For the Corporate Press, It’s All the Spin That’s Fit to Print
The mainstream media claims to prize objectivity above all else. But for every story scrutinizing corporate power, you’ll find 10 or 20 depicting CEOs and corporations as the great saviors of America.
The situation at the New York Times exposes the double standard and institutional ideology at play — not just at the paper of record, but throughout the national press corps. (Unsplash)
Following the violent insurrection at the Capitol, the New York Times last week published an obsequious love letter to one of the Republican Party’s largest donors, helping the billionaire launder his reputation just in time for the beginning of the post-Trump era. A few days later, the same newspaper fired an editor after she tweeted a mildly positive thought about Joe Biden’s inauguration, touching off allegations that she was punished for expressing political views.
The two episodes could be construed as proof of the paper’s Republican bias, but that’s not quite accurate. Amid the ongoing debate over so-called cancel culture, the contrast between firing an editor after a vaguely partisan tweet and proudly publishing a corporate press release displays something bigger — it exposes what kinds of loyalties are prohibited and celebrated at corporate media outlets that pretend to be impartial.
Put another way: it exposes the gaping crack in the facade of objectivity — and provides a microcosmic illustration of one reason why new survey data show the public’s trust in media has now hit a new low.
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