What the Left Still hasn’t Figured out about the Changing Media Landscape
The idea of indoctrination is not a new concept in American politics or modern society. There is an old saying that truth is often the first casualty of war, and governments often prefer to gaslight and lie than tell inconvenient truths. The adage is true not just about the nation-state, but also the failing corporate media complex, which all too often of late, have been one and the same. Noam Chomsky once famously wrote about the idea of manufactured consent as well. When groups have control of information they can set the narrative, and the ability to dictate truth is also the power to control people’s minds.
The left still had control over much of the media and narrative when Trump was in his first term. The 47th President had access to Twitter and social media, he spoke directly to the American people as well, but the left was still in control of most of the TV networks and social media sites such as Facebook and what was formerly known as Twitter. Trump’s opposition was able to consistently put out false and exaggerated stories primarily because these individuals dominated the media landscape. That fact is not true today.
When famed innovator and MAGA supporter Elon Musk bought Twitter, this move was the beginning of the end for the left’s ability to control the narrative. While Trump’s opposition still has the power to put out information with left-wing propaganda networks such as ABC, NBA, and CBS, these out-of-touch individuals have a lot of the ability to determine or set the narrative. Today, Twitter is much more balanced, Fox is still putting out real and objective news, and MAGA has much more effectively figured out how to get the movement’s messages out without interference from left-wing propaganda networks. Taxpayer-subsidized media outlets such as National Public Radio that also put out left-wing propaganda have been reined in as well. Trump was very careful not to do interviews with 60 minutes or other propaganda pieces before the 2024 election, he learned from both the 2016 and 2020 campaigns.
The media complex has changed dramatically in just the last 9 years since Trump announced his run for the Presidency in 2015, but the Democrats still have not figured this truth out. When AOC and Bernie claim Trump is cutting pubic benefits for billionaires when MSNBC hosts claim Trump is going to deport US citizens, when CNN falsely claims the Pentagon is in crisis because of a minor mishap with an app, these stories no longer have the same power this propaganda did in Trump’s first term. The legacy media has lost both credibility and control, the lying and gaslighting have run into a brick wall of truth. The core belief system of many on the left is that so-called elites should be running the country, and this flawed view of the world justifies in the minds of many of these radicals the lies and attempts to manipulate the public the country has seen since Trump announced his run for the Presidency in 2016. The difference is this strategy isn’t working anymore.
