Americans are constantly bombarded with news messages coming from just about everywhere! But now, we are wondering, “what’s real, and what’s fake?” When exactly did this “fake news” nonsense begin? Was it in early 2016, when Donald Trump stepped up to a podium and announced his candidacy for President of the United States? Trump’s tangles with the media, which have become an almost daily occurrence since he announced running for office, may have actually altered or affected our perception of our nation’s news media.
Since January 2017, Trump has tweeted over 100 “fake news” messages. In the past few months, Trump declared, “The fake news media, (he names NBC, CNN, ABC, among others,) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American people!”
These statements are chillingly similar to Turkish President Erdogan, who stated that the “media is an enemy of the people!” Erdogan has jailed over 160 journalists and closed down over 200 media stations since he recently took office. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, speaking publicly about the White House problems with information being leaked to the press, stated that (the press) “they cannot put our lives at risk with impunity”, indicating that the irresponsible journalists may actually be a threat to national security.
But what ever happened to the great news men and women of decades past? We never doubted the late Walter Cronkite, considered “the most trusted man in America.” Or did we doubt other news greats like Dan Rather, Barbra Walters, or Diane Sawyer.
Now we have new media stars: Anderson Cooper, of CNN and Rachel Maddow of MSNBC. But they do not enjoy the devotion and unquestioning audience once held buy Cronkite, Rather, and Walters. Instead they are ridiculed and called “fake news”.
Great newspapers, like the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, have not been spared fake news attacks by the Trump administration.
Like a giant shadow creeping over American news media, is the billion dollar organization called Sinclair, and their subsidy-Circa. Sinclair Broadcast Group is the largest owner of TV stations in America. They are currently operating 173 stations nationwide, and are negotiating to bring this total up to 233. Sinclair owns news stations in big cities, like Washington DC, and little towns, like Steubenville Ohio. The problem we need to concern ourselves with is that Sinclair requires the stations that they own to broadcast videos and scripts that they provide, and these messages are all slanted to the right. Another recent up and coming news provider is the notorious Brietbart News. Executive director Steve Bannon, recently fired from his position as Chief Advisor to the President, has taken over the reins at Breitbart, a paper known for making anti-Semitic, anti-gay, and even anti-women articles. Finally, the prime time Fox News, home of Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, and an endless array of blonde Barbies, adheres to very strict right wing agenda.
Is our news being taken over by right wing media? Only time will tell!
Vivian Marlene Dunbar resides in San Ysidro.
