Wednesday, December 14, 2016

An open letter to the mainstream media

Dear New York Times, Washington Post, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, and anyone else who considers themselves part of the mainstream media,

In America today, we find ourselves in a bit of a dilemma. There is a significant portion of America which is extremely unhappy with President-elect Donald Trump. While most of them are in California (remove California from the popular vote and Trump won that too), the problem is that he was a seriously flawed candidate. On the other hand, so was Hillary Clinton.

As you all are the arbiters of the public debate in America, I blame you for what happened.

By limiting the overwhelming majority of your news coverage to Republicans and Democrats, as you do during every election, you performed a disservice to the American people who rely on you for unbiased election coverage. This time when you did it, you framed the public debate in a way that was impossible for most Americans to choose. If you want to know why many voters stayed home, you can find the answer in the mirror. This was the Hitler versus Stalin election.

Every American had a third option this year, as Libertarian Gary Johnson was on every ballot in the country. Yet, you all chose to dispense with coverage of Johnson after he screwed up a question about Aleppo by simply not knowing that it was a city in Syria. If that is truly the worst thing about Gary Johnson, does that still make him unqualified in light of Trump's many flaws which you continue to scream about, even after an election where YOU framed it as a choice between Clinton and Trump, and even highlighted all of Trump's flaws going into the election?

Everything you are screaming about Trump and Russia was covered to death during the election. Just because we have a new CIA assessment reiterating what was already reported during the election does NOT make it news. The American people voted for Trump knowing about Russia. Hillary Clinton had her own Russian conflicts of interest, which you also covered before but seemed to ignore during the election. In other words, you promoted two candidates with illicit Russian connections, and now want to complain about the one who won?

You don't get to play this game.

By the way, regarding your complaints about "fake news"? Who destroyed their own credibility so badly that Americans feel the need to look for other sources of truth? You are like a Catholic priest who molested your congregation, and then wonder why they turned against God.

Instead of "speaking truth to power", which is the traditional role of the media, you have become a mouthpiece for the global elite. You only have to look at who owns the media companies to figure out that. As the old saying goes, "He who pays the piper, calls the tunes."

If you don't believe me, just consider "man-made"climate change. It is as obvious as the sun in the sky. When the sun is up, the climate is warmer. And when the sun is down, the climate is colder. A 5 year old can see it. Science also tells us the sun goes through cycles where it is hotter and colder. Logic would dictate this would influence the planet's climate. Yet government scientists, paid for by global elitist politicians, tell you something else, and you believe it! Why don't you follow the money? Why don't you look at Al Gore's "green" investments? Because you are owned by a corporation. There is money to be made in sustainable energy, and there are wealthy people who have invested in it, who also own your media company. But you cannot connect the dots, or follow the money, to see what is really happening, because you are nothing but a pawn.

Even if you tried to report the truth, your media company would just fire you and replace you with another mouthpiece. You have my sympathy, but not my trust.

As for Trump, I agree. He was probably an awful choice for president. but don't complain, because he was the choice YOU gave us. Trump's conflicts of interest are no worse than yours.

All my disregard,
Ed McGonigal

No comments:

Post a Comment