One thought on “ABC’s ‘left-wing bias’ upsets conservatives”

  1. As one who has consumed the news regularly since the late 1980s, I’d say the field of mainstream/legacy journalism has mostly become overly corporatized and neo-liberally deceitful, but not left-wing biased.

    In Canada’s case, for example, Postmedia, which among many other Canadian publications also owns both of our national daily newspapers, is on record allying itself with not only the planet’s second most polluting forms of carbon-based “energy” but also THE MOST polluting/dirtiest crude oil, bitumen.

    During a presentation, it was stated: “Postmedia and [Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers] will bring energy to the forefront of our national conversation. Together, we will engage executives, the business community and the Canadian public to underscore the ways in which the energy sector powers Canada.”

    And a few years ago, Postmedia had acquired a lobbying firm with close ties to Alberta Premier Jason Kenney in order to participate in his government’s $30 million PR “war room” in promoting the industry’s interests. And in May of 2021, the newspaper giant refused to run paid ads by Leadnow, a social and environmental justice organization, that exposed the Royal Bank of Canada as the largest financer of the nation’s fossil fuel extraction.

    Seemingly long ago, mainstream journalism tended to challenge the powers-that-be in order to truly comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable in an increasingly unjust global existence. Now, so much of it has become a profession motivated more by a regular company paycheck and frequently published name/face with stories or opinions — a buck and a byline, so to speak. … Perhaps such corporately compromised and subjective journalism has become normalized.

    Also troubling is that mainstream news-outlet websites [e.g. The Washington Post’s] are increasingly converting to ‘pay-to-say’ formats, where the reader is allowed to consume the article without charge but must buy a subscription in order to comment on the article.

    Meantime, there still are reporters and editors who will (as though with big innocent fawn-like eyes) reply to accusations of subjective journalism with, ‘Who, me? I’m just the messenger.’ … Whatever the news media may be, they are not ‘just the messenger’; nor are they just a reflection of the communities in which they circulate.

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