SomethingiswrongwithAmericanjournalism.Longbefore“fakenews“becamethecallingcardoftheRight,Americanshadlostfaithintheirnewsmedia.Butlately,thefeelingthatsomethingisoffhasbecomeimpossibletoignore.That’sbecausethemajorityofourmainstreamnewsisnolongerjustliberal;it’swoke.Today’snewsroomsarepropagatingradicalideasthatwerefringeasrecentlyasadecadeago,including“antiracism,“intersectionality,openborders,andcriticalracetheory.Howdidthiscometobe?Itallhastodowithwhoournewsmediaiswrittenby-andwhoitiswrittenfor.InBadNews:HowWokeMediaIsUnderminingDemocracy,BatyaUngar-SargonrevealshowAmericanjournalismunderwentastatusrevolutionoverthetwentiethcentury-fromablue-collartradetoaneliteprofession.Asaresult,journalistsshiftedtheirfocusawayfromtheworkingclassandtowardtheconcernsoftheiraffluent,highlyeducatedpeers.WiththeriseoftheInternetandtheimplosionoflocalnews,America’selitenewsmediabecamenationalizedanditsjournalistsaffluentandideological.Andwhereoncebusinessconcernsprovidedacountervailingforcetopushbackagainstjournalists’worsttendencies,thepressuresofthedigitalmedialandscapenowaligncorporateincentiveswithnewsroomcrusades.Thetruthis,themoralpanicaroundrace,encouragedbytoday’selitenewsrooms,doeslittlemorethanconsolidatethepowerofliberalelitesandprotecttheireconomicinterests.Andinabandoningtheworkingclassbycreatingaculturewararoundidentity,ournationalmediaisunderminingAmericandemocracy.BadNewsexplainshowthishappened,whyithappened,andthedangersposedbythisdevelopmentifitcontinuesunchecked.
