“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential demand.” – George Orwell, “1984”
Washington Post, Los Angeles Times Fail Democracy
Two of the biggest newspapers in the United States – the Los Angeles Times1 and The Washington Post2 – made the decision not to endorse either political candidate in the 2024 Presidential Election. For the LA Times, this is the first time since 2004; for the Post, this marks the first non-endorsement since 1988.
What is glaring is not that these papers have decided to remain “neutral”, but the matter of how the decision was made: in both cases, the editorial boards of both papers were prepared to endorse the Democratic nominee, current vice president Kamala Harris.
In both cases, the respective owners of the publications (Patrick Soon-Shiang and Jeff Bezos) stepped in and informed their executive editors that they will not allow the board to publish their endorsement. In protest, the editors-at-large from both papers resigned, as what those publications did goes against the very definition of democracy.
Seeing how this upcoming election may be the most consequential in the history of the country, their choices to silence their voice is very alarming, especially for a publication like the Post that has a history of breaking political news and has as their masthead “Democracy Dies in Darkness.”
DEMOCRACY DEFIED EQUALS DEMOCRACY DENIED
So one might be inclined to ask why? According to Ben Smith, editor-in-chief and co-founder of the news site Semafor, is fear of retaliation3.
“One of the central media stories in the U.S. right now is the people who run big media companies making accommodations for a second Trump presidency and thinking about how to avoid antagonizing him,” Smith said.
This sentiment was echoed by former Washington Post editor, correspondent, and columnist Robert McCartney, who has said that there is speculation amongst its newsroom4 that Bezos is concerned about the cancellation of Amazon’s government contracts if Trump wins.
The decisions by these revered publications are part of a bigger, and now long-standing trend of bucking the truth for profit. This is the reality that ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, and most of American corporate media outlets have brought upon this country. Why, you ask? Fear equals ratings. Sensationalism brings clicks. The back-and-forth spewing of vile hatred in the comment threads equals interaction, which equals, you guessed it – money. They don’t care if it harms the majority.
PROFIT IS WORTH MORE THAN TRUST
You don’t have to believe this author. These aren’t my words – corporate media has said this publicly. Let’s go back to 2016. Les Moonves, at the time the CEO of CBS, spoke about the tone5 of Donald Trump – at the time the Republican candidate for President of the United States:
“It may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS,” he said of the presidential candidate. “Most of the ads are not about issues. They’re sort of like the debates,” he said. “Man, who would have expected the ride we’re having right now?…The money’s rolling in, and this is fun,” he said.
Damage Done
He later clarified his comments6, but by then, the damage had already been done. Many political pundits were already concerned about the media normalizing his behavior, but his words, in a way, made their minds up. The media could not be trusted to be impartial.
Their actions after the election (which Trump ultimately won) didn’t make things any easier. On November 21, Trump held a closed-door meeting7 with multiple big-name news anchors from every corporate media network – their reasoning for agreeing to it: “to negotiate access and how we’re going to work together, and this discussion can be productive only if everyone is confident that it won’t be reported.”
Not only was the entire meeting reportedly just a flaming pile of insults, but ultimately nothing was accomplished. It doesn’t help that many of these reporters ended up complaining anonymously – which is understandable in cases where the interviewee may be at risk of harm – but this wasn’t the case.
THE SNAKE BITING ITS OWN TAIL
The media knew who Donald Trump was back in 2015. They knew back in the 1970’s. He is the same man who called for the execution of the Central Park Five in 1989 via a full-page ad in the New York Times8, then refused to apologize after they were exonerated in 20029, having already spent over a decade in prison.
The same man who refused to rent to African-Americans10, and was ultimate sued by the Justice Department. The same man who made his career as a businessman who has had some major successes, but also notable failures (most notably the United States Football League)11.
Donald Trump: “Monster Created”
John D. Miller, former chief marketing officer for NBC, recently acknowledged their failure to vet Trump in a recent opinion piece for U.S. News, called “We Created a Monster: Trump was a TV Fantasy Invented for ‘The Apprentice’”.12
In the beginning of the article, Miller laid out their reasoning for why Trump was chosen: more successful CEOs were too busy to get involved in reality TV. Trump, who was famous for appearing in celebrity gossip columns and was known across New York City for overhyping his business acumen, had no such qualms about being featured on TV. And to make Trump seem larger than life, they built an image to justify it.
“To sell the show, we created the narrative that Trump was a super-successful businessman who lived like royalty. That was the conceit of the show. At the very least, it was a substantial exaggeration; at worst, it created a false narrative by making him seem more successful than he was,” Miller said.
“In fact, Trump declared business bankruptcy13 four times before the show went into production, and at least twice more during his 14 seasons hosting. The imposing board room where he famously fired contestants was a set, because his real boardroom was too old and shabby for TV.”
The article continues with multiple instances of questionable judgment on his behalf – all of which has been seen in full display:
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His willingness to manipulate and be manipulated;14
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His unwillingness to accept criticism or differing opinions;15
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His refusal to accept the truth if it doesn’t suit him16
THE HARM DONE TO DEMOCRACY DEFINED
His questionable judgment and lack of self-awareness has caused harm to American citizens that are still relevant today:
- The 2017 tax cuts that allowed the rich to get richer17 while the poor remained poor;
- The lack of management18 during the 2020 COVID Pandemic resulted in many unnecessary deaths; including recent revelations19 that make the lack of response much worse
- The multiple accusations of fraud20 during the 2020 election that caused a mass riot in Washington, D.C. while attempting to certify said election results; the most recent unseald evidence from the January 6 court case shows that his team was not only aware that he had lost, but also attempted to create an alternative scenario to change the results21, outlined by John Eastman
- His repeated use of fascist language22 that echoes that of Nazi Party dictator Adolf Hitler, threatening to jail his political enemies, and telling publications they should not post anything negative about him.
Elon Musk’s Assault on Democracy
This does not include his association with Tesla owner Elon Musk, who was recently outed for having secret conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin23 dating as far back as 2022 and has donated more than $130 million to the Trump campaign; or his confirmed continued contact with Israel President Benjamin Netanyahu24, which is not only a violation of the Logan Act, but is also seen as a major reasoning for why Israel is refusing calls for a ceasefire25 with the Hezbollah movement even after the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
CAN THE MEDIA CHANGE COURSE?
All of this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what corporate media has failed to bring to the public’s attention. In an age of abundant information, the corporate media’s duty to uphold the truth is paramount. What we have seen, however, is profit overshadowing integrity.
This negligence has eroded public trust to near non-repair and has undermined democracy. For American citizens to remain properly informed, the media must prioritize accuracy and accountability over financial gain, or we will continue to see more of what has happened over the last eight years.
If the media is supposed to be the “light”, they have actively chosen to turn it off.
Sources:
- https://www.semafor.com/article/10/22/2024/los-angeles-times-wont-endorse-for-president
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/25/washington-post-endorsement/
- https://www.npr.org/2024/10/24/nx-s1-5163293/la-times-editor-resigns-trump-msnbc-washington-post
- https://x.com/McCartneyWP/status/1849625825261326653
- https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/leslie-moonves-donald-trump-may-871464/
- https://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/10/cbs-ceo-les-moonves-clarifies-donald-trump-good-for-cbs-comment-229996
- https://theintercept.com/2016/11/22/media-stars-agree-to-off-the-record-meeting-with-trump-break-agreement-whine-about-mistreatment/
- https://time.com/5597843/central-park-five-trump-history/
- https://www.npr.org/2024/09/11/nx-s1-5108632/central-park-five-trump-debate
- https://www.npr.org/2016/09/29/495955920/donald-trump-plagued-by-decades-old-housing-discrimination-case
- https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/sep/11/the-day-donald-trumps-narcissism-killed-the-usfl
- https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2024-10-16/we-created-a-tv-illusion-for-the-apprentice-but-the-real-trump-threatens-america
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2016/live-updates/general-election/real-time-fact-checking-and-analysis-of-the-first-presidential-debate/fact-check-has-trump-declared-bankruptcy-four-or-six-times/
- https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/25/mcmaster-trump-russia-putin-manipulate-00176287
- https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/15/us/politics/trump-opponents-enemy-within.html
- https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-judge-release-additional-evidence-election-interference-case-2024-10
- https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/the-2017-trump-tax-law-was-skewed-to-the-rich-expensive-and-failed-to-deliver
- https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/12/the-sad-new-details-of-how-trump-sabotaged-the-countrys-response-to-covid.html
- https://www.npr.org/2024/10/08/nx-s1-5146501/trump-putin-covid-tests
- https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2022/01/06/fact-check-donald-trump-2020-election-results/9115875002/
- https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/21/politics/read-eastman-memo/index.html
- https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/trump-fascist-well-overdue/
- https://www.salon.com/2024/10/25/wall-street-journal-sinks-pal-elon-musks-denials-reports-secret-regular-contact-with-putin/
- https://www.timesofisrael.com/bibi-called-trump-claims-to-speak-with-netanyahu-on-near-daily-basis/
- https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/lebanese-prime-minister-believes-ceasefire-between-israel-hezbollah-possible-2024-09-26/
- https://www.npr.org/2024/10/24/nx-s1-5163292/blinken-believes-the-death-of-hamas-leader-may-allow-for-a-ceasefire-and-hostage-deal
