No, that’s not a typo. Trump’s been calling the media the enemy of the people since 2017 but I think enema is a more appropriate description (nod to Blink-182). I mean, the media’s been blowing smoke up our asses for ages, journalistic integrity be damned.
Funny thing is it’s not about ideology. Nope.
When it comes to politics there are two kinds of people: true believers and profiteers. While the media is generally predisposed to be left-leaning true believers, the leadership that makes all the decisions are of the profiteer variety.
Turns out that taking the other side of the Trump trade is just good business. Lest we forget that before Trump’s first term the NY Times was well on its way to the junk heap. By the end of 2017 the company was growing and in the black for the first time in years, the stock took off and hasn’t stopped since.
Likewise, MSNBC barely existed before Trump’s first term. And by failing to go full throttle one way or the other, CNN paid the ultimate price, slipping into the abyss of obscurity, death for a media enterprise.
The problem of course is the internet’s wonderful pay for clicks and eyeballs advertising model, which heavily favors chaos, conflict and fear-mongering content, not to mention sensational headlines. And humans, with the limbic systems of lemmings, just click and scroll away.
As explained ad nauseam in Real Leaders (shameless plug), the Web 2 construct in general and social media in particular have created the most fertile ground in history for social contagions to fester and spread into epidemics. A viral piece about trans male athletes competing with females and elementary school indoctrination turns into a worldwide culture war overnight.
And why not adopt a ludicrous position that undeniably harms girls, women and children? The left stokes fear and conflict, the media gets their clicks and all is well. What’s the downside? Sure, they lost the election, but American politics is nothing but a giant pendulum and we all know what pendulums do.
Yesterday Trump was a racist Russian asset who conspired with white supremacists. Today he’s Hitler and the right are all nazi fascist boogeymen with targets on their backs. Divisive rhetoric has escalated to physical violence and assassination.
And why not? What’s the downside? For the media, it’s just good business.
Where does it go from here? Wherever the clicks lead.
Image: Blink-182 Enema of the State album cover