Non-Stop News as Entertainment Is Driving Us Towards Civil Conflict

The rise of non-stop cable and network television, changing “the news” into an entertainment proposition, is driving our country towards conflict.

That Park Place is not a political website. This article is opinion only and does not purport to claim either side or either party is better than the other in American politics. Instead, the article looks at the dynamic of “news” as “entertainment” and its effect on society at large.

I’ve been thinking hard lately about this topic and how I would want to approach it… if I even want to attempt such a thing. Tackling news as entertainment, and the danger it is presenting, is itself a risky business for this website. Even a whiff of political content can cause serious problems for algorithms. And yet I strongly believe that telling the truth is vital for a healthy society. In fact, it’s probably the most important thing for a healthy society. When people stop telling the truth (note that’s different than a truth or my truth or your truth), look out. Without the truth, things go awry fast and badly.

So it is that I’m going to try to cover an issue that falls within our purview here but also has plenty of pitfalls. It’s a major topic. It’s heavy. And it’s fraught with risk.

Here’s my thesis:

The non-stop presentation of news in a dogmatic, partisan manner is a never-ending, ever-hungry beast of our own invention and it is critically dividing our society, sending us closer and closer to major civil conflict. 

Every day and every night, people are now able to tune into their favored source of news. That tends to mean that they tune into the news that amplifies their biases. If you’re a lefty, you go to MSNBC and CNN. They’re 24/7. If you’re a righty, Fox News is waiting for you. It also is 24/7. Concerningly, however, that’s pretty much all there is for conservatives. Yes, there’s Newsmax and some up-and-coming semi-networks like Blaze TV and Daily Wire… but as far as major outlets that control the airwaves, there’s not much available to conservatives. That’s bad because it concentrates half the country’s preferred news into a singular source. But likewise, it’s equally bad that the left-leaning news is promulgated throughout almost all other news sources. You want the list? CNN, MSNBC, ABC News, NBC News, The New York Times, NPR, USA Today, Time, CBS News, and on and on and on. Even the Associated Press has been labeled as left-leaning lately!

The chart above tells the tale. In order to make it appear balanced to any degree, the chart creators have tried to fill in the spaces as best they can. But the disparity in size of each media organization represented is not equal nor displayed. “The Epoch Times” may be a right-leaning media organization (and it is), but it’s not even on the same hemisphere when it comes to size comparison with, say, USA Today. In other words, almost all the big organizations with global corporate power are sitting on the left side.

So why is that bad? Well, consider that if almost all your corporate powered news is slanted in one direction, that means that the general population is getting inundated with one side’s view of the world.

Thus, our population in the United States is being fed news in essentially two major categories. Most individuals, independent of their own views, are getting their news from the left out of global corporatism. A smaller group is getting their news from Fox News and much smaller organizations. And because there’s money to be made in news presented as entertainment, the escalation between these two groups is growing and growing.

Take for example the recent search / raid on former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. It’s an unprecedented action never taken before in the history of our nation. In fact, it’s probably many steps beyond anything that’s ever even been contemplated. Yet here we are. And the way this unparalleled event is presented to our population is largely dependent on what they’re watching. From most news organizations, based on size and numbers, the entertainment aspect of non-stop “get Trump” is too enticing. Every moment they feed the most unstable and most left-leaning individuals with a never-ending feed of “we’ll get him this time.” The details don’t matter — this is more reality TV than real news anymore. Worse, politicians and bureaucrats are now getting the handle of this dynamic. It’s not convincing most people that the FBI is playing it straight when disgraced agent Peter Strzok is appearing on left-leaning outlets and chatting about the fall of Donald Trump. Yet we’re turning our country into a horrific episode of Honey Boo Boo with this garbage.

On the right, that means the Fox News viewers are feeling like the whole of American institutions are against them. Maybe that’s true and maybe it isn’t, but it sure isn’t good for civil stability. And we really, really need to be a healthy society once more if we’re going to stop a communist China from taking over the world. As many flaws as we might have in the United States, you’d better believe you want to live in this country and a world influenced rather than a world influenced by China in the lead. They’re still running concentration camps, slavery, organ harvesting and more over there. Let them be in charge and this whole world goes to hell.

Here’s the takeaway that all of you need to know, whether you are on the right or the left:

You all need each other. You liberals need conservatives and conservatives need liberals. You all perform important functions for society. Liberals change what needs to be changed, conservatives protect what needs to stay the same. All this postmodernism and communist stuff is separate — that’s a lack of historical understanding to even advocate for it. You’ve misunderstood reality if you’re wanting to go in that direction. A hundred million killed by that belief system in the last century is sufficient I believe.

When it comes to news, we need to separate it from entertainment. We need to do so badly. If you’re watching commentary from the news for the sake of news, fantastic. You should be as knowledgeable as you can be. But when it comes to using news as a feedback loop of entertainment creation and hedonistic confirmation bias, it’s just awful. And beyond individuals figuring this out, global corporations need to figure this out and figure it out fast. When news goes beyond its appropriate boundaries, bad things happen. If we continue to turn politics into non-stop radicalism TV, we’re going to push the whole country into civil war. Don’t doubt that foolish politicians are being sucked into this dynamic just as much as foolish partisans are sitting and watching it all day and all night. And because both sides are being sucked into the machine, the machine is growing like it wants to… even if that means pulling us towards major conflict.

Such a thing might greatly damage us and send us spiraling into a defeat amongst ourselves and against China. But at least it will be good for ratings, right?

For all the latest news that should be fun, but sometimes is very serious, keep reading That Park Place. As always, drop a comment down below and let us know your thoughts.