Worst in Media No. 1 – Media Bailout

December 31, 2021

By Adam Guillette

Unquestionably, undeniably, and unfortunately, the absolute worst thing in the media in 2021 has been its never-ending attempt to grab a dedicated bailout from the taxpayers.

For the last year and a half, Accuracy in Media has led the fight against a proposed media bailout. Initially, politicians tried to include a dedicated bailout for news outlets in one of the 2020 spending packages. Accuracy in Media activists made hundreds of phone calls and sent tens of thousands of emails to their legislators. As a result, the dedicated bailout failed.  

Later, media conglomerate McClatchy lobbied Congress to modify Payroll Protection Program rules so that news outlets would be eligible even though they’re not small businesses. Accuracy in Media responded by stepping up the pressure on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who was the only person in a position to stop this bad idea. In fact, we delivered 50,000 petitions to his office in Kentucky. Once again, the media bailout was defeated.

However, a new version of the media bailout appeared – yet again – as part of the multi-trillion Build Back Better bill. Hopefully, Sen. Joe Manchin (R-W.V.) will make sure this piece of coal does not end up in Americans’ Christmas stockings.

No one could take the objectivity of news outlets seriously if they were on the government bailout gravy train.  Quite simply, saving the media would destroy the media.  Small, individually owned newspapers were already eligible for PPP and many of them received millions of dollars.  For decades now, media outlets moved hard to the left and alienated most of their audience.  Why then should customers be forced to pay for a product they’ve rejected?  

If Lenin said that capitalists will sell them the rope they use to hang us, newspapers are now saying that conservatives and libertarians must fund the ink they use to smear us.

Missed the rest of the Worst in Media? Click here to go back to No. 2.

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Accuracy in Media uses investigative journalism and citizen activism to expose media bias, corruption and public policy failings. Progressives and their allies in the newsroom have a stronghold over the mainstream media in this country, but they aren’t stopping there.

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