Thank you, Matt Taibbi, for saying what many of us have been thinking for quite some time — “America is too dumb for TV news.”
Much of the American TV audience is not very brilliant when it comes to deciphering what the national news networks are reporting. Rather, they are quick to believe the political nonsense being spewed by whoever has the loudest voice or brings the most drama to the national issues.
These Americans have been suckered into quick media bites and sensational stories brought on by the commercialization of TV journalism. In his recent Rolling Stones‘ article, Taibbi stated that,
“When you make the news into this kind of consumer business, pretty soon audiences lose the ability to distinguish between what they think they’re doing, informing themselves, and what they’re actually doing, shopping.”
As a result, the audience eventually listens to what they want to hear and dismiss any real reporting.
Taibbi continued by questioning,
“[W]ho shops for products he or she doesn’t want? That’s why the consumer news business was always destined to hit this kind of impasse. You can get by for a long time by carefully selecting the facts you know your audiences will like, and calling that news. But eventually there will be a truth that displeases your customers. What do you do then?”
The media is currently facing this exact problem. Some of the stories that the media is attempting to cover have displeased and pushed away some of their audience. We see this in the faithful fans of many of the presidential candidates who are unmoved by the pandering and lies told by their candidate, rather they blame the mainstream media.
In his article, Taibbi provides several examples of how easy it is for politicians to get away with blaming the media. Much of Taibbi’s scathing article is directed toward remarks made by none other than Donald Trump.
During a recent campaign stop, Trump claimed that while watching TV on 9/11, he witnessed “thousands and thousands of people” in New Jersey celebrating when one of the World Trade Center towers fell.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqo0ZvmD3y8&w=560&h=315]
Though some in the media called him out on this, Trump still argued that he was telling the truth. Others were upset that the journalists didn’t call Trump a liar.
A few days later, at another event, Trump changed the rhetoric by defending his statements and changing his wording from to witnessing thousands celebrating to thousands dying when the Towers fell. Watch the video below on how he turned the tables and blamed the media.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw2zLwJK7ng&w=560&h=315]
Taibbi uses his platform to pokes holes in Trump’s ridiculous story. Obviously annoyed that Trump is not being accountable for his lies, Taibbi writes:
“Until recently, the narrative of stories like this has been predictable. If a candidate said something nuts, or seemingly not true, an army of humorless journalists dug up all the facts, and the candidate ultimately was either vindicated, apologized, or suffered terrible agonies.“
Taibbi then points out:
“That dynamic has broken down this election season. Politicians are quickly learning that they can say just about anything and get away with it. Along with vindication, apology and suffering, there now exists a fourth way forward for the politician spewing whoppers: Blame the backlash on media bias and walk away a hero.“
Although some are speculating that these comments will be the demise of Trump, he is still walking away a hero. Despite the lack of evidence, especially any video footage that would support his contentions, Trump’s followers believe him. They are outraged and believe that this is all the media’s fault because the media is biased. Trump’s supporters buy into his fabrications.
The fact that people buy into this, instead of believing the news or researching the facts on their own, is what makes America “too dumb for TV news.” I wish this wasn’t true, but it is. If this wasn’t true, then Donald Trump would have already been forced to exit this presidential race.
I hope that the American TV audience wises up to all the lies being told by the presidential candidates. I particularly hope that Trump’s recent, horrendous remarks about the disabled reporter will be the fall of Trump. Trump, however, has already turned these remarks around and is blaming this on the media. My pessimism makes me believe that his audience will support him through this, while the rest of us have to suffer Trump’s ridiculous rhetoric.
Featured image by Michael Vadon under an Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License
