Around the world and here in the States, mainstream media is frequently a major group of enemies of liberty. The wokeness, political correctness, social justice warrior agenda and many other characteristics are obvious. Various reasons are postulated for this bias.

Why are the media this way? And how did that happen? It appears that the modern media is totally different than what existed in the first quarter of the last century. And even in the third quarter (1950-1975). What caused this?

By media, we refer to both print and broadcast media. Not just newspapers and magazines but the entire publishing industry, from romance novels to textbooks, porn to religion. And what I’ll loosely call “broadcast” to include television and radio but also the internet. Let us look at the print side today.

We recognize there is a clear distinction between the periodicals – especially newspapers and news magazines – and other publications. But the wokeness seems to infect all types of “mainstream” (large-scale commercial and industrial publishing). Can we distinguish between mainstream and “other” (alternative?) press?

Let’s try.

Mainstream press include the big ten: New York Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Chicago Tribune, Newsday, Boston Globe, and of course USA Today, right? Those are the “national/international scale.” Of these, all are labeled as “liberal” with the possible exception of the “moderate” Wall Street Journal and the “conservative” New York Post. And some, like Newsday and the Minneapolis Star Tribune, have far less national influence compared to the big six. Below the top tier is a large (but shrinking) number of regional newspapers. Like the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Denver Post, Houston Chronicle, Arizona Republic, and other regional papers. With another tier below that: several dozen in smaller urban areas like Miami, Dallas-Fort Worth, Seattle, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Kansas City, and more.

It sounds like a plethora of voices, doesn’t it?

But it is not – the editorial stance, the way stories are oriented (dare we call them “slanted?”), the news which is not “fit to print, all are strikingly similar, with little real difference. Even the so-called moderate and conservative publications.

And then you start looking at who really owns and actually publishes all these publications, and do enough digging, it is a different story.

It isn’t even the firms that own the newspapers: most are holding companies. Just two of the Top Ten are owned by the same company: Robert Murdoch’s News Corporation. It appears not to be the investors, but rather the boards and management. Their connections are numerous, and there are educational, social, family, and other ties. It seems that the people who call the shots in these big media companies are networked without clear hierarchies but with a strong shared purpose.

Steven Lindman, a columnist over at Freedom’s Phoenix, calls the MSM prostitutes (presstitutes?) and writes of “government-approved lies.” Perhaps he is looking out the wrong end of the binoculars? It is not that “government” controls the media, and perhaps media doesn’t control government. But both are trying to get the upper hand. And in the meantime, they both treat the rest of us with distain, as a crop to be cultivated and harvested.

The network extends well down the food chain, as well: not just the national and major regional newspapers but the third- and fourth-tier daily newspapers. And even the twice-weekly and weekly newspapers in many smaller communities. To see one example, visit the Gannett website (publisher of USA Today) and see not just how many but how small many of the newspapers Gannett publishes are suburban and rural “small-town” papers! And just plain, how many they own.

Many local weekly newspapers in tiny rural communities now are owned and operated by big media firms, and therefore in the network of the lying mainstream media to greater and greater degree. The bias and outright lies get spread even wider, and people have less and less of a voice.

Much of this negates the increase in our ability to exercise our God-given freedom of speech made possible by such inventions as the photo copier, home printers, and the internet.

But in the long run, we here at TPOL believe that people – and liberty – will win, even over the mainstream media.