Opinion: "The media" is not your enemy

Let me get this straight. The news media in America are no better than the “Good Germans”. You know, the ones that remained silent out of fear when the Nazis came for the Jews.

Actually, reporters in the major U.S. newspapers and virtually all the large news networks have “brainwashed at least half of America” every bit as effectively as the German press that enabled Hitler to come to power. Yep, you read that right. This is coming from a recent opinion piece written by Dennis Prager, a nationally syndicated radio talk-show host and columnist who also happens to be the founder of Prager University.

There is apparently a contingent of Americans who think the media have been conspiring with the Democrats in the federal government to brainwash Americans, and any reporter who doesn’t scream from the rooftops to call out this blatant malfeasance is no better than a “Good German” who is complicit in the left’s imminent takeover of our democratic republic. It must be true because one of the few “honest” members of the media in our country has written an opinion column about it. {Deep breath here} Wow, that’s a lot to unpack.

Nonetheless, because I am truly fascinated by learning what people really think, and because it greatly disturbs me that some of my family and friends have such little trust in and respect for people in my profession, I gave this theory some major brain space.

And I can’t, for the life of me, figure out why any individual American news media company, let alone the entire contingent of the U.S. mainstream media, would even consider conspiring with a political party in the federal government to brainwash people. As a proud American reporter who takes both my freedoms and my responsibility to readers very seriously, I have no reasonable explanation. Here are some of the questions that are rolling around in my head:

What do the media companies have to gain by serving as a mouthpiece to “the left”? Not much, that’s for sure. They are for-profit companies who make a living by selling advertising. As for the mainstream media, large corporations are the primary source of their revenue. Fact: the media does not make much money from the government in general.

But what about political advertising, you ask? Yes, politicians pay for advertising, but there are clear rules that apply, and the numbers pale in comparison to corporate support. Not to mention, not every year is an election year. According to the American Bar Association, “Newspapers are considered publishers and are liable for the ads that they run. A corollary to this is that they have full discretion over the ads they run and have no obligation to run ads that they don’t want to run— in fact, it is their First Amendment right to make their own decisions about what they will print. (That means that as a newspaper publisher I am subject to a lawsuit if I print something that is found to be false or damaging to another).

“In marked contrast, broadcast radio and television stations cannot pick and choose what political ads they air, at least for candidates of the same office. They can either choose not to run any political ads at all or they have to run political ads for all candidates who want them. Why? Because the airwaves that broadcasters use is a scarce resource. There can only be so many broadcast stations on the spectrum, and the resulting scarcity creates the danger that some points of view might never be aired. This danger is why the Federal Communications Commission is authorized to place certain burdens on the First Amendment rights of the broadcasters in order to ensure that the public is being furnished with diverse ideas and information. Because of this, broadcasters are not liable for the ads that they run.

“Cable television channels, meanwhile, aren’t subject to the same regulations as broadcast networks. They don’t have the same unique characteristics that broadcast channels do—they’re not limited in number—which means that they have discretion over which political ads they want to run and which ones they don’t. As a result, they’re also liable for any false ads that run and can be sued for libel.” The full article can be found here: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/voting-in-2020/political-advertising-on-social-media-platforms/

The Cliffs Notes version of that: political advertising revenue comes with risks.

Yes, newspapers also sell subscriptions; however for many of us the revenue from paid subscriptions doesn’t even cover the hard costs of printing and postage. Forget paying reporters to write the articles or the office staff to lay out the pages and complete the circulation paperwork. All that revenue comes from advertising. Broadcast media viewers, in contrast, don’t pay to watch. In fact, without advertising from businesses, the American media would not be profitable.

Despite all that, what could the Democrats possibly be offering in exchange for the mainstream media’s unanimous, unwavering support? I’m not sure. The media has a clear role in a democratic republic. We are often called the “the fourth estate”, which refers to the watchdog role of the press. Our responsibility is to inform citizens and serve as a feedback loop between the government and voters of all parties and ideologies. Is there room for improvement among the American media? Absolutely. The importance of reporters to set aside their personal and political bias in their news cannot be underscored, nor do I take that responsibility lightly.

Is it possible that all the corporations in American that are buying advertising have conspired with the Democrats and as a result are now holding the purse strings of the major media outlets? Maybe. If so, what do the corporations stand to gain? I mean, it’s Democratic policies and regulations that have stymied innovation and forced corporations to pay higher taxes, right? Therefore, wouldn’t It be more advantageous for those corporations to conspire with President Trump and the Republicans, who have managed to roll back many of the Obama-era policies and regulations that hurt profitable businesses AND have lowered taxes during Trump’s presidency? As a business owner, I know I have benefited from the current administration’s economic and tax policies.

What am I missing here?