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When you talk to your family and red-leaning folks in your life, I'm sure you've noticed they live in a completely different reality. They talk about news and conspiracies that you've never even heard of like they're plain-as-day facts.
A thread.
A thread.
We all know where this comes from. Fox News, Newsmax, One America News, Sinclair, InfoWars, Rush Limbaugh, and the like.
Conservative news outlets are partisan propaganda, fomenting rage and anger, and trafficking in bias and outright lies.
Conservative news outlets are partisan propaganda, fomenting rage and anger, and trafficking in bias and outright lies.
We will never stop being divided until there is no longer a financial incentive in dividing us. It is impossible to bring our nation together when splitting us apart is a billion-dollar industry.
What this country truly, desperately needs is a new Fairness Doctrine. The original was introduced in 1949 and promised that holders of broadcast licenses must present the news in ways that were honest, equitable, and balanced.
Since Reagan ended the policy in 1987, we have seen a rise in partisan lies in polarization in this nation. When one party has its own state media, its own propaganda arm, the country won't and cannot heal. They don't want us to. There are more money and ratings in conflict.
Countries without partisan media do not have this level of rancor or division. Consider the following:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/fox-news-will-not-be-moving-into-canada-after-all_b_829473
"Canada’s Radio Act requires that “a licenser may not broadcast....any false or misleading news.” The provision has kept Fox News and right wing talk radio out of Canada and helped make Canada a model for liberal democracy and freedom."
"Canada’s Radio Act requires that “a licenser may not broadcast....any false or misleading news.” The provision has kept Fox News and right wing talk radio out of Canada and helped make Canada a model for liberal democracy and freedom."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/19/why-new-zealand-rejected-populist-ideas-other-nations-have-embraced
“A huge reason that our politics is not so extremely polarised and so far out there is because we no longer have Murdoch-owned press in New Zealand, and it’s never taken a foothold.”
“A huge reason that our politics is not so extremely polarised and so far out there is because we no longer have Murdoch-owned press in New Zealand, and it’s never taken a foothold.”
We will never ever be able to come together on climate change, common sense gun legislation, or even simply wearing a goddamn mask in a global pandemic until there is no financial reward for operating a system that divides us.
What does a new Fairness Doctrine look like in modern America? Clearly it's a harder world to regulate now. It's not just as simple as broadcast licenses. The Internet allows anyone a platform. Social media algorithms are just as big a problem as cable news.
I don't have all the answers, but I do think it's clear something needs to be done. A modern Fairness Doctrine that requires, as the original law stipulated, news that is honest, equitable, and balanced.
If this is a war for the American soul, this would be a huge battle to win.
If this is a war for the American soul, this would be a huge battle to win.
I leave you with this from Steve Almond in the Boston Globe (2018.) https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2018/04/17/want-stop-fake-news-reinstate-fairness-doctrine/BpMw4D3s9qLrDwA2geLywN/story.html
