By Jaime Ortega.
A Little History
The Spanish in the 16th century decided to go to war with England, after Queen Elizabeth the first endorsed Protestantism to take over Roman Catholicism in England. The Spanish had the greatest galleons and the best fleet in the world. 22 galleons left Spain to Flanders, to invade the English coastline. The English united, and small fire-ships sailed in great numbers to combat the great Spanish Galleons. After an intense battle the English won and drove off the Spanish in retreat. Suffering a catastrophic defeat that would eventually rewrite history, the Spanish retreated only to encounter several storms in the North Atlantic that also ravished their fleet. One of the worst military humiliations in history, shows also an interesting paradox — size and wealth doesn’t guarantee victory.
The Biased Bias
There is little doubt that most US mainstream media networks support Hillary Clinton’s presidential nomination. The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic and other publications have publicly endorsed her candidacy to become the next president of the United States. CNN, MSNBC, ABC and CBS despite not publicly endorsing any nominee, are trying to stop Donald Trump at all cost.
The networks trying to cover-up Hillary’s multiple scandals knew all along that it would take a toll on their reputation as trustworthy mediums in the eyes of viewers across the nation — and still ran with the agenda. As a result, credibility in the media is on an all-time low, and skepticism is on all-time high. The media has become the enemy of the same people it claims to represent. The US media is like whorehouse, the highest bidder gets to sleep with the network it chooses to seduce.
Most mainstream media networks today, are totalitarian news networks. If a republican janitor doesn’t endorse a republican candidate, Fox News wont hire him; the same is true with liberal media, if MSNBC workers don’t pledge allegiance to the democratic party, they might was well exit the building escorted by police. Liberal media not long ago, was capable of deciding elections and court audiences to elect presidents without much challenge, but a monster emerged, a rip inside the communications field that not only impeded mainstream media networks from deciding elections but also balanced media bias itself.
Two Baby’s Were Conceived; And Yet Another…
The internet gave birth to social media, and social media gave birth to citizen journalism. The internet conceived another progenitor, his name was ‘independent news’ —and since the inception of the web— thousands of independent news networks have emerged from the ashes of mainstream media populace including The Daily Journalist.
Both social media platforms and online independent news networks are so innumerably large, that they have not only taken viewers by storm, but have taken away millions of loyal viewers away from popular mainstream media networks. It took years for social media platforms and online independent news networks to develop a cavalry capable of hurting mainstream media – not even during Barack Obama versus John McCain or Mitt Romney was it so palpable – but now both are stronger than ever and numerously large.
The internet offered the possibility for the average Joe to produce his own online news network, without need to invest money in print publications. Print publication were costly and did not allow for the average person to invest in such big project, the same is true with radio and television. Also print publication, broadcast and radio required physical buildings to maneuver the work and logistics of the company, whereas most online publications don’t require a physical building to run online. The internet was the perfect storm to counter media bias, and mobile tablets only made the obvious more evident, the end of print supremacy and the beginning of alternative news networks.
Yet, the real nail in the coffin is hacking. The insurrection of WikiLeaks, DC Leaks, Cryptome, Guciffer, and Anonymous among other organizations, has really damaged the reputation of mainstream media networks and given bullets to social media, and independent networks to strategically target the weak credibility left among popular media giants.
This presidential duet is much more than a battle between Trump and Clinton or a battle between Main-street and Wall Street; it’s a battle between mainstream media supremacy and the emergence of social media and independent news networks. Mainstream media networks know they will eventually lose the race against the rise of citizen and private journalism; the days are counted before a physical insurrection takes place, so the goal of popular mainstream media is to freeze the process and gather as much wealth as possible from the same politicians they endorse, before the power is transferred to the little guys. Buying time is essential to keep mainstream media alive.
Once Upon A Time
Once upon a time, journalism was run by journalist. They were disliked by politicians, elites, and corporations; they were the watchdogs of ordinary citizens and defended the constitution and the rights of Americans. Media had trust issues, but it wasn’t the norm; it wasn’t morally accepted to take bribes as most reputable news networks took pride on their investigative reports. But as time passed, somewhere in the late 1970’s greed started to engulf the wallets of the families that owned media outlets. Business-journalism became the real scheme – investors, lenders, advertisers and sponsors all wanted a piece of the cake knowing full well they would profit serious wealth from the media effect.
No platform could compete with television, print or radio; the money was there to stay. After many years, avid politicians realized that the once stubborn media run by Journalist, could now finally be approached and influenced; business was priority over news, and politicians took full advantage of the change. The relationship between news business moguls and corporations and politicians were enriched in exchange of favors. Lobbying was now morally permitted in news networks, and media networks slept with politicians who utilized political powers to grant media business immunity for their public support.
The Paradigm Conflicts With Honest Journalist
Today journalist who graduate from university are trapped inside a major paradigm. It’s hard to find a job where journalism won’t spew you. The spirit of journalism is trapped inside the body of business crooks that represent institutional growth only. Journalist want to report important stories, but fail because mainstream media networks impose their will on the stories published. Journalist no longer ‘go fishing’ for stories, they have to comply with the rudiments of corporations that careless about investigative news, and more about sensationalist tabloid stories that will increase financial revenue. Journalist are also restricted from reporting stories that could negatively affect certain politicians, organizations and affiliated sponsors. Journalist are sadly affected by the politicization of media, and it is too late to revert the problem. If a journalist wants to keep his job, he must bend over and obey. I know many journalist that bite their tongues in despair for good news, and yet to make a living ‘kiss ass’ every day questioning the morality behind the networks they work under– its not even funny!
Change Proliferated Under The Mainstream Radar
People might be dumb, but they are not stupid; people might act in ignorance, but they’re aware of circumstances. For years, people saw how the media turned their backs on them at a national level. Even though they expressed anger, the anger was somewhat blotted out, and manipulated in news coverage to appear mild instead of controversial. People retorted media bias just by holding town-hall meetings at grass root levels, but the impact was limited to the locality and hardly became a national issue. Frustration ended the day the internet allowed for ordinary people to buy public domains on the web; for the first time people could express themselves in forums and chat-rooms across the US and counter media rhetoric without physical meetings and protests. For years, the mainstream media ignored the rise of a counter-communicative upheaval progressively emanating from the internet.
It all really changed on the wake of the Arab Spring in 2011, it became clear that social media not only could help stir revolutions but also breakdown organized governments in a matter of days. Western media networks paid close attention to these events, suddenly afraid of the power of twitter, Facebook and Youtube as they witnessed rebellions unfold. Bias could now be countered in social media and media lies could be exposed with transparency and clarity.
Hillary promoted the social revolution that ignited the Middle East; she promoted social media to weed-out the dictatorships that once ruled the Middle East with an iron fist –yet with all that said –the same social revolution she once promoted to expel dictators, has completely turned against her and ruined her trustworthiness as a leader revealing her true intentions as a politician. One thing Hillary dislikes is social media and independent news networks for exposing her scandals; and she knows its frustrating as an ‘old timer’ to not be able to manipulate the internet, like she influences traditional big news networks that support her cause. Like many millennials say “Karma is a b#tch!”.
Today, the relationship between people and media is at ‘ground 0’. CNN, MSNBC, CBS and ABC to name a few are looked upon as ‘problem makers’ and not ‘problem solvers’; they are playing Russian roulette endorsing Hillary, and they know that if she doesn’t win its check-mate for a lot of them. Fox News isn’t any better than the networks I’ve discussed above, but despite its rightist propaganda, it looks like they’re the only broadcast channel willing to report Hillary’s scandals. If Fox News didn’t exist, all the other media outlets would cover up Hillary’s mess under a silk rug.
Mainstream media were once the watchdogs of ordinary citizens; now it is social media and independent news the unofficial watchdogs of mainstream media. Communication has changed, and it is going to destroy the traditional pillars of media networks already ravished by the technological advancement of digitalization in the globalized world. Generation X, and Millennials have ruined the print industry and broadcast supremacy, and baby boomers have also changed their customs obtaining news online. The future doesn’t look promising for many mainstream media companies.
The Final Deal
The goal of politicians is now to lay hold on the internet and set nepotism to influence people’s behavior online. The frantic dream of government is to control resourceful information emanating from Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Blogger – a few powerful online companies— but the greater goal is to control Google. Google is the hegemon of the internet! When users type the key words ‘Hillary Clinton’ a new Google App called AMP, shows all the latest news results related with Hillary. For now, it looks like there is no inherent bias, as Google shows negative and positive reports of each candidate when browsing their server —but for how long? When will money get on the way?
Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google and current chairman of the board, had ties to the State Department when Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State. That is not good news for the average citizen looking for balanced news online. Such affairs could also transpose the transparency behind Google Mail, and the US Government. If Hillary becomes the next Commander-ln-Chief, she will probably influence and sharpen her influence with Google. Julian Assange wrote a book in 2014 titled “When Google Met Wikileaks,” detailing the company’s close ties with US policy makers.
History Is Cyclical
Just as the all-powerful Spanish Armada jointed its biggest galleons to fight the rise of Queen Elizabeth, mainstream media has also bonded to destroy Trump. Just as the small English battleships united in large numbers to try to take down the big powerful Spanish galleons, so is the amalgamation of small independent news networks, social media and hacking organizations trying to defeat mainstream media networks in the field of public communication. The battle of communication supremacy is ever clearer this election, and it’s a battle that comprises favoritism in polls, surveys and stats to eliminate credibility and audience support. This election has shown conflicting evidence that polls show biased results when compared to other major publications online.
One interesting factor is that Russia Today — another biased totalitarian news network in Russia —and Middle Eastern based news Al-Jazeera have temporally truce with the US anti-media establishment to help take down the powerful American Networks. Donald Trump could be that perfect storm that after the English defeat, ravished the Spanish galleons and changed history. The media has played people for stupid and its about to pay the price sooner or later — with or without Trump in office; CNN is really no different than RT, one is totalitarian under a kleptocracy and the other totalitarian under the free market; same crap, different toilet. As Scarface once said, “What difference does it make?”. Time calls for change in the media, and the days of mainstream media supremacy are over.
