The Fake News Controversy Is Larger Than You Think

Monday, December 12, 2016

Joe Clifford, Guest MINDSETTER™

Brian Williams last week complained about fake news

Mainstream media, for many years has been able to control the narrative and push their positions and the government’s, which are, for the most part, one and the same. Most of the time a trusting public has been too busy trying to survive a weak economy, so they have not figured out they are constantly fed distortions, exaggerations, and sometimes outright likes.

Cases in point follow. The US public bought into the government and media narrative, that Iraq had WMD, and consequently made war on Iraq which took at least a million lives for no legitimate reason. Many experts knew full well that the intelligence had been altered and shaped to meet the need of the media and government, but their voices were excluded from the debate by mainstream media. In the same way, third parties have been excluded from debates and exposure by mainstream media for years. Progressives such as Dennis Kucinich were marginalized by the corporate media, and in the past election, the voice of Jill Stein was muted by media.

The recent election, I suggest, overwhelmingly proves my point. In the early days of the primary Donald Trump was the media darling. His rivals cried foul because Trump was covered 24-7 by the corporate media, and rivals felt they could not compete with the free publicity and exposure Trump was given. Indeed, FAIR, a reliable media watchdog, calculated Trump received about 2 billion dollars’ worth of free air time, proving the cry of foul by his rival’s to be legitimate. Media did not care; Trump was so outlandish he was making money for the media moguls. At some point, however, media realized they created a Frankenstein, and quickly reversed their course. Trump instantly became the devil incarnate, and negative stories about him and his candidacy prevailed.

The turning point developed when Trump announced he had no reason to fight Russia, and saw no reason why we could not peacefully work with Russia, improving relations for both countries, and therefore the world. Mainstream media, the corporate pro war voice, could not take this kind of insolence. Their narrative was Russia and Putin were a threat, and should be treated that way, so they turned their pens and cameras on Trump and tried to bring him down. Media promotes war. The New York Times with Judith Miller, helped lie us into a war with Iraq, and has been pushing us into a confrontation with Russia, along with the Washington Post. For two years, Russia has been blamed for everything, despite the absence of proof for any of the accusations. Russia had been thoroughly demonized by the media in the same way that Manuel Noriega, Muammar Gaddafi, and Saddam Hussein, had been demonized. The demonizing has proven itself to be the first step in setting the stage for war, and it appears with the complete vilification of Putin and Russia by corporate media, we are on the way to a war. A horrible thought.

Meanwhile, Trump won the election. Hate him or like him, give him credit for winning the election with the entire establishment against him. His own party would not contribute to his campaign, corporate media was solidly behind Hillary, and gave her a complete pass on the content of damaging e-mails from within her campaign. Media chose to gloss over the illegal Clinton team tactics of sabotaging Sanders, and focused on those nasty Russians. Almost every major newspaper endorsed the Clinton campaign, yet Trump prevailed. Corporate media was truly shocked; not that Trump won, but because they had lost control. They controlled the narrative, but lost control of the voters. The voters voted the wrong way! Make no mistake; this writer is not, nor will ever be, in the Trump camp, nor am I a Hillary supporter. I did not have a dog in this fight, so I watched it as an outsider or spectator, who saw things that others, who might have been emotionally committed, did not see. It is clear that media tried to promote Hillary, and was horrified that they had lost the ability to control the narrative and the public.

The “fake news “controversy is nothing more than corporate media’s attempt to slander alternative media, because corporate media finally realized they lost control, and no one takes them seriously. By and large, people do not read newspapers, nor do mainstream news outlets and cable news have any credibility. Corporate media had to do something to regain control of the narrative, and they attempted to do so with the fake news nonsense, and with the assistance of their gal Hillary Clinton. They are trying to convince the public it is only they who can be trusted. This is an effort to recapture the public and regain control of the narrative. They are frightened and shocked; for the first time they lost control of the narrative. Their effort is akin to Chris Cuomo, CNN anchor, telling the US public it was illegal for them to read the contents of WikiLeaks e-mails, and that only news outlets were legally able to read those e-mails. Cuomo entreated the public to let CNN interpret the emails, and tell you what is important. His amateurish attempt, made him a laughing stock. The fake news controversy is Cuomo’s effort magnified tenfold. Trust us, and no one else, they suggest. Everything outside of corporate media is “fake”, they insist.

How stupid does corporate media think we are?

Related Slideshow: Seven Things to Watch in Media in New England and Across the Country

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Spotlight’s Academy Award is a Critical Reminder

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Staff Changes and More

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Cardinal Sean O'Malley's Comment on Spotlight:

Spotlight is an important film for all impacted by the tragedy of clergy sexual abuse. By providing in-depth reporting on the history of the clergy sexual abuse crisis, the media led the Church to acknowledge the crimes and sins of its personnel and to begin to address its failings, the harm done to victims and their families and the needs of survivors. In a democracy such as ours, journalism is essential to our way of life. The media's role in revealing the sexual abuse crisis opened a door through which the Church has walked in responding to the needs of survivors.