So, about that 2024 campaign coverage
I’m a former journalist and I’m fucking pissed at news networks… and myself. You see, 24-hour news networks are, by definition, hypocritical. Why? Because news doesn’t happen 24-hours a day. Seriously, watch early CNN broadcasts. It’s mostly just reporters repeating the same block of news over and over. So, very early on these networks found they had to fill time. That’s because networks are expensive to run and ad dollars are critical.
Hence, CNN’s endless breathless reporting of plane crash conspiracies, MSNBC’s nightly parade of uncontested right-shaming, and Fox’s straight-up admission that the majority of its programs are opinion, not news. (It’s the only honest thing the network has ever said.) It’s all a game to keep viewers so the ad dollars don’t go away. Each network has their own game and it works. And we’re kinda willing participants.
I mean, I personally can’t watch Fox News because it angers me (not in the way they want). But, I was a loyal MSNBC viewer. I appreciated Rachael Maddow’s deep-dives, Chris Hayes’ quips, Joy Reid’s righteous anger. It made me feel better to hear them dissect Trump’s outlandish speeches. I was a member of the choir and they were preaching to me. It wasn’t an echo chamber, it was an echo cathedral — huge, loud, and full of uplifting hymns.
The press is called the Fourth Estate because it’s supposed to keep power in check and to inform the public. Back in the day, when rich white dudes bought a newspaper company, it was a point of pride, not a point of revenue. It was how they showed off — they helped the public, kept power in check, owned a business that lost money — because all papers did — and were still rich. (Now, rich white dudes buy and/or make spaceships. Wheeee!)
That shifted after the turn of the century when owners insisted papers turn a profit and even more dramatically with the creation of 24-hour news networks. And that’s why Fox News just wants to keep its viewers scared and angry — profit, not watchdogging. And if fear is Fox’s game, it’s abundantly clear that left-leaning networks like MSNBC want to keep viewers happy and optimistic, even in the face of evidence that should frighten them. It keeps us watching and ad money flowing.
Yes, fellow lefties, even “liberal news” networks are guilty of this. It’d be a lie for anyone to claim otherwise. And that’s why Trump’s victory was such a surprise to us. I realized my cathedral had ignored actual reporting to keep me happy. Because an entire electorate’s seismic shift this far to the right can not be done in secret. Real reporting should have seen that coming. But, the 24-hour news networks wanted us to smile, laughing with the anchors. KA-CHING!
And as a former journalist, I should’ve known to seek news elsewhere. In hindsight, I’d much rather have fact-based reporting than the giggly opinion panels and proselytization that filled MSNBC’s campaign coverage. So, I encourage you to add news outlets like AP News and Reuters into your news diet. (And check bias with this chart.)
As for me, I’m leaving the echo cathedral. Bye, MSNBC. It was fun when it really shouldn’t have been.
