The White House has issued a new order of control concerning which journalists will be permitted to cover President Donald Trump. By diving into a third-eye perspective of politics, separate from ideals, we can start to understand the implications, effects and underlying goals of this new policy.
I view political influential control of the media as a threat to mental autonomy. I also want to emphasize why it is so imperative to be aware of the underlying goals of all the media we consume.
Every day we are fed targeted bits of information, so much so that we may not even realize it. When I say fed, I literally mean the feed that you scroll through when you open Instagram, X, Facebook or even Snapchat.
These feeds are algorithms that track your every move; when you click through websites, search something up, download new apps or interact with virtually anything on your phone. This algorithm is created by those who pay to have their media presented.
What does it mean when companies or individuals with monopolized control over our daily apps are now working for a far-right president? Think Mark Zuckerberg, owner of Meta (Instagram, Facebook, Threads, WhatsApp), Jeff Bezos, who owns Amazon and Elon Musk, who owns X.
That being said, it can’t hurt to question the intentions of the content that comes across our phones.
Day by day, minute by minute, we are shown things that will ignite what the media wants us to feel. Clickbait, outrageous headlines and what is shown to us are all angled perfectly so that our interpretation, or views and responses to said media, are perfectly garnered.
Essentially, we are fed B.S. every day, B.S. that behind the scenes consists of corporations, organizations, lobbyists and more all feeding their information into media outlets that, in turn, show us things in favor of the big money that is backing them.
To make a statement: Fox News pushes frameworks of right-wing ideals, CNN pushes left-wing and news in general pushes to bring us out of reality by telling us the terrors of the world. These frameworks exist in realities of their own, realities that simply reject the existence of alternate perspectives.
When you are fed such frameworks with underlying goals of sending subliminal messages, you start to simply believe without questioning (and become very defensive when someone tries to question you).
We can turn on our televisions and devote ourselves to following the framework of worldly doom and dismay the news presents. Or we can turn off our televisions, go into town and see that everything is, for the most part, simply fine.
The same interactions go for Fox News, CNN or any alternative news source with a hidden agenda of pleasing their sponsors; this hidden agenda is shown in the form of only presenting narrowing frameworks that support their sponsors’ ideals.
You watch CNN, you believe CNN. You watch Fox News, you believe Fox News.
Yet, I would argue that beliefs stemming from these forms of media aren’t really beliefs at all. Media, specifically news information, is formed to produce a predetermined response.
Touching on the current movement of consolidation of power regarding who controls the media, we can further understand the intentions of what is shown to us and who is creating the algorithms pushing us into frameworks that determine how we feel and think.
Seeing Trump’s move to narrow the scope of his media representation is the ultimate monopoly of influential power to the most daunting extent. Considering the public susceptibility to news media, I believe many Americans will not understand the implications of this shrinking representation.
Fox News’s compliance to push Trump’s ideals, speeches and use of offensive language, his ability to force compliance and now his selectively biased journalists’ opinions on him are examples of this media movement. I would argue this framework, the one Trump has created, is a false reality for the world existing outside of his influence.
Enlighten yourself by searching for the world that does exist outside of this influence, and take with you a sense of awareness about the media you are being fed. When abstractly looking at America’s media through this enlightened lens, it is easy to pick up on patterns of frameworks that exist separately from each other and jarringly from the reality of oneself and the world.
Roger Ailes, a former chairman and CEO of Fox News, speaks on the existence of these false realities.
“If you tell people what to think, you’ve lost them,” he said. “If you tell them how to feel, they’re yours.”
This quote highlights the exploitive intentions behind media outlets pushing specific frameworks. When we attach ourselves to such frameworks, we submit ourselves to a news source to guide the way we think instead of taking a step back, being critical and guiding our selves and minds.
That being said, Trump is narrowing our scope and perception, refining the framework under which he can be perceived. Consequently, he is further entrapping loyalty, not by our own belief in him, but by manipulating us and feeding us only one version of the story.
He is creating a false reality. Trump’s actions feel like the final cap to a monopoly of consolidation of control over how he is viewed and the public’s access to information.
When we watch the news, we don’t form our opinions by ourselves. We see, we believe.
The media has borne such a tactic to override an individual’s ability to decipher personal values and beliefs from what is fed through a screen.
If you think you are immune to these effects, yet still sit back and advocate for a specific authority figure, news outlet or political position, I beg you to sit back, think deeper and truly analyze what is influencing you to have such beliefs.
Question what you are told instead of simply accepting it — no influence, figure or news outlet is immune to the skepticism of your mind. The skepticism you are entitled to have, regarding any aspect of the world, is the ultimate freedom of life and self.
Don’t allow yourself to think in terms of left or right. Abstractly decipher how you feel based on the influence of your values instead.
When we detach from our influences and frame our beliefs from our sense of mind and self, we stop arguing over politicians. We find a sense of discussion over what we hold to be our true realities instead.