The Media's Role in the Coronavirus Panic

BRYCE ON THE NEWS MEDIA

- It is largely responsible for creating discontent.

We began hearing of problems with the media covering the presidential coronavirus briefings in late March when KUOW radio, the NPR affiliate in Seattle, said they would no longer carry the live briefings as they contended the president was either spreading misinformation or lying to the public. Instead, they would interpret and report the briefings as they see fit, not necessarily in line with the president.

This went much further as MSNBC and CNN followed suit by presenting their interpretation of the briefing as opposed to showing it live. If you watch the live briefing and listen to the network analysis, you would think they were two separate meetings altogether. In other words, the news media is spinning the briefings to their liking, and not necessarily in alignment with what was actually said. Back in 2016, when I attended the Trump campaign rallys in Tampa with the press corps, I saw a similar phenomenon whereby what the press reported was unlike anything I saw or heard at the rally. It was a deliberate misrepresentation of what had occurred.

In a recent New York Times OpEd, "Stop Airing Trump’s Briefings!", the writer contends, "Under no circumstance should these briefings be carried live," and encouraged other media outlets to filter the briefing news a la CNN and MSNBC.

Likewise, Katie Couric tweeted, "Under no circumstance should these briefings be carried live. Doing so is a mistake bordering on journalistic malpractice. Everything a president does or says should be documented but airing all of it, unfiltered is irresponsible." Couric later retracted her tweet, but her political leanings to the left are well known.

All of this is to be expected. Since the coronavirus became a major issue, President Trump has sucked all the political air out of the media, leaving the Democrats gasping for recognition. Knowing this to be a problem, particularly in a presidential election year, the news media is now working overtime to refute and demean the president, thereby compounding the problem. In other words, the main stream media's coverage of the briefings have less to do with the coronavirus, and more to do with defusing the president's political juggernaut. By spinning the news falsely, the press is stoking hate and division in the country and should be held accountable for their libelous actions.

The people understand this, and because they are frustrated with the fake news, they do not know who to believe and trust. Inevitably, a backlash occurs, such as the recent anti-shutdown demonstrations in Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, states all under Democrat control. Whether the demonstrations were justifiable or not is immaterial, but such a reaction is understandable as the people want their lives to return to normal and believe there are forces working overtime to stop them, including the press.

The people particularly do not trust the media's spin on the news as they know the press openly opposes the president. It is no secret. Their interpretation may be eagerly received by the far Left, but everyone else dismisses it out of hand. People want the ability to access live coverage instead of depending on the press to interpret their news, often unreliably. This explains why people tend to trust news received by social media more than the press, which is also not the best, but considered more reliable than the news media.

The war with President Trump started during his campaign, and will continue unabated well into his retirement, whenever that may be. As the president represents the ultimate outsider to the nation's capitol, the press considers it their duty to rein him in any way possible as he represents a threat to the Washington establishment, including Democrats, Republicans, lobbyists, the Deep State and, Yes, the news media.

Keep the Faith!

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Copyright © 2020 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.