The media landscape under the new Trump administration is already changing and we must now!

Doing the same thing and expecting a different result is insanity. Donald Trump understands that. He changed and outright won. Will we?

Mainstream Media complicity

Many are feeling that pit in their stomach. We are dreading having to watch the inauguration of America’s first convicted felon, thief, tax evader, con man, and woman assaulter into office. But Trump earned it, even if in the most deceptive manner. Let’s not forget that both the Washington Post and LA Times billionaire owners forbade their editorial departments from printing their endorsements of Kamala Harris. And, of course, we have many in the mainstream media now going to Mar-A-Lago to kiss Trump’s ring. Even some purported progressive networks like TYT are bowing to MAGA.

Do you know what Trump did to win? Well, of course, we mean the Trump puppeteers. They changed the game. And as they changed the game, many of us in the progressive independent media were screaming that the party and the Harris campaign needed to change. It came from Michael Moore as it did in 2016 and many others in the progressive media, including me, through various platforms.

Trump’s team focused on reaching people in every niche through alternative, independent media, big and small. Let’s be clear. Harris lost the election on the margins by a tiny bit. While I have written about the various reasons she lost, many out of her control, her team could have overcome the 1.6% differential in the vote by not doing the same thing and expecting a different result. That involved taking the progressive independent media space, large and small, seriously.

Most people reading this likely contributed to the $1.2 billion the Harris campaign collected — an extraordinary haul. Ask how much of that went to activist organizations close to the middle and working classes. Not much. They used organizations far removed from real people instead of organizations people trust. These people do not understand what makes people take the time out to vote. These folks are not necessarily malicious — they do not understand the plight of most.

Many are so used to living in pain and in substandard conditions that to them, it does not matter who is in office. Their life will still suck. Trump’s team found avenues to get their people or people that were blank slates. The Democratic leadership and the Harris campaign did not seek out those avenues to reach out as they should. A Beyonce or Oprah appearance is fine. But struggling potential voters don’t have the time for that. THEY ARE STRUGGLING. They need a handhold, a hug, and a convincing, respectful approach that lets them know it is in their power to be a part of electing people who can make their lives better.

I interviewed Reverend Barber and others with the pulse of the middle and working classes who were not appropriately included in plans for mobilization. These people are not flashy, but they’re working for the cause.

Many of you reading this are in the know. You understand politics and know how our government works. A recent MSNBC town hall implies that you are in the minority. I was amazed at how little those who worked for a living knew about the candidates, let alone our government. And many of their first contact was with MAGA narrative. MAGA got to them. We did not.

It was most disconcerting that MSNBC did nothing to correct their misinformation in real time. As the program went on, I DMed every MSNBC host for which I had contact, expressing my disappointment with the coverage that would cause replication of the misinformation in the millions who would subsequently see clips.

The mainstream media, either by dereliction of duty, neglect, or corporate forces, are too often responsible for America’s state of misinformation. I do a lot of counternarratives using mainstream media clips to correct the misinformation or to provide a progressive context. More of us in the progressive independent space must and are doing it. But that is just the beginning. Reaching those who do not get their information from broadcast and cable is necessary.

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