The media—the Fourth Estate—a part of society’s locomotor, driving public perception, opinion, and beliefs, has seen itself fall into disrepute over time. The basic ethics of journalism have been abandoned for a trendier, more 'hip' definition of a journalist’s job description.
Ages past, the media could be counted upon to divulge:
•Who,
•What,
•When,
•Where,
•Why,
•and How
We trusted our news men and women to provide us with cold, hard facts, without diluting objectivity with their feelings, opinions, and propaganda. They gave their audience the facts of the news, and the masses could form their opinion by themselves—without having agendas shoved down their throats through the 24-hour news cycle.
As the fourth estate, a part of the political system, but objective and fair, the media is expected to help the commoners get a clear view of the way the nation was headed. However, in 2018, rather than tell their audience who did what, when and where it happened, why and how it happened, the 'free' press tells us what THEY feel about the facts.
Rather than leave it to the audience to craft and form their opinions, they serve their adulterated, opinionated version of events to the trusting, unsuspecting audience. The current situation is akin a DIY store selling already assembled tables and still claiming your spreading a cover cloth counts for something.
It is unnatural, blatantly unethical, and ultimately, a little shady to have supposedly unbiased reporting of events go out of its way to paint a certain picture to the previously uninformed observer.
Bias Is Expected in The American Media
The concept of a fair, politically balanced media in America today is a distant dream, almost like that of a peaceful Middle East. The very make-up of the press corps leans left, ranging from center, to more extreme leftist ideologies.
A study in 2014 showed that for every conservative journalist whose article you read, there are four liberal journalists to bury their voice. This disparity, under normal circumstances, would not be a cause for concern. People can hold whatever beliefs they want—that is what makes America great, the freedom of political association.
The trouble comes when those we trust to be above political sensationalism are unofficial attack dogs of a political party (often without trying to disguise their political leanings). Previously objective programming have morphed into a relentless attack conferences. Unending cycles are spent tearing down government policies, while minimal coverage is given to positive achievements.
Liberal Echo Chambers
What do you get when you get a panel that all share the same political ideologies, gathered around a table, to discuss ideas from the other side of the political spectrum on Primetime TV?
Nothing good really.
Gone are the days when we aired fair, critical, and insightful political discourse with all sides of the political wheel adequately represented. Often, we see interviews and debates between political rivals heavily tilted towards the leftist agenda, with supposedly neutral anchors leading the way with biased questioning patterns.
Explicit bias leads to a dangerous cycle.
Individuals with opposing viewpoints avoid networks with a liberal bias, to avoid misrepresentation.
Mainstream networks go ahead with regularly scheduled programming, featuring political analysts falling over each other to agree harder with one another.
The impressionable audience is exposed to one viewpoint, everyday, all week, through the year.
Opposing opinions are tagged as 'alternative news', a term that is clearly supposed to be derogatory.
Echo chambers are probably the most dangerous aspect of the compromised media today. They create uninformed, ignorant Americans, whose entire understanding of the polity is regurgitating sensationalist, doomsday predictions by the conventional media. These misinformed Americans create the legion of defeatist, panicky, and fearful legion on social media that, without even basic understanding of how government operates, share the same tired rhetoric media influencers kick-start.
Trial By (Social) Media
Innocent until proven guilty. Everyone has the right to a fair trial. All those things that made our justice system tick and operate without hitch, have been stomped upon, trampled on, and discarded with a prejudice.
An effort that had been spearheaded by the actions of the mainstream media, who have successfully leveraged the mob mentality of social media to serve their agendas.
A tweet is all it takes to ruin the career of an otherwise model citizen, if they make the ‘terrible’ mistake of holding and forming independent opinions. Media houses have even transformed themselves into mafia-like organizations: threatening to ruin the lives of their perceived enemies.
News reports are sensationalized, videos are trimmed to deprive it of context, tweets over a decade-old are dug out, all in a bid to settle some form of vendetta. And when these billion dollar media houses share a post, the money mentality of those stuck in their echo chambers kick in—avoid wronging them, by all means.
Final Thoughts
Conventional media feels more like a cult, rather than the common man’s last hope for refreshing, unbiased takes on the issues affecting his daily life. All of conventional media programming has been infected with the stench of partisan politicking—even children shows are unapologetically biased—shaping the mindsets of the masses even from a tender age.
The back and forth that made many mainstream media houses attractive in the past— seasoned political analysts going at each other with facts rather than sensitivities—has disappeared, replaced by a lone voice agreeing with itself over and over again. Dissenting voices are systematically silenced with negative tactics—smear campaigns, ad hominem attacks, and outright bully tactics.
For those seeking the yang to the endless tirade of yin in the media today, alternative news sites and media presents an exciting avenue.These platforms provide a much needed break from the monopolistic hold liberal media has on shaping public perception: the other side of the spectrum can finally come out to air their ideas without relentless personal attacks and biased reporting.
AltFrog is a network that aggregates news from over 100 alternative media sites, providing a much needed balance, in the quest for fair, ethical journalism. Alternative media and new websites serve a critical role in the political machinery: providing a system of checks and balances to the overarching bias of mainstream media.
AltFrog prides itself on it’s carefully curated content, and being a source the American people can count on for the full, unedited picture.
Visit Our Website https://altfrog.com/
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