How does the media never takes responsibility for the results of their work?  How do we hold the media sources accountable for their participation in the state of the world? I wish I knew the answer. I think we are working through it, and it won’t be easy. Without going deep into the power structures of how media works to remain in power by editing messages, choosing who gets airtime, controlling algorithms to spread some messages instead of others, etc. I am going to give an example of how they are using a popular man’s voice of negativity, and then blaming him for the outcome. 

If you look at media influencers, “Ye (formerly Kanye West) is anti-Jewish. Ye loves Hitler. Ye is influencing the increasing amount of violence against Jewish families.” This new wave of Ye’s popularity in his “battle with the Jewish community” began with a 3-hour video interview on the popular internet podcast Drink Champs. 

Ye expressed anger and discontent about how black folks are treated in the music and entertainment world.  He talked about how many Jewish people were closely involved in the careers of black artists, and how there are many in positions of power and influence in how and which music is promoted and the clothing businesses that use black influencers to sell merchandise. I have been in these circles and what he was saying is not untrue. We promote black death and the breaking up of black communities and family through music, news, and film/tv.  And yes, there are many Jews involved in close proximity to valuable black commodities.

That narrative of Jews running things, however, has been a long lasting narrative used by white Christian groups who are the main ones who act with violence towards innocent Jewish people who are not directly part of the power structure but easier to reach. Ye did not call for violence once and also praised how the Jewish community supports one another. He wants that to happen for the black community(s) as well and wants those in charge to stop meddling in how the black community functions. I think that is not only fair, but a conversation that could have easily been had and that many in the black communities have been waiting to have with a goal of healing. That was not the goal of the powers to be. Instead, they made Ye into a villian.

He became public enemy number one. Late night TV hosts went after him hard. Popular entertainment media also became involved. Ye, who has been diagnosed and publicly acknowledges bouts of bi-polar behavior was shut down, had his businesses severely impacted, and his message defined by the media.

I believe that would have sent anyone not dealing with Bi-polar tendencies into a high emotional state. Still, some were willing to stick a mic in his face and use his emotional sways as an opportunity to create ratings for themselves. The only ones willing to interview him were the farther right media whose target audience fits the angry folks who are looking to be riled up.  And Ye continued to say “worse and worse” things. What would we expect from an Alex Jones Ye interview? Why was that shown across so many networks and platforms?

Should we have even known about what he had to say? Why aren’t acts of kindness, great conversations between Jewish and Black folks being given the same media attention? They were happening on various platforms. We should not have known what a person dealing with mental illness was saying on platforms of people who have spread harmful messages. We should have built on the attempts for healing conversation. 

This is an example of media’s power to show what they want and control the narrative.  By showing what they want to be popular it influences the conversations and actions that follow. Content providers make controversy popular. The coverage of Trump, whether painted good or bad is widespread and makes for great ratings but there is so much more in the world that could have been covered.  Positive things. The way we portray “third world countries” often paints a picture that is untrue and gives us a feeling that we have enough information to judge what cultures are good and bad. We are left with snippets and spun content and forced to react. This often leads to furthering controversy because it builds on broken trust.

If healing and humanity, love and peace were goals of the power structure those would be promoted, and I believe those would be very popular values as well. But they are not, and we are forced to figure things out on our own. Going back to my example, yes, Ye said some very wrong things. The media is also responsible for spreading the hate and making it worse. The hateful ones who are acting out in violence are responsible for their actions. Ye should be held accountable, and we should want to bring healing to all communities impacted. Let us look at the goal of who is saying and spreading the information and therein lies the truth. Let’s continue to search for healing and let go of the powers to be.