Mediaboss Marketing

Navel-gazing journalists in establishment media think they are all that stands between democracy and dictatorship. As a result of this self-aggrandizing attitude, they think they must be the final arbiters of what the peasants are allowed to know.

That is the gist of Margaret Sullivans final column in the Washington Post. Sullivan, who is retiring her column and leaving the Post, signed off by giving advice to journalists on covering threats to democracy. After droning on about how great it is that reporters recognize the threat of former President Donald Trump, Sullivan makes her grand proposal: The media should tell people what to think.

Not that that's too surprising, but it's nice to hear them say it out loud.

According to Sullivan, it is better to wait until speeches, rallies, and debates have occurred and then present them packaged with plenty of truthful reporting around them. Voters are too stupid to make decisions for themselves based on what they hear at live campaign events, if Sullivan is to be believed. The media must hold the public's hand and tell them who the good guys are and who the bad guys are.

The Washington Posts equally self-important mantra, Democracy dies in darkness, is outdated. According to Sullivan, democracy can thrive only if establishment media keep voters in the darkness.

This will not work, of course. First of all, there are too many other ways for you to get information. Second, public trust in media is in the toilet, which is probably right where it belongs.

A Gallup poll from June found that only 16% of respondents have trust in newspapers (including Sullivans Washington Post), and 11% trust the television news a record low. Sullivan claims that journalists certainly shouldnt shill for Democrats in 2024, but that claim comes laughably late. Everyone sees how biased outlets like the Post have been for decades and how much worse it has gotten recently. The last thing people want to hear is how those outlets must protect them from live events and offer voters even more of their spin you know, for the sake of "our democracy.

Sullivans reality-based press isnt going to save anyone from anything. At this point, the only people who trust establishment media are the people who work in establishment media and not even all of them. Ordinary people see this for precisely what it is: liberal partisans preening about democracy as an excuse to promote Democrats and oppose Republicans on everything.

Sullivans advice will solve nothing, but perhaps her example can. If reporters with the same worldview as Margaret Sullivan want to restore media trust and truly protect democracy, they can help start that process by retiring now.

The rest is here:
Establishment media mourn their loss of control over the information you receive - Washington Examiner