Let me be clear about something: I'm not here to defend cable news. I'm not here to tell you that every outlet is trustworthy or that institutional media doesn't have real problems. It does. The access journalism problem is real. The bothsidesism problem is real. The profit-motive-over-public-interest problem is real.
But "the media is the enemy of the people" is not a media critique. It's a playbook move. It's historically one of the first things authoritarian governments do — identify and delegitimize the entities that can independently document what they're doing. That's not a coincidence. That's the point.
Actual media criticism sounds like: "That outlet has a bias and here's how it shows up." Or: "That reporter has a history of getting this wrong." Or: "That story was poorly sourced and they had to walk it back." These are legitimate criticisms. They require specifics. They require engagement with the actual work.
"Enemy of the people" is a blanket that's designed to be pulled over your head so you stop looking at what's being documented underneath it.
Here's what I keep telling people: if every source you trust tells you the same thing you already believe, and every source that challenges you is "fake" or "corrupt" or "the enemy" — that's not skepticism. That's a closed information loop. And those are extremely easy to exploit.
Read multiple sources. Including ones you don't agree with. Not because they're all right. Because your ability to think critically depends on actually encountering friction.
Or don't. Your call. I'm just tired of watching people get played and calling it being informed.
← Back to rants