Right Wing Media

I originally considered titling this entry as "Fox News" but then I stopped to think about how they're simply the most well known example of a conservative outlet and there are many more out there to cover so I'm taking a more broad approach. In this day and age, we can largely choose what kind of news outlets we surround ourselves with, and many make the choice to expose themselves solely to ones that push headlines they agree with. I'm definitely not saying conservatives are the only ones who do this, but that's just the demographic I'm talking about right now. While growing up, I was generally aware of outlets such as fox news and the bias that they had, but it has only been in the recent, lets say ten years of my life, that I've realized the actual extent of the damage that they do. As much as it makes me shudder, I can't deny that they're extremely influential. Millions hang on their every word and take it as fact. Whether it be Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Ainsley Earhardt, Brett Baier, or the former Bill O'Reilly and Megan Kelly, these are people that many regard as highly credible. Obviously I disagree with that, but that's not the point. The influence of right wing media has a powerful and destructive effect on public opinion, one that has absolutely swayed elections and public policy from what I understand, and this is toxic. Unfortunately in this case, they can't be removed because of the first amendment and that has to be respected. However, while the freedom of expression must be respected, right wing media certainly doesn't. It can and should be corrected, combatted, and negated at every possible opportunity in order to counter the damage. Regrettably, that's a full time job and is becoming more arduous with the passing of every single day. During the years of the Bush presidency I remember right wingers such as Rush Limbaugh and other figures fawning over the unpopular president and while that was simply irritating, the fact that they're largely doing the same thing with Trump is unforgivable in my mind. It's both disturbing and fascinating to see them bend over backwards and do all of these moral and logical gymnastics in order to justify damn near every inexcusable action this administration has taken. I feel as though it's not necessarily something many of them want to do, but rather at this point it's expected of them. After all of these years of predominant loyalty to the republican party, now that there is a more completely morally bankrupt man at the helm, they find themselves in the awkward position of trying to spin this in a positive light just as they've always done. That, however, is just the more mainstream outlets, and make no mistake Fox News is absolutely mainstream. Beyond that there have been an exponentially growing number of fringe outlets popping up all over the place such as Breitbart, InfoWars, the Daily Wire, and the Blaze, that have created a much more vast landscape out of the more conventional rightwing echo chamber. This has created a strange scenario where the more traditional outlets are struggling to find consensus with the fringe in order to maintain a consistent message, which hasn't always worked. While the fringe puts out headlines laden with conspiracy theories and over the top rhetoric, the mainstream has to struggle to spin all that in a more palatable fashion and watching all of it get all mixed up is awe inspiring. Shifting the focus back to the mainstream, for the sake of fairness I will say that there is at least a slight attempt at balance. Shepard Smith and Chris Wallace are actually fairly credible and objective, and I would say that their tendency towards silence about their own personal views was a large factor in the willingness of Fox News to stomach their admission into their ranks. I'm also aware that Donna Brazile is now a Fox News correspondent which is an interesting move on both the networks part and hers. I found it strange to hear that she willingly went to work for the very network that thoroughly demonized Al Gore, the man she made a name for herself by working for, but nonetheless that's how things played out. Perhaps they believe they are appearing more objective by making the move and she believes it is a more advantageous position to sway minds, but that's just what I'm guessing. That's just the thing about pretty much any slanted news outlet, while you know they have an agenda, you can never truly know how whatever they're doing is going into furthering it. They're not always actively pushing propaganda, sometimes they're airing more unassuming stories as a means of vamping up their credibility so as to more effectively do the former, but at the end of the day, all of it is for a specific purpose and that's what needs to be kept firmly at the forefront of ones mind when observing right wing media. With many people, conservative outlets are all that they expose themselves to, thus considerably warping their view of the world around them. They allow these outlets to shape their notions and mindset, which in turn will shape their actions. It's because of this that the right wing media network is very influential, very relevant, very daunting, and most importantly, very much needs to be corrected, called out, and debunked at every given chance.