[anonfornoreason]

The parent poster is getting downvoted, for I think obvious reasons (instantly bringing a broader topic to a narrow political hot take), but I don't think they are wrong.

From what I can tell the mainstream media (which unfortunately has blended itself into a stew of "real news" and opinion pieces through their own outlets and through various readers) exists to serve a couple of interests.

In this case, I think this would be called "earned media" in marketing speak. A "journalist" or someone working in a news organization knows a bunch of PR associated people who have lines on what could be called lifestyle newspieces. The juicier the lifestyle piece the more clicks the org gets, so cultivating these relationships with PR firms that push this stuff results in revenue for the news org. That PR firm might push the segment onto multiple receivers, so you get a little critical mass.

The second interest, what the parent poster is alluding to, is the political party that the news organization and their journalists are aligned with. Since everything political now is so existential, the entire news organization ends up having this zeitgeist of pushing their political agenda. And obviously we are at where we are at in no small part by the shock outrage clicks political news headlines receive.

So, I don't think the parent is wrong, but it's more complicated than "it's all propaganda". Criticising the mainstream media has become popular in the last 10 years, but goddamn it's so easy to do because of how transparent the whole process has become.

[082349872349872]

At first "propaganda" referred indiscriminately to both the political and the economic variants; after WWI (née "The Great War") left a bad taste for the term, it was quickly rebranded, with the political version turning into "psychological warfare" and the economic "public relations".

[joseda-hg]

This is still a thing in other languages, Venezuelan Spanish still calls "propagandas" what Anglos call Comercials (I don't think I've heard it in other variations, maybe Colombian Spanish)

[cafard]

Initially, "propaganda" referred to the Congregatio de propaganda fide, the congregation for propagating the faith, established in the 17th Century.

[fullshark]

This is just some guy writing about a podcast he listened to to fill his article quota.

The idea that everyone not constantly reading about whatever political story I am obsessed with is distracted by propaganda and that’s the only reason social change doesn’t occur is frankly horseshit.

[greenavocado]

The issue is that article quota filling cattle are pushing whatever comes from upstream because it brings viewership and clicks.

[greenavocado]

Where is the narrow political hot take? Anyway, you made my point. Thanks