The 2020 US election drew worldwide attention with one party claiming victory while the other alleged election fraud — not unlike the ballot-stuffing that goes on in Third World dictatorships.
So, who really won??
The answer: NO ONE! Everyone — especially those living in the US — lost big time because the news media did not do its job. It was far worse than the public not being informed … people were simply manipulated. They were used. Big time.
The result is that a once-great nation is now sharply divided. The news media is partly to blame for the mess, and shame on them. Instead of reporting facts without bias, major news organizations took sides in their election coverage, a fiasco that has made the US media the laughing stock of the world.
A huge part of the problem was that reporters and editors became advocates, destroying what little trust the public had in them. Good luck in winning back that trust.
A QUICK OVERVIEW OF THE MEDIA LANDSCAPE
Over the last decade or so journalism has been bleeding heavily from some serious stab wounds. The job cuts were brutal. Tens of thousands of reporters were thrown out of work.
On one level, I ‘get’ the layoffs: shrinking revenues, fat cat executives, shareholders demanding a healthy return, the rise of social media … on and on it goes. There were many knives.
Another massive wound is that neutrality is now sadly lacking in the business. I’m referring here to media censorship and partisan/biased reporting. The unfairness is often way over the top. And it’s so common — and therefore so noticeable. It’s hardly a secret that the media has an agenda … it seems as though the function of many news organizations nowadays isn’t primarily to report the news, it’s to sway public opinion. With cancer like that comes a huge drop in respect and trust. Must say, I have a difficult time understanding why anyone would think sleaze is good for any organization — organized crime included. [For figures on how much faith the public has in the news media, go to ‘Media Trust Hits All Time Low’ at the end of this post.]
As a long-time friend and media veteran [40-plus years’ experience] recently put it, “It’s called ‘paycheque journalism’ for a reason. Those with integrity need not apply.”
There was a time when people living in the so-called Free World pointed fingers at the Soviet Union [USSR] and the People’s Republic of China for media censorship, cronyism and, heavy-handed political correctness. We’re now looking slightly hypocritical.
Full disclosure: I am not a big fan of television news which I see as shallow, containing too much information and misinformation often spoon-fed by the establishment and the ‘Deep State.’ More often than not a TV newscast is embarrassingly one-sided. Long gone are the days when reporters presented the nuts and bolts of a story so viewers could decide what was going on. Today there is far too much ‘agenda-reporting.’ One would have to be a complete moron not to work that out.
Sadly, some viewers don’t really give a rat’s ass about whether the news is accurate. What’s important to them is: does it fit our narrative? That is their only concern.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_Christopher
Byron Christopher 
I agree with you 100% on the mainstream news media!! – CBC, CTV, Globe & Mail, etc. I only read the very local news concerning accidents, etc.
There are a few Independent News organizations out there, we just need to do a bit of researching to find them to get more correct news, especially if it’s anything to do with the state of the country, and the world, politics; the Covid-19 virus … and the vaccines !!
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Thanks for reporting this. It is about time someone took the initiative to report on the corruption that exists in the supposed non-bias of Canadian media, especially the CBC which is supported by our tax dollars.
The U.S.A. media is just as biased. It’s hard to tell fact from fiction these days!
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Thanks for telling it like it is. I for one can no longer watch TV news as it rots my soul at all the indignities.
What’s funny is when people discuss Biden’s win as a fraud everyone jumps on them immediately, saying Trump is an ass. Can’t wait to see how Kamilla and Pelosi pull his strings.
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Thanks for the refreshing honesty. Real journalism is not dead! It’s just hiding under money or fear tactics.
Truth is the only way to feel safe. It is what it is and you work with that.
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If every reporter reported the facts as “matter of fact-ly”, we would be living in a different world today; one where we could make informed decisions without trying to sift through the content to determine who is not playing a fair game only to find out that both sides often aren’t.
Corruption has become such common place that it’s no longer even seen for what it really is … dishonest, debased and fraudulent.
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You always hit the nail on the head Mr. Byron. Thank you for being an honest, straight-forward reporter.
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Just remembering waaaaay back in the day watching Lloyd Robertson at my great aunt’s house. Back then, media fact-checked their own stories and most could be trusted to impart the truth.
I’ve noticed that when watching the news if you hit the “info” button on your remote, the description of the program pops up as “talk show”. That’s pretty much it – I don’t want yet another person’s opinion, I want to know what’s going on in our world. It’s sad that nowadays finding the news could end up being a half-day search 🙂
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Excellent article.
Ethics, neutrality, and intelligent critical analysis are being discarded in favour of manipulative propaganda. Reporters and news media have become salesmen of ideologies and opinions.
No one just tells us what happened anymore so each of us can decide what it all means. Now we are constantly bombarded with interpretations offered as fact.
Miss the days of “Just the facts mam!” (Joe Friday, remember him?) where editorials were done separately from the story as an opinion piece.
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Great article. Could not have said how I feel about this subject better myself.
I wish everyone could read and absorb the message. Keep up the good fight, my friend.
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You are right — the news media controls a lot of what we think.
You did a lot of digging up before you printed your article — I appreciate that.
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