Is a common complaint from the right. “If the media knew what was going on, they would have different opinions.” is another. Any innocent complaining about the failure of the media to uphold even the most minimal standards of truth should have such a comment followed by “Duh.”
When a person expresses surprise or disappointment at the media’s tendency to lie, he may as well hold up a sign that says, “I’m Not Overly Bright.” Those who actually believe that the state-run media is more interested in telling the truth than in increasing profits is suffering from terminal innocence. All media exists to make people think the way the advertisers want. “You give us money and we tell people what you want us to tell them.” sums up the media. Stockholders want returns on investments, and liars will always pay more than truth-tellers. Anyone saying anything is, and must be, paid.
Most conservatives think that “The media just isn’t doing its job” because they are too poor, or too cheap, to buy ads. Their messages just don’t have a lot of money behind them, so they don’t get disseminated.
Small, organized groups have a much easier time accumulating the funds to pay for commercials, talk shows, and pundits. Since they are minorities, they know they need to overcome the huge, societal inertia that resists subsidizing them, and are willing to make the big outlays of cash that majority populations won’t.
