Legacy Media's Walk of Shame

And what we must do to ensure we remain informed during this critical time in our country & world

Since Trump’s election we’ve seen a massive capitulation of legacy media to ‘bend the knee’ to the President-Elect. As scholar Tim Snyder points out, this compliance in advance is dangerous and destructive. In this article, I document several of the main outlets ‘complying in advance,’—and just as importantly—what we can do to ensure we remain informed on the critical issues that will impact us over the next four years and beyond. Let’s Address This.

CNN logo distorted on cracked phone screen (Photo by Salon/Getty Images)

Media Walk of Shame

The tragically long and growing list of media platforms and major media personalities who—while claiming journalistic independence and integrity—have capitulated to Trump, is deeply concerning. Rather than promising to hold him accountable, they have betrayed the very purpose of their existence, and we need to call them out:

• ABC News: ABC News settled a $15M defamation lawsuit with Donald Trump. George Stephanopolous alleged Trump was a “rapist,” a fact attested to by the New York civil court when it awarded E. Jean Carroll a resounding victory against Trump for sexually assaulting her. Rather than defend the factually accurate statement that quoted the judge, ABC settled and promised to donate $15M to Donald Trump’s Presidential Library. MSN reported my remarks on this capitulation as, “Human rights lawyer Qasim Rashid said, "This is the cowardice of legacy media out to make profit, rather than uphold principle. The ongoing failure of legacy media is a stark reminder that Independent and independently funded voices are now more critical than ever before."“

• Time Magazine: I understand the argument that the “Person of the Year” does not necessarily need to be a positive example, but TIME’s misrepresentation of how Trump won is deplorable. TIME stated, “His grievances resonated with suburban moms and retirees, Latino and Black men, young voters and tech edgelords.” This grotesque simplification fails to hold accountable the powerful, or truly assess why Trump won. Zero discussions around voter suppression, more than 100,000 closed polling locations, gerrymandering, or racist Voter ID laws.

• Los Angeles Times: Prior to the election, the LA Times refused to issue their endorsement of Kamala Harris. The billionaire owner of the LA Times had reportedly sought a position in the 2016 Trump administration, and is still vying or his chances to land one in the 2024 administration. The LA Times decision was based not on principle or merit, but on personal gain for its billionaire owner.

• Washington Post: Similar to the LA Times, the billionaire owner of the Wash Post kiboshed the Kamala Harris endorsement. He later remarked he does not believe newspapers should have opinions on who the President should be—an absurd position undermining the very purpose of the fourth estate. The Post’s billionaire owner made a business decision, knowing full well a Trump administration would mean a massive tax cut for him at the expense of working people. The largest casualty of this decision is The Post’s journalistic integrity.

• ‘Morning Joe’ Hosts Mika Brzezinski Joe Scarborough: Both hosts confessed they traveled to Mar-a-Lago and agreed to ‘reset’ with Donald Trump. There’s not much to be said about wealthy privileged white Americans finding common ground with a man who has demonized every single marginalized community for personal gain, except that we all got to witness that capitulation in broad daylight.

Ratings Collapses

While the above list will likely continue to grow, the backlash to capitulation of corporate media is already clear. For example, CNN and MSNBC are experiencing historic ratings collapses, as viewers recognize the lack of transparency in too many of each network’s programs.

News watchdog organization Mediaite reports that since Trump’s election to the White House, CNN's prime time viewership has slumped by 52%. You’ll recall that when CNN hosted the Presidential debate, they refused to fact check either candidate, allowing Trump to lie at will. Likewise, the Independent reports that MSNBC has lost more than 50% of its viewership as well, as even startup outlets like NewsNation are gaining ground, and in some cases have higher viewership. Of course, ‘Morning Joe’ (discussed above) capitulating to Trump has not helped these ratings.

This does not mean that we are relegated to staying uninformed. It requires we arm ourselves with the necessary tools to stay accurately informed.

So How Do We Stay Informed?

I welcome the 85,000+ remarkable people who have subscribed to Let’s Address This. Our articles are being read by nearly 2 million people monthly, and our platform continues to grow. If you’re thinking about subscribing, now is an excellent time.

Now obviously I am one person and cannot possibly report on all the critical stories that exist. So, while encouraging you to continue to subscribe here, write to me with your questions, and share my content—I also want to arm you with the tools needed to stay informed. I rely on tools and resources designed to verify and cross-check the sources I cite, so when you read a fact cited in one of my articles, it is backed by verifiable data. How do I make that determination?

One of the most valuable tools I use is Ground News, which helps me provide the trustworthy analysis you expect and deserve. The problem is that up until now, there has not been an easy way to discern which media headline is accurate, which is misleading, or which is simply false. Ground News is the solution to the challenges we face in navigating today’s media landscape—empowering you to see the bigger picture and make informed decisions. Here’s how Ground News works.

In any given story, Ground News does three things really no one else does:

1. First, they gather related articles globally in one place so you can compare coverage and see what details are emphasized, exaggerated, or left out entirely.

2. Next, they provide context about the source of the information—like whether they have a political bias, the factuality of their reporting, and who owns them.

3. Finally, they cut through partisanship, sensationalism, the lack of transparency, editorial bias, and instead focus on facts and context.

The end result is that you know Ground News has given you the tools to help you form your own opinions and decisions. Ground News is subscriber supported so by subscribing it directly supports my newsletter and contributes to keeping the media transparent. And happy holidays—if you subscribe to Ground News at the below link, you’ll get 50% off their Vantage Plan or gifting it to your friends or family for the holidays. But make sure to sign up soon because this offer is only available for a limited time.

Conclusion

Billionaires keep buying media outlets, and it’s skewing the reliability and accuracy of the information we receive. This is why I take the time to fact check everything I research and write, and why I’m grateful to each of you for subscribing and supporting my advocacy. My goal is for us to take control of what's happening in our country and world, and that starts by ensuring we have accurate information. Your investment in independent media and in tools like Ground News help us all become better empowered to understand the world around us.