Poll: 59% of voters view media as a threat to democracy

[Valletta]

According to the poll, 59% of voters see the media as a threat to democracy, 25% consider the threat to be minor and the remaining 15% see no threat at all.
Poll: 60% of voters view media as a threat to democracy
With the January 6th Trump insurrection baloney, the pretense that the southern border is safe and secure, and the failure to address Joe's mental state, why does anyone trust the media?

 

[DaisyDay]

Congratulations! The propaganda is working!

 

[dqhall]

According to the poll, 59% of voters see the media as a threat to democracy, 25% consider the threat to be minor and the remaining 15% see no threat at all.
Poll: 60% of voters view media as a threat to democracy
With the January 6th Trump insurrection baloney, the pretense that the southern border is safe and secure, and the failure to address Joe's mental state, why does anyone trust the media?

Are you including Fox News as the media? CBS, NBC and ABC are the most watched networks in America.
Top 10 Most Watched TV Networks in the USA

Freedom of the press is essential for democracy, as is free speech, freedom of religion, freedom to hold lawful assemblies, etc. That is Constitutional law.

 

[Hvizsgyak]

I pray that all Americans will finally see the liberal mainstream media for what it is - a cancer. It takes everything that is good and decent and a building block for our society and perverts it and destroys it. More on this later; I have to go fix my car.

 

[Yttrium]

Well, I sure don't see government-controlled media as a benefit to Democracy. Let's not propose that as a solution.

 

[lismore]

Perhaps news media could be encouraged to report the news rather than trying to influence it.

 

[Hvizsgyak]

In a lot of the stories the news media covers, there are good and decent people on both sides of the story. The news media needs to tell the news and if they want to add opinion to the news, give both sides a chance to explain their positions. Then let people decide to make their own judgement. It's that simple. No propaganda pushing. I watch the national news. it is made up of mostly liberal news media. Then on top of that you get the parrot effect from the local news media. I'm surprised the conservative point of view hasn't been shouted down by all the liberal news medias. Thank God it does have a voice (FOX) and is growing day by day. But just imagine a news media that allowed both points of view of a topic to be explained thoroughly by both sides.

And to make it clear, it would not be part of the government media. But that doesn't mean the government couldn't have its own PR department arguing one side of a topic.

I really don't understand why this isn't the case already for the news media.

 

[FireDragon76]

I pray that all Americans will finally see the liberal mainstream media for what it is - a cancer. It takes everything that is good and decent and a building block for our society and perverts it and destroys it. More on this later; I have to go fix my car.

Nazis said the same thing about the "lying press"
(Lügenpresse).

Truth and facts are inconvenient for some people and their agenda.

 

[Whyayeman]

I pray that all Americans will finally see the liberal mainstream media for what it is - a cancer. It takes everything that is good and decent and a building block for our society and perverts it and destroys it. More on this later; I have to go fix my car.

Perhaps we should rely more on the objectivity displayed here?

 

[hislegacy]

Are you including Fox News as the media? CBS, NBC and ABC are the most watched networks in America.
Top 10 Most Watched TV Networks in the USA

Freedom of the press is essential for democracy, as is free speech, freedom of religion, freedom to hold lawful assemblies, etc. That is Constitutional law.

The readers will note the link above is NOT news networks solely, but include entertainment also.

If you search for news networks, it is a completely different view.

 

[Whyayeman]

The first thing for an autocrat is to stifle the free press. A free press will have its faults, no doubt. It will have to negotiate its autonomy with proprietors and government. It must also be attractive, or at least acceptable, to its clients - the paying public.

The constant attacks on the American media come from the right. Trump repeatedly called anything he disliked 'fake news'. There is a tendency for Trump supporters to do the same.

Autocratic regimes close down news sources that criticise them. I am confident that there is no pressure in America to close down the mainstream 'liberal' media because America has a strong democratic tradition. My advice to everybody is to read intelligently; separate news from opinion even when the media mix them together. Apply critical tests to the news. It is what grown-ups have always done...

 

[dqhall]

The readers will note the link above is NOT news networks solely, but include entertainment also.

If you search for news networks, it is a completely different view.

People get tired of listening to political dogma, accusations, false promises, etc. They would rather watch sports or reality TV.

 

[DaisyDay]

. But just imagine a news media that allowed both points of view of a topic to be explained thoroughly by both sides.

Meh, Reagan put a stop to that.

 

[Ignatius the Kiwi]

The media having influence and being a 'threat to democracy' is kind of inevitable in a democratic system. The incentives for control and power of media organizations to lie, misrepresent or edit are necessary if you want to have influence in said 'democracy.' Hence you will never have a neutral or politically uninterested media because they actually wield a kind of soft power.

If you aspire to be in politics in a democratic system you need to secure sources of influence. The media being prime among them as an influential source that guides the average person to vote for certain policies/politicians. All this means is that the pretense of an objective media has been destroyed, but the media was never objective or neutral.

 

[Whyayeman]

The media having influence and being a 'threat to democracy' is kind of inevitable in a democratic system. The incentives for control and power of media organizations to lie, misrepresent or edit are necessary if you want to have influence in said 'democracy.' Hence you will never have a neutral or politically uninterested media because they actually wield a kind of soft power.

If you aspire to be in politics in a democratic system you need to secure sources of influence. The media being prime among them as an influential source that guides the average person to vote for certain policies/politicians. All this means is that the pretense of an objective media has been destroyed, but the media was never objective or neutral.

There is a name for this: the Fourth Estate. It comes from Revolutionary France. It is not a cancer; it is the life-blood of democracy - speaking truth to power.

As for 'securing the sources of influence' - that is an old game too. It explains why Trump was so annoyed about being banned from social media, and why he has tried to set up his own wholly controlled 'Truth Social'.

 

[Ignatius the Kiwi]

There is a name for this: the Fourth Estate. It comes from Revolutionary France. It is not a cancer; it is the life-blood of democracy - speaking truth to power.

As for 'securing the sources of influence' - that is an old game too. It explains why Trump was so annoyed about being banned from social media, and why he has tried to set up his own wholly controlled 'Truth Social'.

I don't disagree that the current media landscape is the result of Democracy. Hence why I don't appreciate 'democracy' all that much.

 

[Hvizsgyak]

Nazis said the same thing about the "lying press"
(Lügenpresse).

Truth and facts are inconvenient for some people and their agenda.

I have read many of your posts on other topics and you seem to be a very wise and knowledgeable person. Please don't associate me with Nazism. You are smarter than that. Besides poll after poll after poll has shown the mainstream media is made up of very liberal minded people. I never said they are lying either; they just present the liberal side to a lot of stories. They aren't forthright with all the facts.

So let's have a good discussion on the topic without invoking those truly condescending words like Nazi, Communist, Hater, Racist, Fascist, etc.

 

[Hvizsgyak]

Perhaps we should rely more on the objectivity displayed here?

Yes, we should. Thank you.

 

[Whyayeman]

Yes, we should. Thank you.

I can't be very good at irony...

So let's have a good discussion on the topic without invoking those truly condescending words like Nazi, Communist, Hater, Racist, Fascist, etc.

Or cancer?

 

[Hvizsgyak]

I can't be very good at irony...



Or cancer?

No, cancer is the perfect word needed for the main ideals the Democratic Party is pushing. If they would stick to healthcare for ALL Americans (like President Obama did) or better working conditions for our low wage workers along with a better income so they can afford to live on their own in this country or rebuilding our infrastructure and inner cities so the poor don't have to live in blight or help teachers so they don't have to teach to oversized classrooms that are ill equipped and the students are very disrespectful to a lot of them.

But no, The Democrats want to push hatred - rich vs poor, responsible vs irresponsible, black vs white, gay vs straight, leaders vs followers, religious vs non-religious, perverted vs normal, climate changers vs naysayers, happy vs unhappy, common sense vs anything goes and the list goes on.

But know, once we get rid of the bad idea Democrats, we are going after the Republicans who fail to fix what needs to be fixed in society. There are millions of people who are being left to fend for themselves on very low paying jobs. The Republicans say you have to start at the bottom and work your way up the ladder after hard work. Unfortunately, the first step on the ladder is dangling 100 feet above us. There is no way to reach it. Either pay low wage workers more (or make corporations pay them more)(and if corporations can't afford those wages then I'd say we need a new economic system and I don't mean communism or socialism - we need something totally new). Republicans put businesses before the people in this country and that needs to stop. People work with corporations to help the corporation to get a job done they don't work for the corporations to be their slaves.

We'll get this country going again in the right direction.