Mainstream Media Passes China the Mic

Perhaps inadvertently, perhaps distracted by disdain for Donald Trump, the mainstream media is playing the useful fool of the PRC, thus enabling Chinese propaganda to infiltrate our public discourse. 

Infiltration Ignored

On Monday, a reporter for a CCP mouthpiece gained entry into the White House press briefing. The “reporter” took the opportunity to predictably praise China and asked the president if he was cooperating with the country. The White House Correspondents Association, a private organization that determines which media outlets gain access to pressers, has been criticized by conservatives and independents alike for this major oversight.

If you get your news from the nation’s largest networks, you probably didn’t hear about this. CNN, MSNBC, and other major networks have failed to cover the incident at all.

The Huffington Post was one of the only left-leaning outlets to even mention it. In an article titled Trump Repeatedly Attacks Reporters in Coronavirus Briefing, it said:

“In past briefings, Trump has disparaged and condescended to reporters, often women of color… At Monday’s briefing, he pointedly asked reporter Youyou Wang, who is Asian, if she was working for the Chinese government. Who are you working for, China? Trump asked, to which the reporter noted she works for Phoenix TV in Hong Kong.”

Later, the article was updated with this noncommittal caveat: “(Phoenix and its founder have received some criticism for reported ties to the Chinese government, though the company maintains it is independent).”

That Donald Trump astutely recognized the reporter as a foreign government plant is glossed over in favor of painting his question as a racist remark. To date, this article is the extent of the event’s coverage in liberal media.

Praising China’s Efforts

China Bought the West Time. The West Squandered It. https://t.co/rXu6ZDLbTI

— Margaret Kimberley (@freedomrideblog) March 18, 2020

The mainstream media, to use a term that conservatives now associate with half-truths and evisceration of the Republican Party, has covered the pandemic with a remarkable bias against US leadership, at times even favoring China as a byproduct of that bias. The last month has seen the following headlines regarding the pandemic:

China Bought the West Time. The West Squandered It –New York Times, Mar. 13

Trump Is Desperately Seeking to Avoid Blame – CNN, April 8, 2020

Trump Antagonism of China Could Hurt Coronavirus Cooperation- MSNBC, Mar. 30 

One would not be surprised to hear that these headlines came straight from The People’s Daily. The massive, coordinated and well-funded Chinese propaganda machine churns out this type of literature in droves around the world. Moreover, what is unexpected is the role of major US media outlets as unwitting accomplices.

Most media in the US clearly demonstrates a strong bias against President Trump and his party. To be fair, the media also has the right to criticize our leadership, and the president clearly agrees.

Donald Trump, though lambasted for mocking his obvious adversaries in the media, has continued to protect their right to challenge him. In addition, he fields criticisms in hostile pressers, even from Chinese mouthpieces let in by a negligent press association. Also, he has not censored any major media outlet, no matter how monochromatic the coverage of his presidency has been. He is right to let them wail away. He is also right to call them out on their abdication of duty.

Divided We Fall

The true casualty is not Donald Trump’s image in the eyes of the American public. The greatest tragedy, and greatest threat to US prosperity in the future, is the willingness of US media to sell out the national interest for short-term political objectives.

Our own press currently helps China in the monumental task of adorning a wolf in sheep’s clothing, praising China when it helps to disparage the president. It lowers national morale by consistently portraying US leadership as incompetent, corrupt, and incapable of confronting the greatest challenge we’ve faced in generations. It has not only criticized the president, but also questioned the legitimacy of his mandate ad nauseam since the day he was elected.

When considering great power competition, as we now do between the US and China, it is hard not to mention history. Human history is an ebb and flow of global influence, with climactic moments shifting the balance of power among nations. 1941 was one such climactic moment.

Roughly eighty years ago, the US entered the Second World War. The country then emerged the victorious steward of a new international order, built on freedom of navigation, trade, and equality under the law. Many survivors of this struggle remain. In another eighty short years, this new century will draw to a close.

We find ourselves in yet another climactic moment, one which will greatly influence how the world looks in 2100. By that time, it is near certain that the United States will have either successfully confronted and contained China, or China will have assumed control of a new international order, one with very different priorities and values. If our own press continues to undermine our efforts and laud our adversaries, then the outcome is predictable.

Up Next:

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• Trump: U.S. Facing “Very Painful Two Weeks”