Episode 245: Don't Trust Mainstream Media.

June 25, 2024

Central Thesis

Mainstream media is untrustworthy due to its dependence on advertising revenue and profit motives, which leads to biased reporting tailored to specific demographics and a departure from objective journalism.

Key Arguments

• Walter Cronkite anecdote as misleading analogy: The host critiques an article claiming Walter Cronkite's name was synonymous with trustworthiness in a European country, calling it "simple bullshit" and highlighting the German meaning of "krankheit" (sickness) to illustrate the absurdity of blindly trusting foreign reports, thus setting up a critique of uncritical acceptance of media narratives.
• Monk Debate analysis: The host analyzes a Monk Debate on the trustworthiness of mainstream media, noting the significant shift in audience opinion towards distrust after the debate. He argues that the supporting team (Taibbi and Murray) could have strengthened their case by more clearly defining "mainstream media."
• Commercial strategy of news: The host argues that the shift from journalism aimed at the whole audience to targeting specific demographics for profit has destroyed the news' basic function of reporting objective facts. He cites the contrasting audience demographics of Fox News and MSNBC as evidence of this trend.
• Historical context of newspapers: He traces the origins of modern newspapers to Benjamin Day's New York Sun, which prioritized advertising revenue and sensational stories over unbiased reporting, leading to politically divided readership and a distrust of newspapers.
• Transformation of television news: The host claims that early broadcast news was different from newspapers, primarily a licensing requirement rather than profit driven. The FCC required news programming, but advertising during this period was considered an ineffective strategy and the news was considered to be a loss leader. Cites a 1986 shift at CBS News, when the news division began to be expected to make a profit as the beginning of the end of trustworthy television news.
• Definition of mainstream media: The host defines "mainstream media" as media that depends upon making a profit, arguing that this dependence incentivizes biased reporting and narrative crafting to keep narrow niche audiences engaged.

Notable Passages

• "Trustworthiness should not be thought of as a sickness."
• "The major function of television, by and large, is not to educate people, not to entertain people, but to bombard them every other minute with a 30-second answer. And selling them one product or the other."
• "Mainstream media is media that depends upon making a profit. Because he didn't have to worry about drawing enough of an audience to make a profit for his broadcast at CBS. Walter Cronkite could be honest and forthcoming in his reading of news."
• "The most destructive form of untruth is sophistry and propaganda by those whose profession it is to report the news...Incompetence and aimlessness, corruption and disloyalty, panic and ultimate disaster must come to any people which is denied an assured access to the facts."

Rhetorical Approach

The host uses a combination of personal anecdotes, historical analysis, and rhetorical questions to build his argument. He frames the discussion through the lens of media criticism, often employing sarcasm and a conversational tone to engage his audience. He contrasts historical examples of more trustworthy journalism with contemporary trends, emphasizing the corrupting influence of profit motives on media objectivity.

Connections

• References Episode 108, Episode 52, and Episode 147 of "Attack Ads!".
• References Tim Wu's "The Attention Merchants," Upton Sinclair's "The Brass Check," and books by Robert McChesney and John Nichols on radical media criticism.
• References a Monk Debate on the trustworthiness of mainstream media featuring Matt Taibbi, Douglas Murray, Malcolm Gladwell, and Michelle Goldberg.
• References Walter Lippmann
• References Jeffrey Dvorkin's appearance on the "Canada Land" podcast.