- cross-posted to:
- politics@beehaw.org
- cross-posted to:
- politics@beehaw.org
The purchase of The Baltimore Sun is further proof that conservative billionaires understand the power of media control. Why don’t their liberal counterparts get it?
You have no doubt seen the incredibly depressing news about the incredibly depressing purchase of The Baltimore Sun by the incredibly depressing David Smith, chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, the right-wing media empire best known for gobbling up local television news operations and forcing local anchors to spout toxic Big Brother gibberish like this.
The Sun was once a great newspaper. I remember reading, once upon a time, that it had sprung more foreign correspondents into action across the planet than any American newspaper save The New York Times and The Washington Post. It had eight foreign bureaus at one point, all of which were shuttered by the Tribune Company by 2006. But the Sun’s real triumphs came in covering its gritty, organic city. And even well after its glory days, it still won Pulitzers—as recently as 2020, for taking down corrupt Mayor Catherine Pugh, who served a stretch in prison thanks to the paper.
They do, but they support it. People need to realize “liberalism” is still right wing, and right wing is always anti-people/pro-monopolization.
We have no leftist presence or voice in America, and it really shows as democrats keep marching further right to court “centrists” that are never going to vote for them.
Bright side - more people seem to realize mid right or far right isn’t the choiciest of choices, but downside is it’s far too late.
My old polisci professors would probably argue that there are right wing, left wing, and centrist forms of liberalism.
The political compass is an arguably silly example of this, but there is a point that being on one end of a social spectrum doesn’t mean you’re on the same end of an economic spectrum.
Individual rights - state/federal authority Welfare - slavery with extra steps Individual well-being - collective economic power Local direct democracy - nationwide democracy of the peerage Isolation - global influence
There’s so many ways to slice it. These are off the cuff - but it most certainly isn’t a 1 or 2 axis space
Demand free speech rights for leftists. That’s literally how the conservative takeover started: demanding free speech rights for conservatives, leading to the Telecommunications Act which empowered this Sinclair slime.