Our media landscape has been overrun with clickbait and disinformation, which is largely responsible for Trump’s return to the Oval Office. And when lies replace real news, this authoritarian administration might be able to hold onto power for a very long time.
merica’s descent into mass delusion isn’t happenstance. The demise of courageous journalism isn’t a happy accident. Its replacement with engagement-chasing infotainment and propaganda isn’t an error. It’s a global assault on reason and informed consensus, and corporations and authoritarian bullies like Donald Trump are both architects and benefactors.
For decades, academics warned anybody who’d listen that the death of your local newspaper and broadcast consolidation was creating local “news deserts,” where residents have no access to reliable, accurate local news.
Stanford researchers have shown that this dearth of quality local news has resulted in a less informed and more divided electorate, empowered local corruption, and measurably shifted electoral outcomes. A recent study out of Northwestern University found that Trump won 91 percent of “news desert” counties by an average of 54 percentage points.
