However, it brings up something I have been pointing out for quite some time. That corporate media is nothing but advertising for the very industries which destroy this country.
Many people still think the NYT is a valid news source. Think about this. NYT is literally right around the corner from Wall Street. They are only blocks apart in Manhattan. Consider where NYT gets most of their revenue. No, not from subscriptions. From advertising. Advertising by Wall Street firms. The only actual purpose of subscriptions is to expose as many people as possible to their advertisers.
Consider that their financial section is considered so highly. By whom? People on Wall Street. With articles written by Wall Street professionals. So you have articles written by Wall Street, read by Wall Street and Wall Street wannabes with advertising by Wall Street, praised by Wall Street.
What makes you think the rest of their paper is not influenced so highly by Wall Street? Because they say it's not? I have a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you.
The same is true for all MSM. How do broadcast stations gain revenue? How do cable "news" stations make profits? Advertising.
I have been advising people for years to pay attention to certain things when they watch the news, cable news, investigative report programs. Don't walk out of the room when the ads come on. Pay attention to who is paying for those ads. Drug companies, insurance companies, political ads. Not to mention Raytheon and Boeing.
Then ask yourself, if they are making money from these advertisers, do you actually think they are going to report anything which goes against what their advertisers want? When was the last time you heard any "news" station speak against any military intervention the US may even potentially get involved in? It's literally been decades since they did. Because their military contractor advertisers expect the "news" to promote the next war and the next war and the next war.
How do they do this? By getting you angry and afraid. Convinced that you are in danger from some small country on the other side of the planet that you may have never heard of. A country that has never issued a threat to us. Maybe they've said they don't like us. Guess what? Protests in other countries against the US are not a threat. It is people voicing an opinion, letting off steam. Usually because we have caused problems for their country, their citizens. Many people around the world have a right to be angry with us. But if they are burning flags or effigies on their streets, those are their streets, not ours.
Meanwhile they also advertise the latest drug and convince you how sick you are when you felt fine yesterday. The latest gadget to make you feel inferior of you don't buy it. Insurance which costs so much that you cannot afford your car payment or your doctor's visit after paying the premiums.
They promise to inform you, then tell you their paid opinion. What to think, rather than giving you facts and giving you credit for thinking for yourself. They offer "unnamed anonymous sources" with no evidence and present this as fact which you should believe. They ask "what if" and have you believing their fiction is reality which has happened.
This is true for print or internet media as well. Look at who their advertisers are. Then you will know what their position on any subject will be.
The best thing any person can do is turn off corporate media. You will find your anxiety level decrease very quickly. Then find independent news sources for your information. Ones that present facts and references which can be verified. If you want to know what fake news IS, it is any "news" source that offers their opinion more than they offer facts. That scream their outrage, that cheer for actions which cause deaths and danger. The ones that gloss over suffering on countries we deem "enemies". The ones that get you angry against one party or another. That always have military authorities talking about how military action is the only option. Insurance professionals telling you how bad universal healthcare would be (in between insurance ads). Hedge fund managers telling you how to pump up their profits while you watch your life savings drain away. Telling you that 2008 will never happen again. They said the same thing in 2007.
Every time you watch MSM, you increase their profits. You reward them for the lies they tell you. Meaning they will tell you more lies tomorrow and the next day and the next. They get paid for it. They will not tell you the truth when the truth makes no money. Even if the lies are literally killing you or millions of people around the planet, they will keep telling the lies. For money. To keep watching or reading it, you are complicit.
During the 2016 election cycle, millions said they were fed up with the system. Yet most keep feeding that system.
If you want change, then the change must start with you.