Because of the length of this article, I have divided it into two. I will post the concluding part next week.
Many people across the world were stunned when they saw Donald Trump leading in the American presidential election polls on the morning of Nov 9. It was a shock to many, seeing the man referred to as a racist, misogynistic, lying tax evader, whom pre-election polls had ruled out, winning the election and becoming the 45th American President. The entire world was astonished, but some people were not. Some people, including me, had always known Donald Trump would win for one simple reason: the Western Media is getting it wrong!
Never at any time in history has the Western Media been so wrong, and I think it is deliberate. One week before the American election, I told a group of friends in a pub that Hillary Clinton would lose. When asked why I thought so, I told them the western media, especially CNN, are not painting the true picture of what is happening. Moreover, the preliminary polls have been wrong on 2 occasions of global significance in recent times. The first is Brexit; all major polls by western media showed the British people would vote to stay in the European Union, they were all wrong. The second is the Colombian peace deal with FARC; CNN and co predicted the Colombians will support the deal, they were also wrong. If the Media has been painting us the wrong picture of America, what then is the true picture?
The American society, just like any other, has always been a divided society. Unlike in the past, the division today is not based on colour or income; it is based on ideology and lifestyle. Most people in the large cities like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Las Vegas are liberal and secular in outlook. They tend to be more tolerant of diversity because they live in predominantly diverse communities as these areas have blacks, Latinos, Asians etc as residents. They are more favourably disposed to globalisation, and love their freedom. They are also less disposed to Nationalism and more critical of Nationalistic policies. They are more likely to vote Democrat.
The people living in rural America, in the countryside of states like Minnesota, Indiana, and North Dakota are conservative and religious. They live in a more homogeneous community, mostly whites, and have more patriotic and Nationalistic tendencies. They are skeptical of globalization because they think it is eroding their values but they like a powerful and rich America. They are more likely to vote Republican
Unfortunately, the media has not done much to bridge the divide, but to widen it. The American media is polarized along these ideological divisions. CNN and the likes favour the liberals and Fox favours the conservatives. In the past, the media tried to report events to the people and let the people decide. Today, the media tries to shape people’s views by remodelling events through practices such as framing and agenda setting. A media agency might report news on the ground but audience perception is influenced by the kind of news given priority, mode of reportage, tone of interviews, and the views of analysts.
The American media and by extension, the western media, has been dominated by large corporate organizations in recent times. This has eroded media freedom and promoted self-interests, masked in innocent analyses. For instance, more than half of American TV outlets, newspapers, publishing outfits and movie studios are owned by 5 major corporations. The same thing is happening in the United Kingdom and other Western countries
Across the world, liberal ideology has made a lot of gains in the past 30 years. With the fall of communism in the early 1990s, many people do not see the need for nationalism anymore. International trade became open as the world became more globalized. Racism declined, women’s rights improved, abortion and homosexuality became legal in many societies. In the US, nationalistic fervour waned after Ronald Reagan, as many Americans sought peace. The same thing happened in UK and France
By 2008, the US had elected its first black president and the western world was largely anti-conflict, believing that government should concentrate more on the economy. All was well but there were only 3 problems and the first one led to the other 2.
First, the American government and other western governments continued to pursue policies that would lead to war in other countries. Secondly, extreme, Islamist, violent movements emerged in those countries that threatened the lives western civilians. Most recent events manifestations of the dangers of these terrorists include the attack on Paris in November last year, and the attack on Brussels, both carried out by ISIL, a movement that emerged due to the failed policies carried out by the Western Liberal governments in the Middle East.
The last problem that emerged under the liberals watch is the mass migration of people from the Middle East and Africa, to European countries, putting strain on existing infrastructure and social security systems. The arrival of the visitors coincides with increase in the spate of terrorist attacks and the citizens are connecting the dots. They probably did the maths and realized their governments are to be blamed for the problem. It was their governments that had promoted events that led to crises in countries like Libya, Yemen, Iraq and Syria. As the Middle East boiled last year, Russia saw an opportunity and entered the arena. However, unlike the western governments, the Russians were clear to the world about who they were fighting.
The vote for Trump was as a result of people’s fears and perception about these problems. The fact that the media did all it could to suppress the expression of these fears but failed, shows that corporate media is gradually losing its relevance and people have alternative ways of getting information. It also undermines the media’s purported ability to influence public perception.