If 2020 and 2021 have confirmed anything, it is that the mainstream media is thoroughly dishonest. Most people suspected this already, but the past couple of years proved beyond a doubt that those suspicions were correct.
More specifically, 2021 has made it clear that the mainstream media is a propaganda arm of political and corporate elitists.
While there have been a few shining examples of independent and mostly unbiased journalism in the MSM, these moments are as rare as Loch Ness Monster sightings… and are almost as unbelievable. The public has been lied to so consistently that sometimes we ignore legitimate journalism when it pops up because it’s safer to assume the media is disingenuous at all times.
I’ve noticed that there’s been a wash of commercials lately paid for by major legacy media platforms like The New York Times desperately trying to convince the masses that they are still relevant. The messaging is essentially that they are the only “true source” of news information in a desperate bid to beg people to start subscribing and reading their hot garbage once again. Leftist media is crumbling, with online propaganda peddlers and clickbait prostitutes like Buzzfeed and Vox imploding from lack of outside investment. The lack of profits is obvious, and the layoffs have been aggressive.
These platforms survived for the past few years on tech media hype and initial startup capital, but the free money has run out and now they don’t know what to do. Buzzfeed’s scheme was to go public and sell shares, but this plan failed so completely, and the company’s stock plunged so hard that the event has exposed all other fledgling tech media to wider scrutiny. In other words, no one has faith in these outlets, at least not enough to invest in them, and now the veil of their supposed “success” has been lifted. Buzzfeed used to claim they were worth $1.5 billion; reality revealed they are worth almost nothing.
Legacy media has seen its audience numbers plummet over the past 10 years, but the last year, in particular, has been especially unkind to them. All of the major corporate news channels saw their audience ratings decline in the past year, with CNN seeing the largest drop overall. CNN saw an epic decline of 68 percent in its primetime numbers in 2021, while MSNBC now has the smallest prime-time audience it has seen since 2016. Fox also dealt with audience declines but continues to remain the most-watched cable news outlet by far.
Some might blame the loss of election coverage, but it’s not as if there hasn’t been enough news to hype in 2021. With millions of people still working from home and facing intermittent COVID restrictions this year (in blue states), you would think that this would represent a captive audience for the fear machine. Hell, even YouTube and other social media are forcing MSM content into our faces daily. Yet, their numbers are still plunging, and now YouTube has removed the “Dislike” button just to protect corporate media and the White House from the hilarious bombardment of thumbs-down they receive on every video.
So, where are people turning for their news if not the mainstream? While stats are not as well-tracked for independent sources, it is obvious from viewership and subscription numbers that alternative media is quickly becoming the dominant force in information. My own audience numbers have jumped at least 30 percent in the past two years alone, and this seems to be the trend across the board for conservative and libertarian media. Websites like Social Blade which tracks YouTube channel stats support the conclusion that the alternative media is becoming the go-to media.
Why is this happening? It’s actually been a long time coming. Mainstream media numbers have been in decline for many years and their audience age brackets have been increasing dramatically. This accelerated after 2016 when the mainstream media mask came off completely and what we now know as the “Culture War” revealed itself. For example, the migration of audiences is undeniable in entertainment and pop culture media.
Mainstream platforms funded by a steady cash flow from the corporate coffers of Disney, Time Warner, Comcast, Viacom, etc, used to reign supreme in entertainment publications. Moderately sized tech media operations clamored to remain in the good graces of these corporations in exchange for favors and special access. Now, operations with billions of dollars behind them are being thwarted by low-cost do-it-yourself YouTube channels like Geeks And Gamers, The Quartering, Nerdrotic, Clownfish TV, etc. The bloodletting has been so horrific that social media companies (with a shared agenda) have partnered with the majors to suppress these types of channels, demonetizing them or blocking some of them completely.
Alternative channels get so much attention because they offer something people want… an honest opinion and analysis, instead of an opinion bought and paid for with corporate advertising dollars.
In the political and social sphere, there have been numerous success stories, including Joe Rogan’s podcast, Steven Crowder, Ben Shapiro, Blaze TV’s You Are Here, Tim Pool the list goes on and on. In economic media, outlets like Zero Hedge continue to bring in millions of readers that most other mainstream institutions wish they had.
To be sure, some of these information sources are still playing catch-up to those of us once considered “conspiracy theorists” a couple of decades ago. That’s OK. I have been working and publishing within the alternative media for 16 years now, and I don’t think many who are new to the field realize how much Americans have broken free from the mainstream narrative in that time. At the time I got started, to even dream of the audience numbers we now have was considered foolish, and I continue to find great hope in the growth of independent journalism overall.
The fact of the matter is, for decades corporate institutions conned the masses into believing only they were qualified to act as gatekeepers and guardians of the information bottleneck. Only they were the true “journalists.” They have now lost the respect of the public and their gatekeeping is over. And on that note, let’s examine just a few of the reasons why trust in the mainstream has imploded. Let’s look at some of the biggest lies perpetuated by the MSM in 2021…
The Jan. 6 “Insurrection”
Probably one of the fakest news stories of the decade. The mainstream media has relentlessly parroted the propaganda that the conservative protest on Jan. 6 was some kind of planned attempt at a national takeover and violent coup resulting in multiple deaths. The reality was much less sexy.
First, the FBI has been forced to admit there is little evidence supporting the claim that the protest was an organized coup. And when an institution that is extremely hostile to patriots admits this, you know the government has nothing.
Not a single death originally attributed to the Jan. 6 protesters was actually caused by them, so that tall tale has been tossed in the memory hole. While there was some violence and an unarmed protester was shot and killed by police (Ashli Babbitt), the result of the event was nothing close to an insurrection. Protesters walked in, milled around for a little while, some people took some souvenirs, and then everyone left. It can barely be considered a “riot.” Compare this to the BLM riots across the country which resulted in multiple actual killings by people directly participating, not to mention billions of dollars in property damage. The media called these riots “peaceful protests” while attacking the Jan. 6 participants as monsters.
When conservatives protest something at least we go to the source instead of burning down the homes and businesses of innocent people. And I want to explain something else to leftists because I don’t think they get it. When you do see a conservative “insurrection” (rebellion against centralized tyranny), they will not be unarmed like we were on Jan. 6, and they will not stop until all corrupt elements of the establishment are removed from power. If you were hiding under your beds over the events of Jan. 6, you really have no clue.
The Texas Power Grid Failure
Wow, what a politically charged mess the coverage of this event was. Multiple people die from a freak winter storm hitting Texas and taking down parts of their independent power grid and the first thing the mainstream media does is write stories about how this “proves they could never secede.” These people are obsessed with centralization to the point that they lose their minds if you generate your own electricity.
Paul Krugman, a notorious propagandist for the establishment, went on a tirade in The New York Times dismissing any and all evidence that federally funded Wind Turbine failures led to the Texas power grid crisis. The facts on this are buried to this day.
The numbers prove Paul Krugman and the MSM utterly wrong. The Mises Institute published a comprehensive article on this based on analysis from the Institute for Energy Research, but I’ll summarize:
The MSM and Paul Krugman argued that the entire incident was caused by Texas’ ill-prepared natural gas-powered grid and that Wind Turbines had nothing to do with it. By extension, the MSM asserted that this makes any notion of a state like Texas becoming independent from centralized governance and a centralized grid “laughable.” It’s important to note that Krugman offers no real stats to support his arguments. An “economist” should know better.
The truth is that failing wind turbines were indeed the primary source of the grid decline. Leading up to the winter storm in February, wind turbines were generating around 28 percent of Texas power while natural gas was providing 43 percent. By the end of the freeze, wind power had dropped to 6 percent while natural gas took up the slack and increased to 65 percent of the grid. In other words, Krugman either lied, or he was oblivious to the actual stats; while there were failures in some natural gas plants, the majority of the fault was in federally funded wind power. During the grid down crisis, natural gas lost 7 percent of its overall output while the federally funded wind turbines lost 47 percent output. THIS IS A FACT.
Also keep in mind that power demand in the state skyrocketed at this time breaking all previous records, perhaps because over a million people had just transplanted to Texas in a matter of months. And here is where we find what is likely the core motive behind the media’s lies about Texas. The establishment does not want Americans to migrate and congregate to fight against the mandates.
Texas is a top region where liberty-minded people are relocating, so it makes sense that the media would try to turn a tragedy caused by federal green energy incentives into an attack on a state they see as a bastion of hope against medical tyranny.
Fauci’s Gain of Function Research
Anthony Fauci is perhaps the highest-paid liar in recent history, but his lies go beyond simply acting as a spin doctor for the government. The COVID pandemic has luckily resulted in a very low average Infection Fatality Rate (only 0.27 percent), meaning, over 99.7 percent of the population at any given time have very little to worry about from the virus. With the mild Omicron variant now in circulation, the death numbers are falling even further. However, there have been fatalities that did not need to happen, and Fauci is partly to blame.
Despite the fact that the largest Level 4 virology lab in Asia is in Wuhan, China, right down the street from the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, the mainstream media at the behest of the government and the medical establishment has fought tooth and nail to deny any connection. If this was a murder investigation, it would be like a detective walking in a room to find a dead body and a guy with a bloody knife and then buying the suspect ice cream and sending him on his merry way. If you didn’t witness the actual stabbing, why investigate further?
Why were the U.S. government and the media so adamant about ignoring the obvious? Maybe because government agencies like the NIAD and NIH under the direction of Anthony Fauci were involved in funding clandestine “Gain of Function” research of coronaviruses at that very lab in Wuhan. This would explain why the initial strain of COVID that spread around the world was a 96 percent match to samples held at the lab for at least seven years. The other 4 percent could be attributed to genetic manipulation through gain of function.
Fauci denied any involvement in gain of function research, which is predominantly used for the weaponization of a virus or other microorganisms. The media violently defended him and accused anyone critical of Fauci of being crackpot conspiracy theorists. Well, it turns out he was lying again. The release of over 900 documents related to coronavirus research funded by the U.S. government in Wuhan proves the media either blindly defended Fauci without looking at the evidence or that they share the same agenda.
“Transitory” Stagflation
Mainstream media denial of U.S. inflation has been commonplace for some time. Now, they can’t hide it anymore. With price inflation hitting 40-year highs (according to official numbers), the pocketbook of the average American is now taking a massive hit, and it’s only going to get worse from here on.
The media appears to be specifically invested in hiding real economic data from the public and protecting the Federal Reserve and central banking practices in general. I won’t get into my theories on why this is the case, I’ll only say that an unprepared populace is an easy to control populace when an economic crash occurs.
COVID Keeping Audiences from The Movie Theaters?
The movie industry was on the decline well before the covid pandemic happened, and it is undeniable that this was largely due to the extreme leftist propaganda implanted into Hollywood films since 2016. Yes, it was bad before then, but nowhere near as bad as it has become in the past five years. Hollywood calls this politicization of films “inclusivity,” but having more black and brown people in films is not the issue. Rather, it is the injection of leftist woke ideology and cultism into everything from films to TV series to commercials.
The culture war is very real, and sadly, the biggest mistake of conservatives was to mostly ignore that fight in popular entertainment until recently. There is hope, however, and it is found in the mantra of “Get Woke Go Broke!” Audiences are voting with their wallets and the consensus is that they do not want woke politics poisoning their entertainment. For the past couple of years, leftists in the media have said that the crash in theater profits has been caused by public fear over covid. This excuse was recently destroyed by the latest Spiderman film, which has no woke politics and had audiences coming to theaters by the millions. The film made over $1 billion in five days.
Clearly, COVID is not a factor at all, but if you look at almost every failed movie this past year there is a thread that connects them… woke propaganda. No one wants it, no one likes it. The media has no other means of denying it any longer.
There are many other lies I did not get a chance to cover here, but I think you get the picture. Who knows what the next year will bring in terms of spin from our media gatekeepers? At least, for now, the alternative media has stepped up to fill the void and bring facts where there was once only deception. In order to get rid of the truth, they will have to get rid of us. Otherwise, the free market has spoken.
Brandon Smith
