Many in the Media Are the Enemy of the People [OPINION]

The coronavirus we are grappling with will go away. It's just a matter of how much longer it will stick around and how many people will become sick and or die before it finally does disappear.

What won't go away anytime soon, unless the public stages a campaign as resolute as the stand against COVID-19, are the cable news networks and the national news media in general. The Fourth Estate drives a political agenda while attempting to control the public thought process and the actions of the policymakers. There is elitism in the media that guides this mission but don't lose sight of the fact that the media is also profit-driven.

The national news media has come to understand that conflict drives viewership and therefore profit margins, for individual reporters and for the outlets that employ them. If CNN's Jim Acosta becomes a part of the story by consistently harassing President Trump, he drives viewers to his network, but it also helps him to sell books and that benefits him directly.

Professional media hacks like Chris Wallace over at Fox News attempt to drive a wedge between participants in a story in hopes of creating a conflict that can then be exploited for profit. On Sunday, Wallace tried but was unsuccessful in getting U.S. Attorney General Vice Admiral Jerome Adams to criticize President Trump for not wearing a mask and for not ordering a nationwide shutdown which would be a violation of states' rights.

Had General Adams stepped in the trap set by Wallace he might have conceded that Trump perhaps should wear a mask or that a nationwide shutdown might be in the best interest of the nation. That then gives the media the green light to say Trump is "at odds" with his Surgeon General, a contrived controversy that would have fed the Monday morning news cycle. The non-story would have been picked up by local media which simply copy and paste what the national press puts out.

Many Americans are amazed at how stupid some of these reporters are with the questions they ask. They are not stupid. They are calculating and manipulative. They know exactly what they are doing and they are not hunting for facts, only controversy.

The goals and objectives of many in the national media are not what is in the best interest of the public. The cable news networks and the major papers are about making money. Controversy sells papers. It also gives the elite a chance to moralize and lecture to the masses many of whom they see as being nothing more than smelly Walmart shoppers and bible-clutching white supremacists.

You give the national media power and profit by watching and reading. Stop it!

Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.