It is no secret that mainstream media have abandoned objective reporting for quite some time. It’s easy to overlook the left-leaning narratives of the media.
There’s more to the story than reporting from one viewpoint. Along with social media and cultural tastemakers the mainstream media tries to get the public to question any news that does not follow a far-left narrative. In the hopes of the media, the end result is that everyone who uses their media will be culturally and politically left.
This is a form we have come to call gaslighting. Forbes explains that gaslighting refers to “intentionally distorting real reality to make it seem like you are seeing or feeling something else.” Gaslight is a 1944 film in which Gregory Anton (Charles Boyer), manipulates Ingrid Bergman (who won the Best Actress Oscar) to make her believe she’s crazy.
Instead of telling you that you are crazy, the media will make you believe your liberal, conservative or non-woke liberal beliefs have been twisted. It’s masterful manipulation.
Natasha Crain, a Christian blogger and author, argues that the mainstream media ostracizes ordinary people to drive them to their left in a blog post entitled “How MainstreamMedia Gaslights Christians (and Everybody Else Who Disagrees With Them)”.
Peer pressure is one way they do it. This is a sophisticated and perverse way of saying, “Everybody’s doing this.” The media mainstream radical thought and attempts marginalize and otherize anyone who disagrees with their far-left positions on any issue.
Media also manipulate language to push conservation to the left. The AP Stylebook is a valuable tool for editors and reporters. It has been a valuable tool for me as a writer, and my work in church communications. It’s the foundation of many of our grammatical conventions and stylistic conventions at PJ Media. We ignore its more woke suggestions.
Crain offers some suggestions from the AP Stylebook on how to write about transgender topics. The AP recommends the following:
In the ongoing effort to move the conversation leftward, the topics that mainstream media cover play a part. Crain reminds us to think about the media’s incessant reporting on celebrities who are transgender or change their pronouns. Think about how much coverage events such as the Women’s March receive compared to rallies such as the March for Life.
She writes that she regularly visits the Facebook news tab to keep track of this phenomenon and to see what they’re pushing users on to be more important. They want me to be alert when a celebrity changes pronouns (Demi Loveto this week), when new state abortion restrictions (allegedly) have (allegedly) put a woman at risk, and that Christian nationalism represents a frightening threat.
She continues, “Story selection strongly influences our view of the ‘world’ and can have a significant impact on what we believe to be most important,” she says.
The media also uses fearmongering to manipulate us. Consider how many scare tactics were used by the media during the COVID-19 pandemic. Media outlets are now trying to use the same techniques with monkeypox. You can see the wailing and grumbling over Roe v. Wade’s ruling by the Supreme Court and the alleged slippery slope of rights reversals to come. How many times have you heard someone tell you that the time is running out for saving the planet?
These issues are covered by the media in a way that whips viewers and readers into a frenzy. They utterly insist that “We must do something”, and many people agree with them.
People who claim to be conservatives and Christians, but support their policies, are also a favorite of the media. It doesn’t matter if they bring out a left-leaning pastor, or a fake conservative; it’s all part and parcel of their plan to portray left-wing doctrines as normal and mainstream.
What can you do to help? You need to be careful what you eat. Not only are the mainstream media pushing an agenda but there will also be plenty of agenda-driven content on the left and right.
