Media

Free, independent media that allows the public to make informed decisions, hold leaders accountable, and hear a diversity of opinions — all free of government influence — is a cornerstone of democracy. As a child of the 1960’s, my news media consisted mostly of men of principles who realized the higher purpose of meeting these key elements of a democracy. While newspapers had their liberal and conservative bent, most had a genuine desire to transmit facts.

Today’s legacy media outlets have abandoned journalistic integrity in their pursuit of profits and their growing aim to shape public opinion. They are in flagrant violation of every thing the field of journalism depends upon for its immunity to represent the public interest. This shift makes them a primary threat to democracy rather than its protectors. Meanwhile, social media platforms like Facebook, Google, and YouTube are run by individuals who echo the teachings of their educators and parents, censoring factual information that doesn’t align with the most absurd ideas.

While journalists who abandon facts to push a political agenda have always been problematic, the current trend of almost every major US media outlet completely forsaking objective, factual reporting is unprecedented. These outlets have become breeding grounds for polarizing rhetoric, lies, and hate, used to interfere in elections. This shift is driven by a deep-seated vile hatred towards Donald Trump, perpetuated by self-appointed elites, insulated from the negative consequences of their actions due to their wealth and power. Those who are far removed from rising crime rates or the negative impacts of the doubling of food prices have little to worry about the reckless policies of government officials they support.

Media exposes a few disgraceful examples of legacy media’s lack of journalistic integrity and introduces their primary replacement for listeners interested in truth rather than confirmation. Independent journalists and podcasters who refuse to allow this attack on free speech and truth go unnoticed.

Fast Facts

• Media encompasses all communications that transmit facts or information to citizens and includes the mass media in print and on the radio, television, and internet.
• The internet includes social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, and search engines, mostly Google, the primary source of information for many if not most people.
• News is supposed to simply present factually based information in a manner that allows the consumer to draw their own conclusions
• Journalism seeks to inform, while propaganda aims to persuade or manipulate.
• Free, independent media that allow the public to make informed decisions, hold leaders accountable, and hear a diversity of opinions — all free of government influences — is a cornerstone of democracy
• Major US media outlets have largely forsaken objective reporting, promoting polarizing rhetoric, lies, and hate, driven by a deep-seated hatred for Donald Trump
• Platforms like Facebook, Google, and YouTube censor factual information that contradicts certain ideologies, influenced by the biases of their leaders.
• Independent journalists and podcasters are emerging as alternatives, committed to truth and free speech, countering the failures of legacy media.

Journalism vs Propaganda

Journalism and propaganda both deal with the dissemination of information, but they serve very different purposes and follow different principles:

Journalism:

• Objective and Ethical: Journalists aim to provide accurate, fair, and unbiased information. They adhere to strict ethical standards to ensure credibility and trustworthiness.
• Informative: The primary goal of journalism is to inform the public about current events, issues, and trends. This involves thorough research, fact-checking, and presenting multiple perspectives.
• Transparency: Journalists disclose their sources of information, allowing readers to verify the credibility of the information themselves.
• Accountability: Journalists can be held accountable for their work, facing legal and professional consequences for spreading false information.

Propaganda:

• Biased and Manipulative: Propaganda is designed to influence public opinion and behavior by presenting information in a biased or misleading way. It often omits or distorts facts to serve a particular agenda.
• Persuasive: The primary goal of propaganda is to persuade or manipulate the audience to support a specific cause, belief, or political agenda.
• One-sided: Propaganda typically presents only one side of an issue, ignoring or discrediting opposing viewpoints.
• Secrecy: Propagandists often conceal their true intentions and the sources of their information to maintain control over the message.

In summary, while journalism seeks to inform and empower individuals with accurate information, propaganda aims to manipulate and control public perception for specific purposes.

Media: Past vs Present

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• https://factsanddata.org/media/#Media:-Past-vs-Present

The long tradition in the US of media providing objective, factual information, has been completely replaced by hyper-partisan leftist propaganda for the Democrats. While Fox News introduced partisan news coverage, CNN and MSNBC have taken partisanship to a whole new level with a willingness to spew out endless slander and lies. Hatred of Donald Trump caused every other legacy news outlet to follow, leading to a “mockingbird media” where every outlet repeats the latest lie.

Walter Cronkite believed that the pinnacle of journalism was to present the facts accurately and report them impartially. His commitment to neutrality and fairness, evident in his unbiased style and wording, was common during the 1960s and 1970s, as showcased in various YouTube videos of his work.

Rupert Murdoch recognized the profit potential in news by making it entertaining and presenting a narrative designed to appeal to a conservative viewpoint through his new Fox network. This created the first alternative to the liberally oriented media, which at the time made a reasonable effort to provide some level of factual coverage.

Any attempt at accurate and fair reporting ended with the election of Donald Trump in 2016 for virtually all legacy media outlets, driven by hatred towards Donald Trump. by both the owners and employees For the next 8 years the vile hatred, spewed about by formerly respected news outlets, from CNN to the New York Times, would permanently destroy their credibility as independent journalists as podcasters revealed their pathological lying.

Few things better illustrate the decline of independent media than the shift in news coverage of Joe Biden during his presidential campaigns. In his 1987 bid for the Democratic nomination, Biden claimed to have been the outstanding student in political science and to have earned three undergraduate degrees. The Washington Post fact-checked these claims and revealed to their readership that Biden had graduated in the bottom 25% of his political science class and 11% of his law class. This revelation ended his presidential run, as Democrats at the time expected a minimum level of honesty and intelligence from their candidates.

In 2020, during Biden’s presidential campaign, the Washington Post acted as a propaganda tool for the Democratic Party, concealing any negative news about Biden. The most significant cover-ups involved evidence of him allowing his family to sell access to him while he was vice president and his mental decline.

Media Inciting Hate

• https://factsanddata.org/media/#Media-Hate-Mongering

The hateful rhetoric directed at Donald Trump during his presidency echoed the propaganda tactics used by Nazi-controlled media during the Holocaust. Legacy media outlets, acting as propaganda arms for the Democratic Party, demonized Trump to distract from substantive policy discussions.

The newspaper that calls Donald Trump Hitler rehires a Hitler praising filmmaker.

Personality Based Morality

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• https://factsanddata.org/media/#Personality-Based-Morality

Evil thrives when people place tribal or personality allegiance over principles.

Trump Assassination Coverage

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• https://factsanddata.org/media/#Trump-Assassination-Coverage

The media’s coverage of the assassination attempt on former president and presidential candidate Donald Trump highlighted the appalling lack of integrity in today’s news outlets.

A Trump rally attendee heroically sacrificed his life by using his body as a human shield to protect his family from bullets intended for the former president and presidential candidate. Yet, the Denver Post chose to highlight the gunman’s death on its front-page headline.

Climate Hysteria

The media responsible for the endless misinformation around politics holds some responsibility for driving climate change hysteria.

The European Space Agency (ESA) reporting a ground temperature as an air temperature provides more ammunition for those questioning government scientist claims regarding global warming/climate change. Media outlets with sufficient understanding of climate change to accurately report on it, should have identified this obvious error.

Fact Checkers

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• https://factsanddata.org/media/#Internet-Fact-Checkers

Self-proclaimed internet, “fact checkers,” are just as bad with ideology trumping the most basic data analysis. In this instance, Madison Dapcevich of “fact checker” Snopes, claimed that an 85% loss of solar and wind power, compared to the peak weekly value, was not a total collapse. Dapcevich then goes on to write that coal, which supplied 4 times the energy of the collapsed solar and wind at the time mentioned, was not critical for Germany.

So, how does Snopes make assertions that raw, unadulterated data disproves? By consulting similarly partisan sources and parroting their responses.

The New York Times, known for promoting every blatant falsehood provided by the Democratic National Committee (such as the Russia Collusion Hoax, Lab Leak Conspiracy Theory, and Trump suggesting shooting Liz Cheney), attempted to discredit RFK Jr. at every opportunity, including this absurd, “fact check.”

RFK Jr. highlighted the issue of the US government permitting different (unsafe) ingredients in versions of food products sold in the US due to corporate influence, using Fruit Loops as an example. He was comparing the chemicals American consumers faced to the healthier natural food colorings used in Canada.

Election Interference thru News Distortion

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• https://factsanddata.org/media/#Election-Interference

The media has historically had an enormous influence in shaping public perception during elections through the amount and type of coverage each candidate receives. While it’s unrealistic to expect identical coverage for every candidate due to differences in newsworthy actions, ignoring stories that cast one candidate in a negative light, providing overly partisan coverage, or spreading blatant lies and hate amounts to election interference.

The extent of media bias between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election is reminiscent of fascist regimes where the political party in power has complete control of the media.

T

Hiding Proof that Biden Traded Political Influence for Money

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• https://factsanddata.org/media/#Hiding-Proof-that-Biden-Traded-Political-Influence-for-Money

As the 2020 election neared, the New York Post held a hard drive from Hunter Biden’s laptop, revealing emails that provided conclusive evidence of Joe Biden trading his political influence for money. Although many had suspected this corruption for years, the blatant nature of these revelations would likely have changed the election outcome due to the margin in swing states being in the tens of thousands of votes.
Twitter and almost every other legacy and social media outlet censored the story, providing coverage for Joe Biden’s history of corruption.

Hiding Biden Cognitive Decline

The media concealed Biden’s cognitive decline because they hate Trump. Reporters went as far as to dutifully parrot the obvious White House lie that president Biden appeared doddering in videos only because they’d been deceptively edited by Republicans.

They were gambling that president Biden could make it through this debate and the next one and get past the challenges he’d face between now and Election Day without face-planting in public, which he frequently did.

The media turned on president Biden only when the lie became impossible to sustain following his debate with Donald Trump.

Criticism of Liz Cheney as “war hawk” Labeled Call for Violence

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• https://factsanddata.org/media/#Criticism-of-Liz-Cheney-as-“war-hawk”-Labeled-Call-for-Violence

In a Tucker Carlson interview, Donald Trump echoed a point previously made by Democrats about Republicans who were quick to send US troops to war after evading military service themselves, specifically addressing Liz Cheney. This was a key issue when Democrat John Kerry ran against Republican George Bush Jr. for president. During the Vietnam War, while Bush served safely in an Air National Guard unit in Texas, Kerry risked his life in Vietnam, earning three Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star.

The corrupt, immoral leftist media and the Harris campaign concocted such a blatant lie about Trump’s statement regarding “war hawk” Liz Cheney that even those with Trump Derangement Syndrome had to call out the absurdity.

MSNBC Turns Gabbard Support to Harris Through Editing

• https://factsanddata.org/media/#MSNBC-Turns-Gabbart-Support-to-Harris-Through-Editing

While MSNBC is known for its hate-mongering and endless lying, they outdid themselves by splicing clips of Joe Rogan praising Tulsi Gabbard as a potential president to make it appear as though he was talking about Kamala Harris.

60 Minutes Edits Harris Word Salad to Create Coherent Response

• https://factsanddata.org/media/#60-Minutes-Edits-Harris-Word-Salad-to-Create-Coherent-Response

With a distinguished history of hard-hitting interviews, 60 Minutes’ attempt to make Kamala Harris look good by rearranging her mangled words to create a coherent response to a question highlights the deep decline of our media institutions. They were exposed when someone released Harris’s original inane response to a question for a promo

It took the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to force CBS to release the transcript, which showed that the CBS edits were a minor effort to hide Harris’s inability to complete a meaningful sentence compared to the responses left on the cutting room floor, Meaningless gibberish, which revealed an empty headed politician were deliberately hidden from the public in an attempt to make her sound less stupid then she was.

Three Against One Presidential Debate

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• https://factsanddata.org/media/#ABC-Harris-Trump-Presidential-Debate

On the debate stage with ABC News, it felt like three against one. David Muir and Linsey Davis appeared to attack Trump, showcasing blatant political partisanship. There were numerous fact checks on his statements, but none on hers. She made false claims and faced no repercussions. The moderators seemed to believe it was Donald Trump’s responsibility to fact-check her. However, they didn’t apply the same standard to him, accusing him of lying—even when he was expressing his opinion.

PBS Woodruff Lies About Trump Trying to Kill a Peace Deal

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• https://factsanddata.org/media/#PBS-Woodruff-Lies-About-Trump-Trying-to-Kill-a-Peace-Deal

Judy Woodruff, an icon of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), has earned numerous accolades for her journalistic integrity over her 50-year career. However, at 77, she has shifted to becoming a Democratic propagandist for PBS, which has abandoned its distinguished history of independent news coverage, despite its liberal leanings. While Axios, a leftist media outlet, initially reported that Donald Trump called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to encourage Israel to accept a peace deal from Hamas, Judy Woodruff claimed the exact opposite and blamed Axios for the deplorable lie.

National Public Radio (NPR) aligns closely with leftist mainstream media outlets, perpetuating the Russiagate hoax, concealing information about the Hunter Biden laptop, and serving as a mouthpiece for the government by dismissing the COVID-19 lab-leak theory as a conspiracy.

NPR CEO Says “The Truth Might Be a Distraction”

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• https://factsanddata.org/media/#The-Truth-Might-Be-a-Distraction

Katherine Maher, CEO of National Public Radio (NPR), delivered a TED talk that has raised significant concerns for those who value truthful and unbiased media reporting. In her talk, Maher openly admitted that truth is not the top priority in news reporting, a statement that has cast a troubling light on the integrity of NPR’s coverage. Her remarks suggest a shift away from the core principles of journalism—accuracy, transparency, and accountability—toward a more agenda-driven approach. This revelation has sparked criticism and deepened skepticism about the credibility of NPR and its commitment to delivering factual, impartial news to the public. For many, Maher’s comments underscore a broader issue within legacy media, where ideological alignment and narrative control often take precedence over the pursuit of truth.

The Age of Podcasters

• https://factsanddata.org/media/#The-Age-of-Podcasters

The legacy media’s pathological dishonesty and lying, aimed at enraging or validating preconceived ideas, have created a void for those seeking truth rather than propaganda. Podcasters, many driven by a genuine desire for understanding, are increasingly filling this void. They often engage in long-form discussions lasting one, two, or even three hours, providing a depth of understanding about political candidates that missing from the well-rehearsed 30-second sound bites of network news shows.

Joe Rogan reigns supreme in the podcasting world, hosting the most popular podcast globally.

The Rise of Independent Journalists

• https://factsanddata.org/media/#The-Rise-of-Independent-Journalists

Just like Walter Cronkite, who was renowned for his integrity and ability to separate personal beliefs from his reporting, there are both liberal and conservative journalists today who remain dedicated to presenting facts, regardless of their own views. These journalists have been pushed out of traditional media outlets and have found new platforms such as Substack, X, YouTube, and Rumble.

Michael Schellenberger, Matt Taibbi, and Glenn Greenwald embody the values of 1960s liberals, who opposed war, nation-building, censorship, and corporate capture of government agencies—principles that today’s Democrats have abandoned. While conservatives may not agree with all of their values, their relentless pursuit of facts and truth, regardless of personal beliefs, should allay concerns of truth seekers.

Comedians Take a Stand

• https://factsanddata.org/media/#Comedians Take a Stand

While many comedians have abandoned their commitment to traditional liberal values—like free speech, support for the working class, and opposition to censorship and corporate influence on government—a few have notably prioritized their principles over blind allegiance to a transformed Democratic party.