by Zain Jaffer
Generally speaking most media organizations try to be objective, or at least project a sense of objectivity to the public even if they are not. On the other hand, we can group media into conservative and liberal, but they still have traditionally avoided overt noticeable bias in their reporting.
In this recent Trump-Harris presidential campaign, it seems that the gloves are off. Media organizations like MSNBC are now openly campaigning for the Democratic party standard bearer. The amount of lies and gaslighting that has become acceptable these days in mainstream media is simply too much that many people are starting to turn to alternative media such as the Joe Rogan podcast or Twitter news reports.
In recent days Donald Trump and JD Vance have appeared on the Joe Rogan podcast. It is so refreshing to see a normal conversation between two people. One that is not interrupted by rude “fact checks,” threats to summarize a point that needs elaboration in one sentence, and so on. This is why Joe Rogan’s podcasts take three hours, yet people find themselves not checking their watch when they listen or view it.
While on the surface making a candidate win via traditional media might be in your opinion what will save America, an overtly biased press will not. This trend towards extreme biased media reporting is extremely dangerous and will lead down a destructive path.
The problem is when you have thrown your hat with a candidate, human tribal nature often takes over. You are in an echo chamber with people who reinforce your beliefs, and you do not want to be bothered with inconvenient truths that destroy your worldview. Hence if news to the contrary of your beliefs arrives at your desk, some will misinterpret, gas light, distort, or outright lie.
That is not the America I know and love. I know lady justice is blind in the statue so she is perceived as objective. Unfortunately for the media, that blindfold is off. It is basically to report the news so that it favors their candidate.
That is a disservice to millions of Americans. That is a disservice to the idea that is America. That is a betrayal of the FTC guidelines on broadcasting, and more importantly, a betrayal of the First Amendment. As Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes remarked once, free speech is not about crying fire in a crowded building.
Where would we be if Elon Musk did not purchase Twitter? Where would we be without new media personalities like Joe Rogan?
We would probably be in that scene like in The Matrix, where everyone is encased in a pod as part of a collective, believing what they think is the truth but is actually a lie.
Without these unbiased new media organizations saving the day, we would all be taking The Matrix blue pill of a fake truth, instead of a red pill that shows us the real unbiased truth.
