(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . News is just business. Controversy Trump(s) Truth. Hold that audience whatever it takes. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-08-10 The business of the news media is to bring us truth and the latest news. Certain media outlets repeatedly tell you that they have the only truth and that you must watch them. When I hear that, I hear ‘propaganda’. Various religions make the same claim. And yet all these other religions exist. Evangelicals and conservative media make for good bedfellows interestingly brought together by a morally bankrupt President Trump . Other outlets merely report the news and let you decide for yourselves and provide hyperlinks so you can check them. When anything claims to be only the holder of truth, that should be a red flag — that is a confidence game. But what does news and truth mean? Is there a responsibility for the greater good? And how do you make that decisions on what the greater good is? President Trump's words have weight with a great number of people. Anything President Trump then says is news worthy. Good or bad, like it or not, he is a center of attention. Mr. Murdoch’s media empire has been a significant platform for President Trump, the GOP and conservative voices. Having a loyal following and regular viewers means ad revenue you can count on. Advertisers then get demographic information to decide if this is their best place to advertise. I joke that the NPR listeners buy recycled plastic water bottles, electric cars, and hemp tote bags. The Fox news listeners get pick up trucks, gun racks and beer. Targeted advertising. But, if Mr. Murdoch started dictating those views to his organization he would plant seeds of doubt and lose his audience, and they would probably abandon Fox news. So then Mr. Murdoch has to consider his money, his share holders, and his advertisers in addition to those views and any responsibility he might feel in the conduct of his businesses. It’s just business. But what to do? The whole stolen election 'big lie' story was disproven time after time. Lawsuits lost Recounts certified and yet President Trump insisted that the election was stolen. Poll workers were denigrated, accused, tried in public, and persecuted. Let the stolen election claim fester, give it air time, work the crowd up and let the chips fall where they may. No other news item can give us this kind of audience attention so run with it. Murdoch’s accountants can then review the revenue from the audience over the course of the 'big lie' new story life cycle (still going) versus the ultimate payout and legal fees incurred in the dominion lawsuit. But, there are other lawsuits coming. And with dominion there was a settlement so no trial and no apology. An apology would be a big problem — we’d have to admit we lied, or we can single someone out as a liar and blame them. So Tucker Carlson is then tossed out and made the devil, He was the liar. Fire him and regain our integrity. Carlson has money. He’ll be fine (if we even cared). Pity to lose a good source of revenue, but we have to listen to the bean counters. Then again…..Tucker can wail and moan and we’ll cover that story and get more news! More news, more ad revenue, more money. We can even stoke that controversy. Even if Fox loses more money, does it outweigh the profits? Does it outweigh audience loyalty and future revenue? What do you think the Obama/Birther controversy was worth in ad click-throughs? Controversy is great for social media and the news. People pay attention. People argue. While they do so, you can sell them stuff. The more information you have on your audience, the more you can micro-target them for specific products. Mr. Murdoch's deposition, views and the dominion lawsuit brief do not appear in any fox new sites. His deposition , which is news worthy to me, was omitted. And I find omitted facts on many news sites which is why I cross reference articles. But that takes time and can be hard. Mr. Murdoch then is looking out for his own best interests while his media company convinces others to ignore theirs. Sort of like that mega church evangelical preacher who convinces an old lady to skip a meal while padding his pockets And Mr. Murdoch may dislike liberal causes and he might have good reasons. Since he owns a media company, his interests become interests to talk about. He may even adopt interests that further hold his viewers. After all, he never bought the stolen election lie, so, what will bring in the audience? He wants people who think the right way and believe the right things. Many others went to jail. Other commentators then provide the audience what they wanted to hear. They provide an echo chamber for President Trump and the GOP. Keep repeating the disproven big lie. Some of that audience decided to go to the capital to protest, some went to watch, and some went with criminal intent. At least one person died from that So here we have a President who made a claim, a news network that reported it, commentators who went on about it, a political rally, a riot, criminal charges for the cranks and even better criminal charges for President Trump who is now a martyr . On the down side we had to settle a lawsuit, pay out of hundreds of millions, some people lost their jobs, but we retained our audience and their continued attention for ad revenue. And the big boss thought it was crap. But there’s a sucker born every minute and a good musician plays to the house. Profits override duty, honor and country. In fact, many American’s see money as validity. The more money you have, the more valid you are. Life styles of the rich and famous. The liberals want to make it better for the common man, but there is not enough money to go around (or so we’ve been told). And if we make it or win the lottery, well, that is OUR money you are talking about. Your commentators can continue gassing on about the big lie in trial phase and those seeking to ride your coattails in politics pledge allegiance to retain their/your/our audience and voting power base. Your party remains mostly silent on criminal charge after criminal charge after criminal charge. We can then see the importance of the audience and the 'power of President Trump's Pulpit'. It’s just the price of doing business regardless of fallout. For the country it was casting doubt and instilling suspicion in the very same election process that elected President Trump in the first place when he lost the popular vote. They took our great democracy and crapped on it when things didn’t go their way. For advertisers they continued to sell products and services to that audience. For Tucker Carlson it was getting scapegoated. For those ardent supporters it is jail time and perhaps lives ruined. For the audience/party members the story continues, our tribe was picked on, our leader was treated unfairly, and even if he is guilty of being wrong and telling another lie, we still support him. We can always dig up some rumor or secret person who can cast a doubt our followers are desperate to glom on to. President Trump is being picked on by a weaponized justice department ( he weaponized himself when it suited him ). Some want the American President Trump promised us. Some want to make America Great again which means turning back the clock. Perhaps all these new things scare us and we are already stressed about our jobs, and our health. There are people that want to believe that President Trump could turn back that clock. Certainly President Trump helped his loyalists in the pro-life movement to the determent of many. President Trump did turn back the clock in that respect. If only it was like the values we saw on TV and certain topics were not talked about. Simple black and white issues. Girls were girls. Boys were Boys. Girls married boys. (despite concepts of 'peoples of the two spirits' going back to day one with native Americans) And none of this black lives matter stuff (despite the protests and riots of the 1960s we grew up with under the leadership of Martin and Malcom). And I can go on. And unfortunately that turning back the clock affects us all with the continued battle for reproductive rights, equal rights, mental health, access to the vote and equal representation, and people being punished simply for who they are. It's just business. “We don’t make the news — we just report it.” Was it worth it? Was it any different than Hearst's influence in the Spanish American war? 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