Don't be duped. The "fake media" narrative is an attack on ALL of the press and the first amendment.
As a progressive, you know that the term "Democrat party" is right wing framing, or languaging. You know that the "death tax" is a languaged phrase created by right wing framing master Frank Luntz to disparage inheritance taxes. I created the phrase "dynasty tax" to put a more left-wing spin on inheritance taxes.
So, beware. The phrase "fake news" is also a languaged phrase crafted with intention to affect the way people think. I submit that the phrase was created to lower the trust in any news sources.
A Telegraph article identifies the source of the term:
"It was at Donald Trump's first press conference as President-elect when the term "fake news" broke out of media discussions and into the mainstream. "You are fake news!" he pointed at CNN's Jim Acosta while refusing to listen to his question. Since then, the now President of the USA has been calling out major media outlets several times a week for being 'FAKE NEWS' via his Twitter feed - particularly CNN and the New York Times."
Perhaps Trump knew, even at his first press conference that the only way he could survive opposing media attacks would be to get people to stop trusting media as reliable sources. Perhaps he realized that the press would be one of his strongest antagonists. And Trump's strategy with all of his antagonists has been to attack and deprecate them.
So be aware. Every time you use the term "fake media" you are adding energy and power to the underlying message that has been languaged and framed into the word. That helps Trump, helps the media that want to condition people to stop paying any attention at all to actual news.
This framing/languaging campaign has been incredibly effective, luring the biggest monopoly platforms-- Google and Facebook-- to adopt policies aimed at preventing "fake news." They've recruited establishment supporting, mainstream media organizations to "help" them. How has that worked out? Multiple sources in the progressive community have reported that progressive news and opinion websites have been deprecated by Google as reported by these articles:
Google Censors Block Access to CounterPunch and Other Progressive Sites New Google algorithm restricts access to left-wing, progressive web sitesMy analysis of google referrals to OpEdNews.com indicates that referrals from Google to OpEdNews have dropped 20 to 45% since Google's war on progressive media began.
Any ideas on how to deal with all this?
There are also reports that Google is minimizing ad revenues on sites it considers sources of "fake news."
Finally, the truth is, the effort to diminish the public's trust, even their attention to news has been under way for a long time. Other strategies have also been used to undermine trust and interest in news. This is just the latest iteration.
The difference is now, major platforms-- Google, Facebook, for starters-- are playing a role in this-- an incredibly dangerous one. Their attack on progressive media is an attack on the first amendment. They have risen to near the top of the list of threats to democracy.
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