“We’ve been trained since Kindergarten, in our government schools, to regard the media as authoritative and as hardworking people fighting for the little guy and trying to present the truth.”
Those are the words of Michael Malice, appearing on The Rubin Report back in 2020. He gave voice to the quintessential way Americans “used to” view their media. Deserved or not, the media represented truth, authority, and objectivity.
Malice then proceeded to list examples of that same media doing exactly the opposite – picking up propaganda spin and using it to metaphorically bludgeon that same little guy they purportedly represent.
The exchange was highlighted as part of an episode of Dave Rubin’s program last week. The “best of” episode featured a compilation of excerpts from Rubin’s conversations with Malice over the past five years and ran with the provocative YouTube thumbnail “It’s Always Been Rigged.”
An evergreen highlight reel that, to many, seems to be more true by the day.
While talking about the United States inserting itself into military conflicts over recent decades, Malice began by insinuating that the media has carried the water of war efforts far and wide.
“The bloodlust of the establishment, which include the corporate press, cannot be overstated,” he told Rubin in a 2017 clip. “2016, Trump’s the nominee; we heard it every single day. He’s crazy; he’s going to get us into World War 3. He’s going to get pissed off at a tweet from China and press the nuclear button. We heard this all the time.”
“Carly Fiorina got asked this in the 2nd debate, first question, do you trust President Trump with his finger on the nuclear button. And now, China has hacked our systems, Russia has tried to interfere with our elections. And the press is constantly saying, do something about it, do something about it, do something about it, do something about Venezuela.”
“So the fact that he’s NOT getting us into World War 3 is now being used as a slight against him by the same people who regarded that as a problem when he was the nominee.”
A remarkable clip from five years ago, while some of the biggest media deceptions had yet to be uncovered. Namely, the Trump Russia Collusion fabrication, the disingenuous January 6th “insurrection” narrative, and the coordinated effort to hide the Joe and Hunter Biden scandal.
“It’s horrific, and this has been a long time coming,” Malice, never one to shy away from controversial statements, added. “We talked about yellow journalism in high school, remember the Spanish-American War. And then they pretend it went away. It didn’t go away. The same press; if it bleeds, it leads. They can’t wait to get us into another engagement. It’s disgraceful.”
And again, this was as trust in media was waning, but still before it had fallen to its increasingly low depths of 2022. As an example, a poll released Friday by Susquehanna Polling and Research showed that 73% of those surveyed said the mainstream media “misrepresents the facts to push a political agenda.” An abysmally-low 17% trust the corporate media to tell the truth.
Rubin, a former liberal and lifelong Democrat turned Conservative, now hosts his program online and on BlazeTV. He pressed the issue in the 2017 clip, searching for a solution to lack of media trust.
“What has to happen with the press then? And I mean this in terms of cable news, mainstream news, network news, Vox, HuffPo, Buzzfeed, all of it,” Rubin asked.
“The battle is won when the average corporate journalist is regarded with the exact same way as the average tobacco executive. They have a job. They’re promoting their product. Their product is cancerous and deadly. They’re often bright people, they’re often good people, but be aware of what it is they’re selling you.”
For the 70-plus percent who don’t trust the media, Malice’s contentious remarks are a highlight reel well worth repeating again and again.
Rick Schultz is a former Sports Director for WFUV Radio at Fordham University. He has coached and mentored hundreds of Sports Broadcasting students at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting, Marist College and privately. His media career experiences include working for the Hudson Valley Renegades, Army Sports at West Point, The Norwich Navigators, 1340/1390 ESPN Radio in Poughkeepsie, NY, Time Warner Cable TV, Scorephone NY, Metro Networks, NBC Sports, ABC Sports, Cumulus Media, Pamal Broadcasting and WATR. He has also authored a number of books including “A Renegade Championship Summer” and “Untold Tales From The Bush Leagues”. To get in touch, find him on Twitter @RickSchultzNY.
