* Journalists took to the streets in Mexico to condemn the killings of colleagues and demand protection. Since 2000, 148 Mexican journalists—including last week—have been killed.
* “NPR and PBS routinely air views that are stomach-churning to at least half of America … . They use your dollars to change your country through the use of critical race theory as well as woke gender ideology.” Mike Gonzalez, The National Review, with an unsurprising take on NPR and PBS.
* Singer Joni Mitchell is seeking to remove all of her music from Spotify in solidarity with Neil Young. Mitchell and Young are protesting against the streaming service for airing a podcast (Joe Rogan) that enabled the spread of coronavirus misinformation. “Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives,” underscored Mitchell.
* We know, all too well, the democratic-societal impact of social media and partisan news sites and networks—from Facebook and Twitter to Info Wars and Breitbart to Fox and One American News on our politics, most notably at the presidential level. But even this uniquely-disturbing, Trump-era perfect storm has precedent and precursors. There’s always history.
Recall the Cold War. The CIA had its opinion-shaping, mainstream media–including major print and TV network–operatives. And recall Texas oil billionaire H.L. Hunt, who generously supported anti-Communist groups such as the John Birch Society and the political campaigns of Sen. Joe McCarthy. Hunt also funded tax-exempt “news” organizations such as Facts Forum and Lifeline.
But, no, it’s no less scary because we’ve shown our vulnerabilities before.