Interviews

Author: No Difference Between Comedians, Entertainers and Journalists

Political strategist Liz Sheld torches 'Corporate Media' in essential new book

The Mainstream Media. The Corporate Press. Legacy Media. Call it what you wish, but one thing is clear.

The institution in 2024 is corrupt beyond measure. Disagree? Consider this one point that slams the case shut.

We learned beyond a shadow of a doubt during the June 27 presidential debate that Joe Biden is suffering from a serious, still-undisclosed medical condition that impacts his brain function.

It’s why he’s no longer running for re-election.

Now, how many corporate media platforms have investigated the matter? Which journalists have quizzed Vice President Kamala Harris on how she covered up Biden’s obvious, dementia-like symptoms?

Where are the investigative pieces on a White House that spent three-plus years hiding Biden’s condition? We know the answer to all of the above, and it speaks volumes.

That’s why “Against the Corporate Media” exists.

The new book, subtitled, “42 Ways the Press Hates You,” invited a gaggle of scribes to weigh in on the subject. Think Andrew Klavan, Jon Gabriel, Nick Searcy, Larry O’Connor, Elizabeth Sheld, Kurt Schlichter, Roger L. Simon and Glenn Reynolds AKA Instapundit.

The Amazon description says it all:

The citizens of Western democracies have been relentlessly propagandized, lied to, and fed a steady diet of distortions and untruths by their media for decades. Editor Michael Walsh brings together a stellar collection of critical thinkers and writers to explain how and why this is happening, its negative effects on our democracies, and what we can do to reverse it.

Sheld, a veteran political strategist, opened up to HiT about her section of the book and why she didn’t hesitate to join the project.

HiT: There’s never been a better time for a book like this … talk about your contribution and why you wanted to address this part of the problem?

Sheld: My friend Michael Walsh called me and told me he was editing a book called “Against the Corporate Media” and I immediately said “yes” even though I had no idea what his ask was. As it were, he wanted me to write an essay on the media’s bias against firearms.

I wanted to address this problem because I think media bias on all topics is very problematic. The media’s job is to inform the public on matters of importance and interest, but they have become political actors using their once-trusted platform and name to advocate for a specific worldview.

Many people still trust the media and are unaware the media operates to advance political goals. The result is that their audiences believe they are absorbing information that is factual when it is really no different than a company advertising a product. As a result, people vote and advocate for political and community change based on incomplete and often erroneous information.

As far as firearms are concerned, the media functions as an authority on firearms for those who are uneducated on the topic, so their bias and repeated “mistakes” are teaching people who believe they are learning from someone neutrally transmitting information.

We saw a similar situation with the COVID virus where people assumed the media was giving them and amplifying the “science” but we would later learn most of the science was self-interested and arbitrary, a fact easily determined by the media at the time. There are people wearing masks and getting vaccine boosters to this day despite the public information that has questioned their efficacy.

HiT: The press collectively shed any pretense of objectivity during the Trump years. Liberal bias existed prior to his ascension, though (just ask Bernard Goldberg). How bad was the bias prior to Trump’s election? Did you briefly hope it might get better when President Joe Biden took office?

Sheld: The media was certainly biased before Trump but it was more subtle. Now, major newspapers carry editorials about why it is necessary they abandon the pretense of objectivity. Those of us on the Right have known for a long time the media was selectively presenting information.

We knew this because certain claims didn’t sit right with us and gradually alternative outlets would appear with a set of facts the media withheld. It’s important to remember these corporate behemoths have millions invested in their operations to fact check and research their content.

The only reason information and details are missing from their reporting is by choice. Random people on Twitter/X got to the bottom of many false stories the media was selling while a well-oiled and funded machine at a cable news network could not…or rather would not.

Back in the olden days, we had the Media Research Center as the lone organization addressing media bias. Now every center-right media outlet is talking about media bias.

I did not think things would get better during a Biden regime because the operation the media ran against Trump was successful. They were empowered and if they could take down a president with the help of aligned political forces, they could continue to advance their progressive agenda via the same modus operandi.

A good example of this was the repeated dismissal and blackout of stories related to Biden’s cognitive decline despite its obviousness. Only when the media felt their political interests were threatened did they acknowledge it and that was only to pressure Biden to back out of the race, not to abandon the presidency.

Suddenly, there were stories with anonymous sources revealing the extent of Biden’s impairment. But the media always knew.

HiT: Late-night comedians work hand in hand with corrupt journalists. The latter spread the lie. The former magnifies it through a comic lens. Any thoughts on this symbiotic relationship?

Sheld: At this point in time, I don’t see a difference between comedians, entertainers and journalists. People get “news” from all three of those sources in addition to influencers on a smart phone application controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

I remember when we used to call the White House Correspondents Dinner “nerd prom” but now it resembles the Academy Awards with celebrities and entertainers in attendance and conversely journalists and political pundits regularly attending industry entertainment events.

So really, what is the difference?

Colin Jost to host the 2024 White House Correspondents’ Dinner

HiT: The book promises “what we can do to reverse” the decline of journalism. Can you share a thought or two on this? Are you optimistic about the industry’s rebirth at this point? Or will a new system replace it?

Sheld: Our friend, the great Andrew Breitbart always said “more voices, not less” and that’s really all we can offer to change the trajectory of the media’s bias and disinformation. The more opportunity for curious people to discover the media’s dereliction, the better.

I think the rise of independent journalism and uncensored platforms like Substack and Twitter/X will continue to encroach on the corporate media’s stronghold on “news.”

There’s a growing skepticism among the younger cohort toward corporations and establishment entities, I think the cable news audience and newspaper audience will simple age out.

HiT: We all have friends who still trust the press despite ample evidence of their professional malfeasance. How do we reach out to sane, center-Left people to let them know how corrupt journalism has become … without causing a fight, a cancellation or a friendship termination?

Sheld: I have many life-long friends who are politically different than I am. I like to ask general questions outside of a political framework to encourage them to think. I personally will not lose friends over political differences but that is becoming less and less true of the public as the media has sold the idea of Trump as an extinction-level threat to humanity.

I find that giving or suggesting information they are being denied from corporate media outlets can be helpful but it must be done gently. There’s no real solution to the problem of people who are comfortable being told what to think.

Elizabeth Sheld, PhD. is a veteran political strategist and pollster who specializes in strategic communication and research. Liz writes on liberty issues including firearm policy at outlets such as American Greatness, RealClearPolicy, Breitbart and The Federalist, as well as at PJ Media.

3 Comments

  1. The NYTDisneyABCPBSCBSNBCAmazon Post are NOT going to change.
    They all are leftist Democrat Propaganda organizations. That is what it is.
    I believe a possible answer is to ALWAYS refer to these leftist organizations as Democrat Propaganda every time they are mentioned.
    For example, when JD Vance goes on Democrat ABC, say “thank you for having me on your Democrat Propaganda show”

  2. When this topic comes up, I like to remind everyone about Roone Arledge. He worked for ABC, more or less invented Wide World of Sports, Monday Night Football, etc. Under his leadership, “sports” and “news” merged at ABC. I have a pretty clear recollection that he was mostly responsible for something we suffer from more greatly every day, the ongoing blurring of the distinction between “news” and “entertainment.” Find and stream “Network,” the Chayefsky’s funny/scary version of it. Before Arledge, producing news broadcasts was a kind of sacred trust and a way for the broadcast networks to “pay for” their broadcast licenses, a way for them to give to society something of value in return for society allowing them semi-monopoly positions and control over a scarce public resource, the electromagnetic broadcast spectrum. After Arledge, news shows had to attract eyeballs, had to become profit centers instead of poor relations to be supported by entertainment revenue. Reporters became stars, became much prettier, got titles like “special correspondents” or “journalists” or “anchormen” and they got much improved production values: better clothes, better hair, better sets, better graphics, better music. The primary concern shifted from collecting, organizing and presenting facts toward “putting on a good show” and getting ratings and ad dollars. From Ed Murrow and Lawrence Spivak to David Muir and Lesley Stahl. How’s that workin’ out for ya? Turn them off, read a book, say a prayer.

  3. The idea of a neutral, balanced press is only a relatively recent phenomenon. In the early part of the 20th Century, news outlets were openly partisan and that was what everyone expected.
    The Arkansas Democrat newspaper didn’t get its name for its love of democracy. It was the official state organ of the Democrat Party.
    Throughout the rest of the world, partisan media has always been the norm. They never embraced the idea of neutrality. You simply got your news from the outlet that shared your worldview.
    So you could say that the media is simply reverting back to what it had always been. Which is sad, because I thought the neutrality model was important for a society to grow and strengthen.

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