The Mainstream Media Admits Destroying It's Credibility

by

       M. Richard Maxson

       What happened to the watchdog media? Sadly, in this day of Obama, they have turned into the lapdog media. When Republicans are in office, liberal journalists become quite aggressive and love to launch investigations. When Democrats are in office, these same journalists help the politicians cover up their misdeeds. The identical press that blasted George W. Bush throughout his administration is totally uninterested in examining President Obama’s failed policies, broken promises and his weak leadership or the near criminal conduct of candidate Hillary Clinton. In the past, politicians could expect rough treatment from the media if they crossed the line. In today's America, if a journalist criticizes a Democrat, the tough media critic is ostracized and eventually removed from their positions.
      

      Some in mainstream media now admit it may never recover from it's slanted coverage of this 2016 Election. A recent column published in the New York Post  referred to the media’s reporting as “the complete collapse of American journalism as we know it.” "We are torching our remaining credibility in service of Clinton.” 

      Columnist and author, Michael Goodwin, who voted for Obama in 2008 and in 2012 and is a Democrat, stated, “the mainstream media’s reputations will likely never recover, nor will the standards. No future producer, editor, reporter or anchor can be expected to meet a test of fairness when that standard has been trashed in such willful and blatant fashion.”

     The TV networks seem to have two tracks in covering Democratic scandals: Ignore them, or if coverage is unavoidable, ignore the party label of the unethical politician under investigation. As Politifact documented, Clinton has lied on multiple occasions, and the media’s lack of outrage and refusal to focus on her dishonesty lends credence to Goodwin’s assertions. If it were a Republican in an ethical probe are blown up into alleged national problems for the GOP, but the networks on Hillary? Nothing on CBS and NBC, or ABC. For Democrats, their politicians in handcuffs point to image problems. Solution for the media? Don't show them at all.

      Something has happened right before our eyes that is extremely important: the complete collapse of American journalism as we know it. Too many people in the media and in academia have abandoned their roles as conduits for facts and take on the role of filterers of facts to promote social and political agendas.

      The Clinton machine has effectively infiltrated corporate media. Last year, the Intercept reported MSNBC failed to disclose that multiple pundits who spoke favorably about Clinton were actually employees of a consulting firm hired by her campaign. As Politifact documented, Clinton has lied on multiple occasions, and the media’s lack of outrage and refusal to focus on her dishonesty lends credence to Goodwin’s assertions.

     

       There is no question the mainstream media has sided with the political establishment in its decision to craft narratives that paint Clinton as a competent leader who

is the only option in the face of a catastrophic Trump presidency. Indeed, in spite of Clinton’s lack of popularity among the general population, the media continues to suggest she is the only thing standing between America and its descent into fascism. The frenzy to bury Trump is not limited to the Clinton campaign and the Obama White House. They are working hand in hand with what was considered the cream of the nation's news organization.

                                                   So long as the information and opinions that reach

the public are selected by mainstream media people, whom polls show to be overwhelmingly on the left, the left's view of the world prevails.  I can’t count the number of times I saw story after story being put out about how bad things are in the world, only to see the supporting political party start to speak about how they are going to solve these issues. It’s easy to win an election when you’ve already primed the people to believe in what you’re saying, without ever saying it. It is fascinating to see how some people -- in both politics and the media -- can depict their own narrow self-interest as a holy crusade for the greater good of society.

      The founding fathers had a dream of an America where the people and the government worked together towards a common good, in mutual respect. Freedom of speech and of the press are not the freedom to lie!  Lying to protect their elite friends and pushing an agenda instead of representing the truth. A government and mainstream media that lies to the people does not respect them, and the America of the 21st Century is not the America dreamed of in 1776.