I have been reflecting on a lot of the commentary I've seen on this thread.
I want to be clear about something here. I am an American, and my political leanings are with the left/Democrats in my country. I know enough about European politics to be able to state that I would be a Social Democrat, and I would be one of the further left members of that group.
I am having a lot of issues with the things that I have been seeing here, and I want to be clear: to quote one of the (former) members here, I am what you all might call a "spineless liberal pussy." However, I would happily encourage anyone to come and say that to me personally.
One thing I am seeing is that a lot of the information that is communicated here is out of context. I am going to pick a particular example, because, quite frankly, it is from one of the "founding fathers" of my country, and therefore I feel it is quite appropriate for me to comment on it.
https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/thomas-jefferson-had-some-issues-newspapers
“Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. The real extent of this state of misinformation is known only to those who are in situations to confront facts within their knowledge with the lies of the day.”
Here are some other quotes from TJ:
…a hereditary chief strictly limited, the right of war vested in the legislative body, a rigid economy of the public contributions, and absolute interdiction of all useless expences, will go far towards keeping the government honest and unoppressive. But the only security of all is in a free press. the force of public opinion cannot be resisted, when permitted freely to be expressed. the agitation it produces must be submitted to. it is necessary to keep the waters pure. we are all, for example in agitation even in our peaceful country. for in peace as well as in war the mind must be kept in motion.
—Thomas Jefferson to Marquis de Lafayette, November 4, 1823
The most effectual engines for [pacifying a nation] are the public papers… [A despotic] government always [keeps] a kind of standing army of newswriters who, without any regard to truth or to what should be like truth, [invent] and put into the papers whatever might serve the ministers. This suffices with the mass of the people who have no means of distinguishing the false from the true paragraphs of a newspaper.
—Thomas Jefferson to G.K. Van Hogendorp, October 13, 1785
Our liberty cannot be guarded but by the freedom of the press, nor that be limited without danger of losing it.
—Thomas Jefferson to John Jay, January 25, 1786
TJ also inspired our "bill of rights" and considered it, "what the people are entitled to against every government on earth."
The reason was that the debate amongst our "founding fathers" was originally a debate between a strong or a weak centralized government. Our first attempt, supported by TJ and the anti-federalists (meaning pro-weak centralized government), the Articles of Confederation, was an abysmal failure lasting from 1781-1789. The current constitution was adopted then, and TJ, still wanting a weaker centralized government, was adamant the the Bill of Rights was a check on governmental power to protect the people. In the bill of rights our first amendment states, "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of...the press,"
Where am I going with all this? Well, the vast majority of TJ's anti-newspaper quotes came after his 1804 presidential campaign. During this campaign, he was accused of having an affair with his slave, Sally Hemmings, which he vehemently denied, and he was dragged through the muck in the American newspapers. So he lashed out at them. Well guess what? He
was having an affair with her! (In addition, there are questions about consent, considering he
owned her.)
So the point of all this is that people here don't recognize that our "founding fathers" were flawed and lived lives of contradiction,
i.e. slave owners fought a war to be free, instead of the second coming of God. And the big point is that issues that are this big and face our country as well as your countries, can't just be boiled down to memes and cherry picked pictures off the Internet.
So I will agree with you that the media, at least in the US, has serious issues and doesn't do it's job, and is on the whole, terrible. But the idea that it is leftist or left-leaning is absurd.
So for those of you quoting Voltiare, here is two of them:
The man of taste will read only what is good; but the statesman will permit both bad and good.
-Voltaire arguing for a free press
and
Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.
