BlueMoonAcrossThePond
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 27 Oct 2020
- Messages
- 5,959
- Team supported
- Manchester City
I think your view is too simplistic although you do make some points with which I agree.I think to say that this is purely down to misinformation is missing the point. Most people subscribe to misinformation because it's silently what they want to hear as opposed to some unwilful engagement in misinformed 'truth'. This is the error that many on here make, they assume the media spoon feeds people their politics and they are too stupid to realise it but actually people are far more intelligent and deliberate than that.
Trump said he'd build a wall between Mexico and the US, he failed to do so. The idea that he'd do such a thing is what won him votes and not the reality of whether he'd do it. The reality of our politics today is no-one gives a shit about whether their brand of politics and its policies are even feasible. All they care about is the idea and they'll subscribe to anyone who thinks like they do. Nigel Farage has done exceptionally well as a politician in the UK for this exact reason.
It's actually very similar in the UK, many people liked the idea of Brexit and they liked the idea of an independent UK doing its thing in the world. The end reality has been completely different but still the likes of the Tories command considerable support despite being responsible for constant scandal, incompetence and total policy failures. The only reason why they are still in power is unlike others they supported and still support Brexit.
When the US comes to elect its next president then the exact same war will be fought, not for information or truth but for ideology. Trump will say alsorts of rubbish and make promises that will never happen but everyone will apparently know where he stands and that's a very powerful position.
The biggest issue that the Democrats have regardless of candidate is where do they stand? At the last election they stood nowhere, their only position was they had a candidate who wasn't Trump and will that approach be as effective next time? Biden has been almost absent since he won, I have no idea what he's done in the US for better or worse. Success should be easy to broadcast but that doesn't seem to be the case because maybe there isn't any?
I'll take on this sentence for example:
>> Success should be easy to broadcast but that doesn't seem to be the case because maybe there isn't any?
It would seem that you lean to the Right. Zero success evident in Biden's presidency? - by your own account.
And yet, you've stumbled upon a truth here though you don't recognize it.
The truth is, that Fox News and other Right-leaning outlets have a cohesive, non-stop, pro-Right message, hammered home over and over. These outlets are on point in support of the Right no matter what with no regard for fact.
Whereas the Left-leaning media has no such outlet that is broadly popular. The Left serves up the news where ever it leads. Sure, there's opinion pieces and bias as to which news is covered - but the Left covers stories detrimental to the sitting President and hammers him from time to time (e.g., the exodus of the US from Afghanistan).
And the above facts simply reinforce my position - the disinformation stream served up by the RIght energizes its base, prevents bipartisanship, and is (almost) never critical of Trump . Yes, there are some actual news broadcasts on Fox and Fox still employs a (very) few fact-based reporters - but by-in-large, the Right media is simply a Trump propaganda machine, facts be damned.
And the influence of this propaganda is huge. Right-leaning individuals tune into Fox, hear and see what they want to hear and see, and then believe that what they've heard and seen is true even if it makes no sense at all. To wit, most Republicans believe that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, a conclusion wholly unsupported by fact, completely without merit, and is the stuff of a tin-foil hat wearing, conspiracist-theory believing, nut-job. And this, my friend, is the power of disinformation.
Last edited: