As if there aren’t enough real wars going on around the world, the battle among media outlets to gain an ever-diminishing share of viewership seems only to add to the hatred and division America is currently experiencing.
Unfortunately, media personalities – I’m reluctant to call any of them journalists – seem to be wearing their biases on their sleeves. Since the era of cable news, objective journalism has gone the way of the dinosaurs, but the vehement desire to try to put an end to an opposing point of view has come about increasingly over the past decade.
The Call for Cancellation in the Media
Some outlets are trying to barter deals to distribute important political events, like the GOP primary debates, to as many people as possible. After all, ratings don’t care if viewers have an R or a D by their name. Media companies, like any other capitalist venture, want to increase their bottom line, which requires a boost in viewership to increase ad dollars.
Yet, reporters like CNN’s Oliver Darcy seem to forget who pays their salary. He blasted NBC for daring to host the third Republican presidential debate and “collaborating” with so-called extremist partners.
“NBC News has made its decision,” Darcy fumed in a blog post about the network’s partnership with Rumble and Salem Media … which CNN has previously partnered with for multiple Republican primary debates. “Now it’s up to other news organizations to do so as well.”
Ironically, CNN was aiming to secure a similar partnership with the RNC.
Companies like Rumble and Salem Media Group are problematic for Darcy. They push “extreme rhetoric” and “dangerous conspiracy theories” and promote “radical voices.” Rather than allow them to live in a space of competing ideas, according to Darcy’s logic, it would be easier to simply put an end to them.
“News organizations will need to grapple with this uncomfortable reality as they navigate the 2024 waters. Do they really want to associate themselves with and — as a result — help legitimize companies that are in the business of mainlining extremism to the American public? Is doing so really worth hosting a debate which the party frontrunner will likely refuse to participate in?”
Yes Darcy, it is if you want to keep your couple hundred-thousand-dollar-a-year job.
Who – or What – Is to Blame?
Of course, it is human nature to want to blame one person – namely Donald Trump, as many like Darcy do – but events of the past few years highlight there could be something else at play. Something that resides deep within the consciousness of the current culture: the American public’s increasing inability to face hard truths. Or to even admit there is such a thing as truth.
Truths such as there are only two sexes and you can’t willy nilly decide to switch it up.
Truths such as the coronavirus originated in a lab in Wuhan, China.
Truths such as Hamas is a terrorist organization – not a “resistance movement” – that hates Jews and wants to completely eradicate Israel.
I’m well aware that what I’m about to say exposes my own political leanings, but overwhelmingly, the inability to face the truth seems to mostly, if not exclusively, be coming from an increasingly illiberal left. They utilize a variety of excuses like “misinformation,” “imperialism,” or “racism” and engage in revisionist history to excuse responses that can be hateful, ignorant, and violent, not realizing they are the epitome of the very thing they rally against.
I believe we’ve gotten to this point for the right reasons, namely human ability and desire to empathize and feel compassion for those less fortunate than ourselves. Ultimately, the hatred of oppression and love of freedom is a compelling force that drives many of us in this country, even when it is grossly misdirected and ill-informed.
But Oliver Darcy, as a so-called journalist, should know that compassion cannot be devoid of truth. In fact, it requires it. Any attempt to be a loving servant of others without it is simply evil.
Seeking that truth, no matter how uncomfortable it is, should be the aim of people like him, not suppressing it.
Jennifer Galardi is the politics and culture editor for 19FortyFive.com. She has a Master’s in Public Policy from Pepperdine University and produces and hosts the podcast Connection with conversations that address health, culture, politics and policy. In a previous life, she wrote for publications in the health, fitness, and nutrition space. In addition, her pieces have been published in the Epoch Times and Pepperdine Policy Review. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter. She writes opinion articles for this publication.
