The state of journalism in America is, to put it bluntly, bad.
Catastrophically bad. The mass layoffs continue in what outlet Axios described as a 'bloodbath' as media outlets cut budgets and shutter their doors.
Why? Trust in American media has plummeted to historic lows: only 32% report having trust in the media while 39% have no trust in the media at all. So Americans aren't reading the news because they don't trust the news. Which impacts advertising and revenue and the bottom line. If you don't make money, you go out of business. That's the economy reality.
And why has trust plummeted? Because the media are more concerned with being the propaganda arm of the Democratic Party, and attacking opponents under the guise of 'misinformation' (which is really code for 'news and info we don't like). They don't hide their biases. Media rooms are overwhelmingly left-wing and Democrat.
People see this -- it clouds their coverage and reporting, which reads like editorials 95% of the time anyway.
But rather than take a moment to realize how they got where they are today, the incestuous relationship between the Democratic Party and the media continues to get more intense:
Democrats' welfare for journalists brings us closer to state-run media @WashTimesOpEd https://t.co/5rbxBer4vp
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) April 27, 2024
More from The Washington Times:
Another canary in the coal mine from the Empire State: New York’s newly minted state budget allocates $90 million for tax credits for so-called local news outlets. Eligible outlets can receive a tax credit against half of the first $50,000 of a journalist’s salary. It’s welfare, tailor-made for the Fourth Estate.
The collapse of local, community-based newspapers and other media outlets focusing on Americans’ backyards has been an unfortunate consequence of the digital age. Smaller, local outlets have been devastated by shifts in the industry and information consumption habits, as well as plummeting subscriptions and advertising revenue.
A Northwestern University study released last November estimated the United States has lost one-third of its newspapers and two-thirds of its newspaper journalism jobs since 2005.
Corporate welfare won’t change that dynamic. What it will do is advance the death of journalistic independence at the hands of left-wing Democrats who seek to control the public discourse at every turn.
Russian television, here we come.
This will be so much worse than Russia.
For the Left, the end goal is simple and clear: complete, unadulterated, unchallenged power.
Over every aspect of your life. From cradle to grave.
The Constitution is the only thing standing in the way of that, and the contempt with which they treat it shows they know it's a hurdle to achieving their aforementioned goal.
The Democratic Party -- the American Left in general -- used to be against big business. They despised it. Then they learned that they can use the power of corporatism to circumvent the Constitution, which is why corporate speech codes and DEI programs are used to censor books, punish citizens, and crush dissent.
While the media are largely in their pockets anyway, imagine the damage they could do with a state-funded (read: taxpayer funded) media -- one that has limitless funding, endless lobbying power, and the favor of the Democratic Party.
One that has made their goal of crushing 'misinformation' a priority -- especially if that 'misinformation' is harmful to whatever Democrat is in charge.
Which means conservative outlets like this one would be pushed to the fringes or -- one can only imagine -- banned under some law meant to protect the state-run media.
If the First Amendment is to be preserved and left unmolested, welfare for media outlets (and this includes NPR) needs to be a thing of the past. If the media want to turn a profit again and avoid more layoffs, only they can save themselves by returning to basic reporting and journalistic integrity.
The can, and they should, but they won't.
So we shouldn't let the Democratic Party throw them a lifeline that makes even Pravda balk.
