Opinion Democrats need to reclaim reality from the right-wing disinformation machine. (WaPo)

Our media environment is a mess. Enough Trumpery, flummery, dupery and nincompoopery.  From The Washington Post: 

Opinion 

 

Democrats need to reclaim reality from the right-wing disinformation machine

Disinformation has taken hold over democracy.

5 min

Voters fill out their ballots on Oct. 21 in Stamford, Connecticut. (John Moore/Getty Images)

By Jennifer Rubin

November 12, 2024 at 7:45 a.m. EST

Whether you believe that Americans embraced President-elect Donald Trump’s misogynistic, racist and bullying persona because they misunderstood what he stood for or because they liked what he stood for; or because they believed (falsely) that the economy was in a recession or because they could not afford to buy their own home; or because of some combination of all of these, we cannot ignore the success of the right-wing media’s disinformation network in shaping how millions of Americans view the country.

Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Inquirer put it succinctly:

The things that pundits have been talking about since Tuesday — an economy that hasn’t worked for the working class since the time of Ronald Reagan, anxieties among white voters about a potential end to white privilege and the patriarchy, and a Democratic Party that’s lost touch with the great American middle — all factored into this election. But nothing mattered more than this: Donald Trump was returned to power by the most badly informed electorate in modern American history.

A now much-discussed Reuters-Ipsos poll found that “Americans who primarily get their news from Fox News and Conservative Media and social media/other are more likely to answer questions about inflation and crime incorrectly than Americans writ large.” When tens of millions of Americans believe things that simply are not true, Democrats’ accomplishments matter very little. Their message does not reach the intended audience. And frighteningly, “You can get people to vote away their democracy … as long as you create a false world for them to believe in,” as historian Heather Cox Richardson said.

In the right-wing media’s world, the economy is in a shambles, crime is surging, and kids are being lured into sex-reassignment surgery. In such an atmosphere, Democrats’ positions and proposals become divorced from the public’s perceptions of politics.

Michael Tomasky of the New Republic wrote last week: “Today, the right-wing media — Fox News (and the entire News Corp.), Newsmax, One America News Network, the Sinclair network of radio and TV stations and newspapers, iHeart Media (formerly Clear Channel), the Bott Radio Network (Christian radio), Elon Musk’s X, the huge podcasts like Joe Rogan’s, and much more — sets the news agenda in this country.” He explained that “they fed their audiences a diet of slanted and distorted information that made it possible for Trump to win.” Moreover, when Missouri voters embrace “a pro-abortion rights initiative, and another that raised the minimum wage and mandated paid leave,” which are Democratic positions Republicans reject, as Tomasky pointed out, they are obviously confused about which party stands for which agenda.

It behooves Americans who care about the future of democracy, decent governance and the fate of their most vulnerable fellow Americans to understand the fundamentally different media reality that envelops a substantial number of voters. ProPublica, for example, documented an operation peddling vicious right-wing propaganda disguised as religious news. “Using tax documents and business filings, ProPublica traced the papers to a Chicago-based publishing network led by former TV reporter Brian Timpone. His enterprises, including Metric Media, are known among researchers for peddling misinformation and slanted coverage,” and are underwritten by “right-wing super PACs funded by conservative billionaire Richard Uihlein.”

The media preferences of millions of fellow Americans bear little resemblance to the offerings of legacy media. Brookings Institution’s Darrell M. West explained that “there are systematic and organized efforts to shape public opinion in many areas, from public health and climate change to race relations.” He wrote that waves of false, menacing messages get “disseminated broadly on social media platforms, promoted through funny memes, picked up and publicized by mainstream media outlets, circulated by internet mega-influencers, and amplified by leading candidates during rallies, debates, and interviews.”

West continued:

On views about inflation and the overall economy, people in 2024 consistently reported very negative opinions compared to actual inflation, unemployment, and GDP figures. Europeans have been especially perplexed by American’s sour views of the economy. On the eve of the general election, the Economist magazine even had a cover story saying the U.S. economy was the envy of the world. Yet voters had a dismal view of the economy and rated Harris negatively for the economic situation.

For coming political battles, people need to be aware of how the current information ecosystem regularly is promoting falsehoods and skewing views about important issues.

The answer to combating the avalanche of disinformation, sadly, does not reside primarily in legacy media, which millions upon millions of Americans never see or read. (It certainly does not reside in outlets that offered false equivalence, failed to oppose a fascist candidate, or ignored voters’ lack of interest in democracy and underlying resentment over the loss of White power.) Rather, the solution lies largely in fostering new forms of media to counteract the gusher of right-wing disinformation that fills the brains and shapes the attitudes of many Americans.

This does not entail putting existing elite cable TV hosts on podcasts. Nor does it mean sending Oprah into the heartland to conduct national therapy. It surely does not require endless seminars among media elites dissecting the Harris campaign. A new crop of relevant opinion makers, local media and investigative journalists is required to get basic information to voters and combat the right’s conspiracy-laden hysteria. Then democracy and good governance stand a fighting chance.

Efforts such as Howard University’s Center for Journalism & Democracyto “reshape the national conversation around responsible power and democracy through critical, investigative journalism” in the tradition of the Black press also hold great promise. And, as Steven Waldman, president of Rebuild Local News, pointed out, the local media desert demands our attention. “We’ve lost one-third of our local newspapers; the number of reporters has dropped 60 percent in two decades,” he wrote. “Studies have shown that the contraction of local news has created a vacuum — which has been filled by partisan news sources and social media (both polarizing and more likely to spread misinformation).” Rebuilding a fact-based media begins in state capitals and local communities.

As West wrote, “In a highly polarized world, where people are divided into competing political tribes, millions of Americans admit they themselves have intentionally spread information they know to be false. If that continues, it will lead to disaster for our country’s politics and governance.”

Democracy requires public virtue and an informed citizenry. In the current media environment, both are under siege. Pro-democracy funders would do well to organize a comprehensive study of the right-wing ecosystem and its impact on the electorate. Then they can support fact-based local media, help recruit new media influencers, sponsor nonprofit investigative journalism and construct well-moderated social media platforms. Getting the truth out to the wider electorate will require a new, culturally relevant media ecosystem firmly rooted in liberal democratic values.

Opinion by Jennifer Rubin

Jennifer Rubin writes reported opinion for The Washington Post. She is the author of “Resistance: How Women Saved Democracy from Donald Trump” and is host of the podcast Jen Rubin's "Green Room."follow on X @JRubinBlogger