Truthful and comprehensive American journalism is central to whether our country will continue to devolve or regain our footing and succeed.  By their nature, journalists have an essential role to play with the public and an absolute ability to influence public opinion.  People believe in and then act on erroneous information, which results in destructive consequences everywhere, primarily through the current style of American journalism.  In this way, liberal journalists effectively support the interests of the Democrat Destroyers; think of the “Ultra Maga” hysteria memes or the suppression of the denied efficacy of certain medical drugs when COVID first appeared as a tool to undercut Trump.

Mr. Dooley, the alter ego of humorist Finley Peter Dunne, famously uttered this about the function of journalism:

“The newspaper does ivrything f’r us.  It runs th’ polis foorce an’ th’ banks, commands th’ milishy, controls th’ ligislachure, baptizes th’ young, marries th’ foolish, comforts th’ afflicted, afflicts th’ comfortable, buries th’ dead an’ roasts thim aftherward.”

Today, we have shortened that phrase to “Comfort the afflicted, afflict the comfortable.”

Journalistic Integrity: The Battle Against Lies & Distortion:.

The American press is a powerful institution that either swings a mighty sword of truth or abdicates a sacred responsibility. There is a widely held belief that journalists aren’t supposed to lie, distort the truth, or engage in actions designed to subvert the essential mission of journalism, which is to report the facts without bias. With the widespread use of “spin” (essentially propaganda), now the dominant form of reporting, reporters have become just another opinion or, more aptly, propagandists. Journalists still want you to believe they are purveyors of truth, not misdirectors or outright liars. Legacy media is staffed by biased news directors who decide what is newsworthy and what is not. This is the state of modern american journalism in America today.

According to Pew Research, over 80% of us get our news from digital devices. This has created a dilemma concerning who controls the internet and an implied conflict of interest. Why? With people having near-limitless sources of information, content providers have to serve two entirely different and conflicting masters/priorities. First, they must keep their users loyal to their outlet; if they don’t, they fail economically. Keeping eyeballs looking at their electronic devices 352 times a day on average and viewing their specific content takes precedence over their second master—delivering valuable and honest news.

We have carefully choreographed media adamantly aligning with specific american and social positions. Truth is very much in question and on trial. According to Pew Research, made-up news is a significant problem. But that nagging question is why are we inclined to believe certain sources over others that may be more factual? We’ve all experienced intelligent people on opposite sides of contentious social and political positions; how does this happen?

Dr. Ralph Lewis on Cognitive Biases: The Human Brain’s Intricate Design

Although written to discredit the conservative movement, Dr. Ralph Lewis at Psychology Today offered an interesting answer in response to my questions above. According to Lewis:

1. Many cognitive biases are at play in making us prone to “irrational” beliefs.  Those biases are a feature, not a bug of human thinking.
2. Most of us hold beliefs contradicted by evidence, driven by intuitive rather than empirical thinking, and feeding our need for comfort.

As Lewis asserts, our early upbringing arranged our thinking processes into certain biases that aid us in living our daily lives.  Whether these biases are truthful or not is incidental to an essential process. Conservative homes tend to hardwire their children with a conservative bias, and Progressive homes do the opposite. Later in life, our experiences frequently ameliorate our thinking as we tend to become intellectually or culturally conservative.

The Origins of Journalists: Unveiling the Diverse Paths to the Newsroom:

So, where do our journalists come from today? Are they hatched to break out of their shells systematically and identically?  From an Atlantic article, which was pretty glum about american journalism in general and reporters in particular, comes the strange assuagement of guilt: “If you’re getting your news from a source you understand to be liberal or conservative, you’re consuming the bias you’re seeking.” The article also mentions journalists: “Four in five said they’re Democrats.” Is this prima facie evidence of a corrupt process? We already discussed how many of our young start as liberals.  But why do so many journalists stay that way?

Journalists tend to share four qualities beyond being liberal, according to the Atlantic:

• They’re sadder about their jobs.
• They’ve received higher education.
• They are not rich.
• They’re generally moral.

Envy, greed, and career choice cannot be eliminated as essential factors in why so many journalists lean socialist. Capitalism, reduced to its essential elements, rewards greed and hard work over all other aspects. It’s a rather harsh, one-plus-one-equals-two view. Sink or swim—the kind of unfeeling manner in which so many capitalists are tarred yet do so much good for the rest of us in the process.

American Journalism as a Bridge: When Academics Turn to Advocacy

Suppose you are sad, poor, seeped in academia … you probably think you are all that exists between the helpless and the afflicters. In that case, you become a journalist and laud your superior understanding of humankind over the rest of us! Progressives never seem to get boxed in by facts. They feel good intentions, and being on the right side of moral squishiness is virtuous. Journalists are supposed to be excellent thinkers and logicians. They should follow the money or the facts to get to the truth of a story.

Why does it seem that the uber-majority liberal press has never figured out how the United States became so rich and powerful, and why so many people want to be here? Despite everything terrible, all that constantly reported to that special echo chamber of like-minded nincompoops who never seem to grasp the reality of the American experience where the entire world has benefitted from our example and superior abilities enabled by a system of economic freedom available in few other places.

Biases of reporters and entire news agencies are on display with overt reporting supporting this or that agenda or narrative, bereft of factual, balanced, or nuanced reporting. Too many reporters, especially cable news journalists, express opinions and use high emotions masquerading as provable facts without logic, context, balance, or even a nod to supposed neutrality. Nothing stops them as they smugly knock those who built our country and made it possible for them to say what they do and get paid handsomely, all while being fawned over by a cabal of other like-minded so-called truth-tellers who very much aren’t.

Rediscovering Journalism’s Roots: The Quest for Unbiased Truth-Tellers:

Allan J. Feifer—Patriot

Author, Businessman, and Thinker.  Read more about Allan, his background, and his ideas to create a better tomorrow at www.1plus1equals2.com