans say they have a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in the mass propaganda media, but this fact hides an important distinction:

The majority of Left-voting Americans trust the media machine,

however, those on the Right have given up on receiving the truth

from those fabricating what is passed off as reportable news.

Republicans have developed their distrust not only because they are often lied about, but also because they are lied to—mass propaganda news sources continuously expose themselves as the reporters of alternative points of view.

Similarly, communists/globalists distrust conservative media and tend to trust without question what they hear/read from the liberal/progressive sources. This is not because they are universally stupid or uninterested in the news, but because they are inclined to trust the “misinformation” narrative.

For example: A liberal acquaintance of the original article’s author performed a Google search on a topic of discussion and dismissed the results as “misinformation” because the top 3 hits were conservative sites. Then when presented with the original source he was shocked.

To paraphrase the Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan who studied the effects of mass media on thoughts and behavior, “the medium is the massage.” News sources bend and shape what they present, oft times pressing the envelope on the separation between truth and lie, if not outright lying.

And as often as not the mass propaganda media shapes the narrative by choosing what to report, i.e., lying by omission.

And as a result, Conservatives and many independents obtain other parts of the story elsewhere and are able to round out the picture. Remaining ignorant of the larger picture is not likely, if you distrust the media and shop around for news to get a bigger picture.

This is how very smart people appear to be so stupid about the world: they get a picture curated by people they wrongly trust. This could apply to people who only watch Fox News, which obviously curates and spins as well.

Examples to make this point follow.

The first comes from Reuters. Read the headline:

Reuters knew the hostages being released by Hamas were not soldiers (neither were the terrorists Hamas was receiving), but they casually dropped the term into their headline to fundamentally alter our perception of what is happening.

A POW exchange is much different than the negotiated release of people held hostage for 50 days—women and children who have nothing to do with the war except by being victims of evil terrorists.

Using “soldiers” was a conscious choice. Reuters knew who was being released, knew their circumstances, knew how they were captured, and knew that they weren’t “released” but ransomed. They framed the story to manipulate the audience.

People weren’t fooled, except those who wanted to be. Reuters received so much criticism they deleted the headline and issued a non-apology apology, but this was not a mistake made in the fog of war. All the facts were established and well-understood. Reuters chose to lie.

The New York Times performed the same sleight of hand by mischaracterizing a Hamas terrorist who was freed by Israel in exchange for the hostages.

Israa Jaabees—who once released from Israel called for more violence against Israelis—was disfigured by her own car bomb burning rather than blowing up. She is a failed car bomber, but rather than explaining the circumstances of her imprisonment they downplay her clear guilt and bloodthirstiness and instead focus on her as a disfigured mom just happy to be home with her kids.

And The Washington Post?

Their spin is that an exchange of ‘captives’ is going on, not a release of terrorists in exchange for innocents—putting Hamas and Israel on the same moral plane.

And yet another example is obscured, but more revealing as well because the media has a greater opportunity to get away with their deception.

At issue is the perpetrator of a vicious stabbing incident in Ireland that resulted in anti-immigrant riots.

The media decided it was important to reshape the narrative and declared the perpetrator was Irish, not an Arab immigrant. Obviously, this put a very different spin on the matter—consumers were led to believe the violence did not come from “the peaceful immigrants,” rather an Irishman who stabbed innocents.

If you want to characterize the rioters as xenophobic haters it is much more convenient if the person they rioted against was not indeed an immigrant. So they simply said that he was not.

The truth is that he was an immigrant from Algeria, although he had acquired Irish citizenship. This gave the media enough wiggle room to simply say he was “Irish.”

LONDON — Right-wing protesters, angered by a stabbing attack they believed had involved someone of immigrant background, rampaged through central Dublin on Thursday night, leaving behind a trail of burning destruction.

Ireland’s police chief on Friday described the unrest, in which double-decker buses, trams and police cars were torched, as ‘scenes that we have not seen in decades.’

The violence and looting through some of Dublin’s most famous streets began after a stabbing attack outside a school that left five people hospitalized. They included three young children and a woman. Police detained a man who also is being treated for injuries.

Rumors spread online that the perpetrator of the attack was an immigrant or had an immigrant background. The BBC, citing unnamed sources, said the man was an Irish citizen who had lived in the country for 20 years.

Notice what they don’t do? Contradict the original claim that he was an immigrant. They imply he wasn’t without outright lying.

NOTE: The Washington Post story gave no mention that the man was an Algerian immigrant, and the entire story is a screed against xenophobic “far-right” rioters. The media went into overdrive to change the narrative.

This sort of thing happens time and again, and most people on the Left have no clue because they just assume the goodwill of the media and find it inconceivable that they would lie. And because their news consumption is entirely based on mass propaganda sources they wind up living in an information universe entirely disconnected from ours, and hence from reality.

Some people have been awakened by the distortions coming from the media regarding Israel. Treating Hamas, an acknowledged terrorist organization, as a reliable source has awoken some Jews to how deceptive the media is. But still the problem continues.

Final thoughts: Distrust of the mass propaganda media is increasing. We presenters who strive for the truth must continue putting the truth out there for the people to at least have available when they are ready to read it.