Why is corporate “news” media behaving so despicably on Afghanistan?
My belief is that Afghanistan won’t have a lasting political impact. Some people have been noting that we’ll see how many Republicans campaign on sending U.S. troops back there. But I have, not at all rarely in fact, been wrong, and the last time corporate “news” media behaved this despicably overall, Trump ended up in the White House. Said media have also been essentially working for the war pig profiteers, who certainly rank with the most loathsome and repugnant creatures in existence. What’s the deal, here?
The predictions of the imminent death of traditional news sources, that were so prominent when the internet first started to be widely used, have not come true. But legacy news media has declined, and (generally) slowly but surely continues to do so, and most of their remaining base is older people – that is, the same as right-wing conservatism’s. So they’re going to pander to that crowd, which also includes many deranged Trumpers. They see it as a matter of survival – few people want to lose their careers.
I get that. I don’t, however, agree that it’s necessary for them to puke out right-wing bullshit, to that end, all the time. Most people who still read daily newspapers and watch broadcast news have been doing that for decades. They’re not going to break essentially lifelong habits because of any move in their reading/viewing/listening material toward legitimate journalism and away from corporate conservative spin. (Those that would, have long since departed already to overt right-wing sources.) And a real move to legitimate reporting and analysis might actually help them pick up some younger fans, and therefore ultimately stick around a lot longer.
So a lot of the Biden-bashing is because of that perceived need to play to their remaining base. The reason for the rest is that the rich man ultimately owns corporate media, and ultimately decides what kind of overall spin goes on things. And that spin is corporate propaganda, though without being too overt about it. The plutocrats don’t really want unfettered right-wing rule; that’s why Trump’s efforts to stay in power were crushed in such blunt and humiliating ways. They want divided government, incapable of making any real changes to a system that is so very, very sweet for the ultra-entitled.
You’ve probably seen about the $3.5T reconciliation bill working its way through Congress. It’s full of stuff like pre-K and child care funding, Medicare expansion, and rental assistance, just for starters. That is, the kinds of things that don’t really motivate people much when they’re only promises from pols, but that when they do happen, those same people will punish those who try to take them away. And much of it is to be paid for with higher taxes on the super-wealthy. The plutocrats are desperate to block it, and they hope that by weakening the president’s political standing via atrocious lies about the Afghanistan withdrawal it will help them do so. Because that’s the kind of repellent filth that so many of them have shown themselves capable of being, time and time again, when they see any threat to their privilege.
Among intelligent people, corporate media lost all credibility as a news source during the 2016 campaign. They managed to regain some measure of it, by being somewhat objective and truthful about Trump during his “presidency.” But now they’ve blown it all to hell again, and it’s their own damn fault.
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