The Media as ‘Group Therapy for Liberals’. By Jim Geraghty.
Stephen L. Miller — a.k.a. RedSteeze — has argued for a while now that the late-night talk shows aren’t meant to be entertainment or comedy anymore; they are now, functionally, late-night “group therapy for libs.”
And that description, while harsh, seems pretty accurate — the constant sneering and ridicule at figures on the right, the warm welcome for celebrities on the left, the obsessive focus on whatever is outraging the Twitter Left at that moment, the reassurance that every good and right-thinking American thinks the same way. …
And maybe despite their seeming triumphs and power, the modern urban progressive Left needs that reassuring group therapy. If you’re a progressive, it can often feel like the world is always giving you some sort of bad news: Republicans oppose the bills you want to see passed. … The Supreme Court keeps ruling against your side. The polling for the midterms looks terrible. Despite mass shootings, Congress and states won’t just ban guns the way you wish. Trump won’t go away. Tucker Carlson and other figures on Fox News keep saying things that outrage you. People still listen to and watch Joe Rogan. Elon Musk might buy Twitter.
In fact, it might be time to ask if a lot of modern journalism is meant to serve as a form of group therapy for liberals, too. Think about how much print, television, and web journalism features the subtext, “You are right, and your uncle who votes for Republicans is wrong. In fact, he’s racist. And sexist. And homophobic and transphobic. And selfish. And doesn’t care about the earth. You are the good and righteous one, and you were right to scream at him and storm away from the Thanksgiving table.”
Ari Fleischer, the former Bush-era White House press secretary and a current contributor to Fox News, … contends that liberal groupthink in the ranks of the media outrages the Right and encourages the Left to embrace its fringe and lose touch with the rest of the country:
If you are conservative or independent in America, you know the media is not fair. However, conservatives often get this conflict wrong. We misread what they media is trying to do, and we misinterpret why they are doing it. There is no secret meeting where liberals decide how to pervert the news. There is no central source of propaganda. It comes naturally to the media because they’re too much alike. They have a diversity problem. . . .
Journalism has a great weakness, an original sin. The people who go into journalism do not represent the breadth and depth of the United States of America. They don’t look like America, nor do they sound or think like America. They are overwhelmingly cut from the same cloth, a fabric that is largely liberal, like-minded, and way too unfamiliar with the circumstances and needs of many Americans, especially those without college degrees, those who come from rural areas, and those who are conservative or Republican. It’s no wonder the media has a hard time understanding 74 million Americans who voted for Donald Trump’s 2020 reelection. …
What is the purpose of journalism? Is it to make you feel good? …
On any given day, the biggest news stories are often messages, that may or may not be an accurate representation of reality, meant to reassure liberals. “The walls are closing in on Donald Trump.” “The issue of abortion could be a game-changer in the midterm elections.” “The GOP is being reduced to a rump regional party.” “A recession may be inevitable, but it may not be that bad.”
Are these sorts of headlines and stories really news? Or just another form of group therapy?
If you’re not liberal, the media nowadays — with a few honorable exceptions — is just a nauseous cesspool of lies and bigotry, promoting ever more bureaucratic control over our lives. It makes us feel bad and exasperated.
