(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



How Corporate Media Enables Fascism and Why we Need Indictments of the January 6th Coup Leaders Now! [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']

Date: 2022-07-19

Corporate news is often aimed at distracting rather than informing their audience.

Let me begin by saying I’m not only referring to Fox News or the dozens of similar outlets that pollute the country. I’m talking about the major networks, all of which are corporate owned or owned by extremely wealthy individuals.

Corporate Media has, of course, a corporate bias.

Since the Republicans are one of the two parties our corporate friendly system has historically allowed to prosper, they have and must continue to be media legitimized based on corporate reasoning, despite them morphing over time into a fascist party bent on the destruction of the two-party system and democracy itself. The media owners seem perfectly comfortable with the fact that they will be crushed one day and all news will come under direct Republican/Fascist control if they prevail.

The number one way corporate media distorts reality is by not lying, but by not/never covering certain news, points of view and analysis. As an example, find me corporate news coverage or editorials about the dozens of biased and racist voter repression laws being passed in Republican controlled states? Or the open ties to white supremacist groups. Or see a nightly news caster connect the dots on January 6th and report that it was a coup widely supported by the Republican Party, and not just the Donald? Or provide analysis of the biased and Republican friendly Supreme Court rulings on the EPA or Roe v. Wade? Or the true causes of street crime, poverty and inflation.

Major Media will not “out” Fascism

The message is clear. While they normally don’t engage in telling bare faced lies like we’ve learned to expect from sites like Fox News, the issues major media chooses to cover, or not to cover, are going to reflect the corporate interests, perspectives, and biases the station ownership subscribes to. Major media in the good old days of bipartisanship projected an image of neutrality between the two parties, even if it they were not always neutral in practice. Mostly because of this, they are not going to openly oppose or identify Republican fascism, and by not doing so, enables its spread. Just by covering them, they are normalized, just as Trump was normalized in the eyes of many Americans.

What is also lost to so many listeners of news programming is that ALL news, even progressive stations, can be expected to have a point of view and slant/perspective. Which should be taken into account whenever you evaluate information, so a story may be factually accurate but is never class neutral or without a point of view.

Except for Tucker’s, as he’s not human but a mutant hologram.

For those without any operating principles and who care only about their own narrow interests, no lie is too outrageous if it accomplishes the desired goal. It is how we’ve gotten such a distorted and even fictitious understanding of current events in our country and in the world. Fox News and their clones are devoid of decency or shame and are especially adept at painting a profoundly erroneous picture of reality, which over time become a false, fictional and destructive vision of the society we exist in. Mainstream corporate news, as already stated, distorts reality more based on omission of facts and by feigning objectivity to its audience.

Nor Will they Play Nice with the Democrats

So if the Democratic leadership thinks it will get a fair shake from corporate media if they lean too far left of center or talk about reform, they already have plenty of recent evidence to the contrary. Corporate media has done a bang-up job setting Biden’s approval ratings on fire and making him look bad. Why? Corporate media’s owners perceive that they have an interest in blocking the type of social spending Biden wants to pass and the corporate tax increases he has proposed — hence the full court press it has engaged in on weakening Biden’s public image and a shared interest they have with the Republicans.

January 6th Committee members Adam Schiff and Liz Cheney

Something which the president only worsened by his political missteps and lackluster performance regarding the Republican agenda and insistence on courting bipartisanism in the face of their extremist onslaught. An image not helped in progressive circles when he was photographed exchanging a fist pump with dictatorial Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Or when he got caught making a deal with the devil (McConnell) to appoint an anti-abortion extremist to the federal courts in turn for?

What’s also becoming clearer every day is the developing strategic and tactical divergence in the party between the progressive wing and the corporate dominated one. Gavin Newsum, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Beto O’Rourke, and Pete Buttigieg have all recently made more militant, fighting, and action orientated statements. Additionally, Adam Schiff of the January 6th Committee publicly expressed great concern along with a thinly veiled criticism/impatience to reporters with the Justice Department’s lack of apparent progress on dealing with January 6th Coup leaders.

Indictments as a Strategy?

Biden addresses Congress.

If the Democratic Leadership does have one, and of course one hope’s they do, it has so far been a faltering, weak looking plan. Biden in particular seems to have gone out of his way not to directly confront the Republicans or rally his troops. Which is hardly seems like a strategy for victory against the wave of fascism descending on the nation. In particular, he has largely failed to neutralize media criticisms of him. The only benefit or reasoning by what outwardly seems political malpractice is if the hammer will soon come down in the form of major indictments of the January 6th plotters. That might explain why there is almost a pathological desire on the part of Biden and the party leadership not to make these indictments look political. I’m also suspecting that someone big has turned informant.

Now is the Time

Attorney General Merrick Garland.

At least, that is my hope. We shall soon see if this hope is warranted or a pipe dream. Either Biden sees the indictments as an act that will tear the country apart, or one that can save it. While indictments, if they ever come, emerge at the direction of the Justice Department, and not the president, it would be naive to believe Biden doesn’t have a great deal of influence in the matter.

The January 6th Committee exceeded beyond anyone’s expectations at both achieving investigative results and in getting decent media coverage, especially in print media. It’s time to strike while the iron is hot, the public has a short memory.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/19/2111019/-How-Corporate-Media-Enables-Fascism-and-Why-we-Need-Indictments-of-the-January-6th-Coup-Leaders-Now

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/