The Media Industrial Complex
Being an entrepreneur, I’ve had a deeper relationship with the media than most people. I’ve worked at a news station, I’ve been interviewed by news outlets, I’ve colluded to disseminate (innocent) fake news, and I’ve watched as the mainstream media has completely misreported an industry that I know a thousand times better than any journalist.
When I worked at a local news station in Albuquerque, one of the editors told me something I’ll never forget. He said that the station will report on anything EXCEPT negative news about one of their advertisers. If they lose their advertising base they go out of business.
Extrapolate this statement to the legacy news stations in the U.S. — many of which are struggling with funding and laying off employees. You wonder why none of them report on anything that matters? If you’re an entity with cash, they’ll do your every bidding.
I’ve been in interviews with small media outlets where, after the interview is published, I’ve discovered that the “journalist” literally made up quotes and attributed them to me so that their story flowed better…or something.
It makes you wonder about other quotes you see from the media when a “journalist” can’t even report accurately on stories that don’t really matter.
I once set up a fun Halloween prank at my college that attracted a TV station to report on it. When they reached out to me and I told them it was a prank they said they didn’t care, they wanted to report on it anyway. So we worked together to make the spooky prank a little more legitimate.
It was fun and silly, but I often think about how desperate the station was to get views. If they’re willing to stretch the truth on a silly college prank, where else are they willing to do this?
But the biggest red pill for me has been the mainstream media’s reporting on a space that I’ve been involved with and known intimately since 2014. Bitcoin.
It’s one thing to read a story about an industry you know nothing about. You can’t see the lies and disinformation. It’s another to see reporting on an industry that you’re squarely in the middle of. When they misreport basic facts about your industry, or report on rumors that one minute of digging proves false, you can begin to wonder at just how unknowledgeable journalists are when it comes to reporting on stuff with a national impact.
Ultimately, journalists are not doers. They’re Know-Nothings, disconnected from the industries they report on and the people (you and me) they report to. In their attempts to regain relevancy they’ve stooped to clickbait and misinformation campaigns that further delegitimize their work and tear apart our culture.
If you want real facts today you must go to the source. Luckily, with social media, it’s never been easier.
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