Defund the Media; Not the Police #turnthatshitoff

By any measure, it’s been a remarkable few years. We’ve all learned a lot about pandemics and vaccines and how to properly wash your hands. It’s exhausting; all of it. And, the sneaky Delta variant is like the uninvited dinner guest who won’t leave.

But, how much of the Coronavirus prognostications were actually correct? On March 30, 2020, the now infamous Imperial College of London model predicted the number of US deaths from the Coronavirus. The model projected an 81% infection rate and an absurd 2.2 million deaths by September 1, 2020. Even the deadly “Spanish Flu” pandemic of 1918–19 infected no more than 28% of the U.S. population. 

Within a short period of time, they made a dramatic revision downward in their Coronavirus projections. But the die was cast. Both the government bureaucrats and the media conglomerates seized on the opportunity. (The actual number of deaths came in closer to 175,000, not 2.2 million.)

As a result of these projections, the US government began making historic changes to monetary policy to prop up the stock market. Then the C.A.R.E.S. Act was adopted. This Act created much needed unemployment benefits and low-interest loans for businesses.

These initiatives likely saved the economy, but the remedies were supersized, partially due to these kinds of inflammatory news stories. Yes, I believe I will take fries with my supersized order.

We tend to blame the ass-clowns in Washington for this kind of moon shot. The ass-clowns are easy targets. But, what if we are blaming the wrong people? What if the people we should be blaming are the news media fanning the flames on inflammatory stories?

See, part of the problem is competition. When I was a kid, we had three channels: 2, 5 and 11. And, a few newspapers. Today we have multiple 24-hour news channels, satellite radio, podcasts, Social Media and a plethora of “newsy” sources on the interwebs. It reminds me of this 7-second scene from Shrek!

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With this much competition for eyeballs, it’s no longer “if it bleeds it leads”. No, the news has devolved into digital clickbait for the angry masses. It’s no wonder you are sick & tired of the news. This kind of clickbait is also what is dividing us as a country.

Look, before you get all butt-hurt about freedom of the press and all, let me assuage you’re fears. The free press is an important part of our democracy. They help keep the Washington ass-clowns in line. But most of the networks have simply lost their way.

The networks act as if they’re independent. As if they’re non-profit, Just volunteering their time for the good of the country. Using purely altruistic means to inform the public as a community service.

Hogwash.

From my vantage point, the news networks have turned into zealots. See, they picked sides. Then they turned politics into a bloodsport. All in an effort to drive ad sales. And convince you to buy a MyPillow. Or hire Visiting Angels. Or take Humira. Or buy a Subaru and go camping. I hate camping.

The problem with picking sides is that the news is subjective. It can be influenced by your position and perspective. Is it a 6 or a 9? Depends.

The only high-ground these networks can claim is the profitability high ground.

Variety predicts that Fox News Channel will make $1.32 billion in advertising this year, while CNN will make $773.1 million and MSNBC $723.1 million.

They are selling carefully curated Outrage Porn, and we ended up with two ass-clowns trying to “out-jerk” each other on national TV. No wonder it wasn’t broadcast until after 9pm.

Trust me, the media loved that dumpster-fire of a debate during the Presidential campaign. Thee news media hated our last President. But, all of the news networks saw enormous ratings declines after the election. I’m not making an argument for Trump here. I’m making an argument that the new media had a love/hate relationship with his dumpster fire approach to politics. He drove historic ratings for these networks.

In the second quarter of 2021, CNN experiencing the biggest year-over-year drop in prime time, down 57%. Fox News declined by 42%, and MSNBC had the smallest drop among total viewers in prime, down 37%.

So how did we get to this point? A point where the formerly independent media can choose sides and turn politics into the new professional wrestling?

In the widely acclaimed book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, Nobel Prize winning author Daniel Kahneman takes us on a journey of the mind.

According to Kahneman, we have two ways of thinking. The first is intuitive and emotional.

That’s what makes Ted Turner such a genius. As the founder of CNN, Turner knew that the news is intuitive and emotional. And, the news is never resolved. Time is always limited. Stories are always evolving. That’s why they always close an emotional interview by saying, “well, we’ll have to leave it there for now.” The suggestion is that the conversation is ongoing, unresolved.

Ted Turner knew that, if given a choice, you’ll react using Daniel Kahneman‘s first way of thinking. You’ll react from intuition and emotion. The problem is that our intuition and emotions are not always reliable ways to process information. Fast, but not necessarily reliable. We tend to react first-and think second.

And, that’s how they suck you in. They use fear. Fear of losing something you value. Like your freedom, your health, your lifestyle, etc. You get the point. The fear of losing these things will make you pretty darn emotional and afraid.

See, making you afraid is like setting the hook on a large mouth bass. From there they can drag you around Lake Anxiety by your pie hole.

In the book, All the News That’s Fit to Sell, economist James Hamilton writes:

Daniel Kahneman‘s second way of thinking is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. In an earlier era, news readers tried to reach you with this way of thinking and processing information. Back when individual thought was encouraged in the newsroom. And the goal was to inform and stimulate viewers, not to anger and motivate viewers. Think, Walter Cronkite and, maybe, Paul Harvey.

I’m not suggesting that the news networks are lying to us, necessarily. I am suggesting that they know your inherent biases. They spend millions of dollars learning how to exploit those biases. They use the right words and inflections to make you emotional and afraid of the other team.

See, one of the things they figured out is that we aren’t really pursuing truth. We want to be right. We want to be affirmed in our anger, fear and anxiety. Like raw meat to rabid dog.

The problem is that if you’re always listening to the same perspective, you’ve stopped growing & learning as a human being. You’re basically saying that you are satisfied with where you are and who you are. No room for new ideas or perspectives on extremely complex issues. No humility.

But, more simply, the key to the news biz is simply repetition. If the talking heads repeat themselves 86 times a day, that repetition breeds confidence in the message. Even if the message is heavily influenced by the network’s own bias. Here are two examples:

Since it’s just you and me talking here, I’m gonna go out in a limb. I bet you think one of those two statements is true. Or at least you think one is more likely to be true than the other, right?

According to Kahneman:

From my vantage point, I have not personally witnessed any evidence that either of these statements is true. But my own emotion and bias may lead me to believe one over the other.

Part of that bias is based on my own ignorance. See I’m not a microbiologist or a virologist. I barely passed high school Biology. Therefore, any opinion I hold on them is purely a result of my own emotion and bias….and a touch of fear.

As my friend Darren Fink said recently: “The greatest aspect of transformational faith is recognizing how often we’rewrong about everything.” That takes humility. Humility keeps us open to new ways of thinking. Humility tends to make us wiser, smarter. Humility is the fastest way to enhance your own growth as a human being.

These days, when we hear something that doesn’t align with our bias, we automatically dismiss it. No humility. This is the fastest way to stunt your own growth as a human being.

As I wrote this story I kept hearing the words of Howard Beale. He was the iconic TV news anchor in the 1976 movie Network. Beale, a network news anchor, loses his marbles on national TV. His epic rant is downright prophetic nearly 50 years later:

Here’s a summary in his words. Or you can click here to watch the scene:

I think crazy Howard captures the way we are all feeling. Don’t you want a famous news reader to lose their marbles on TV? I do.

A New Paradigm

I think you and I can agree that there is almost no altruism left in the news biz. And that we are willing suckers in this charade. The mission and the method is painfully clear.

I think we could get to a better place in this country if we set a new paradigm in motion. It’s common sense, but common sense isn’t a flower that grows in everyone’s garden:

Let’s turn off these greedy, self-serving, biased news networks. All of them. They only seek to divide this country and to foment fear and anxiety. They’re the worst virus of all.

And, most importantly, let’s go back to loving thy neighbor as thyself.

If you enjoyed this story, I’d be grateful if you email it to a few friends. Maybe they’ll turn off the news for a few minutes.

In the meantime, let’s resolve to be open, honest & kind to each other. To listen without judgement and to defund the media, not the police.

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