Beware of entertainment masquerading as news
The origins of the downfall of U.S. democracy can be traced back to when the Republican Party convinced their voters that mainstream news channels such as CNN, NBC and ABC could not be trusted and instead promoted the entertainment and propaganda network Fox News. By doing so, Republicans could create their own reality and control the narrative — truth be damned.
What Republicans didn't anticipate is how such a fact-free ecosystem would be fertile ground for the rise of extremist groups like MAGA led by Donald Trump, which are no longer constrained by societal guardrails. In my opinion, this is an extremely dangerous time when a large percentage of the electorate (and the majority of Republican politicians) show such allegiance to a man, that nothing he does, no matter how horrifying, is disqualifying. It is because these entertainment “so-called” news networks like Fox News help normalize autocratic behavior and convince people that they are not seeing what they are seeing.
Fox News peddles fear because it is a powerful emotion that can be exploited. Most other Western nations, like Britain, Germany and Italy, do not allow this type of unregulated political free speech because of the dangers it poses from domestic and foreign bad actors. Regardless of what happens in November, democracy is already a lost cause, in my view.
Michael DeNinno
Gales Ferry
Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.