Americans' Toxic Relationship with the Media

    The coined term “fake news” is not new news to anyone. Within the last decade, mistrust towards the media has become more prevalent than ever.

    Social media has skyrocketed, and technology has developed, making it easier to access the news across all platforms. During Donald Trump’s presidency, he became infamous for coining the phrase “fake news”. 

    This led to a domino-effect that left many Americans questioning their news source and the skepticism around the idea of whether the media outlets are delivering accurate information arose; thus, between Trump's presidency, the outside media investors, and Twitter’s control over social media feeds, the abundance of mistrust in the relationship between Americans and the media has become toxic.

The Monopolistic Media

    Like any business, many major media outlets are controlled by outside investors. These investors financially aid these outlets to stay afloat in exchange for power. Many of the big investors that control these outlets have a say in what is and is not published. 

    Journalist Adam Levy, in his article 'The Big 6 Media Companies', says, “Some estimates claim as much as 90% of U.S. media is controlled by just six companies. The big six media companies right now are Comcast, Walt Disney, AT&T, Paramount Global, Sony, and Fox.” 

    These companies play a huge part in the news we receive every day and ultimately threaten our democracy. Historically we saw this in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. 

    Today, Singapore and China are dealing with outsider investors and politicians controlling their press and crushing their freedom of speech... This outsider influence threatens our freedom of the press. Thus, many journalists are unable to fully express their thoughts and opinions without the persecution of outside investors. This further explains why you would never see a more conservative-sided story aired on CNN and vice versa.

Trump v. Twitter

    Twitter is notorious for shutting down “fake news” and banning people from specific feed that does not line up with their ideals. Donald Trump is a prime example of this when his account was permanently banned in January 2021. 

    Twitter released a detailed blog analyzing Trump’s account. Twitter concluded that the President’s tweets were inciting violence and they wanted to have no association with such actions. Furthermore, Trump attempted to file suit against Twitter but failed. 

    This situation created a lot of questioning over the idea if twitter should be considered a public forum, and if so, why should President Trump not be allowed to voice his opinion. 

    After witnessing all the drama between Twitter and the President many Americans were left questioning their first amendment rights. Twitter also has been controlling people’s social media feeds. They have been deeming certain sources of information as “disinformation” due to not lining up with their political or moral beliefs. 

    This has caused even more push back from Americans regarding Twitter’s intentions; however, recently, the CEO of Tesla Motors, Elon Musk, has decided to purchase Twitter for $44 billion. This large investment has created a lot of controversy on what will happen with Twitter’s rules and regulations. 

    Elon has tweeted, “Even though I think a less divisive candidate would be better in 2024, I still think Trump should be restored to Twitter” and “Don’t Diss Information.” These are just a few of his tweets he has made about his frustration toward misinformation found on Twitter.

pic.twitter.com/CWWDdur0oz

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2022

 

News as Entertainment 

    According to Statista, “Consumers around the world spend an average of 463 minutes or over 7.5 hours per day with media.” Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, and The Washington Post are some of the larger news outlets that Americans use as their source of information. 

    However, these sources are extremely biased. This is due to two things. One outsider investor as I mentioned earlier, and two Americans are obsessed with biased news. 

    Many people do not even care if the information is accurate or not; they view the news now as entertainment. Many of the media outlets cater to their audience wants and needs rather than sticking to the facts. This causes the dilemma of “fake news”.

"American's Trust in Mass Media Lowest Since 2016" graphic from Gallup.

What can we do?

    In the end it is up to us to bring an end to the circulation of poor and inaccurate reporting. Stop retweeting, posting, commenting, or sharing news that contains inaccurate facts. We need to stop relying on receiving our information from major media outlets and turn to independent journalism. It is ultimately up to us to save ourselves from outsider investors that pose a threat to our democracy.