Preface:
Upon observing a complete opposite difference between mainstream news reporting and the actual outcomes, it occurred to me how they operated like a cult. I think we all must admit that we have our own bias. With that said, society understands that the search for truth must be continual and unimpeded, so it will allow new knowledge to help us reduce our bias. When one group determines to interfere with that process, it compromises any hope of growth for us to become better humans.
One event in particular, proved the tipping point of when the Left Wing Media descended into a cult - The completion of the Mueller Investigation into Russian collusion.
Why do I call the Left Wing Media a cult?
In the past, the mainstream media has been more like a mainstream church with followers that adhere to general truths. These truths are common with other religious organization world-wide. Examples are that murder is wrong or that love is revered.
Like a church or religious organization, the media should defer to general societal mores. But when the media goes astray, it's like a cult - cults operate outside societal mores. To be sure, Right Wing media could also be a cult. However, in most cases they have little impact on culture, since its voice is rarely heard in mainstream news. Left Wing news, however, has been amplified and reinforced by mainstream news...and that is where the danger lies. Society depends on and trusts news agencies with the entirety of legitimate information. A violation of legitimate information compromises not only truth, but mutual trust with society.
What set Left Wing media apart from all others is the gigantic departure from serious fact-finding methodology. From day one, virtually all reporters and guests had declared Trump guilty. Yet, when the Robert Mueller report showed President Trump et all were cleared of any wrong doing with Russian collusion, it was a complete bombshell of a result - opposite to its supposition. With zero evidence against Trump it dazed and confused the Left Wing followers.
The Left Wing Media fully exposed itself as a cult when, after two years of constant bombardment against President Trump that he would soon be indicted (1), he was instead cleared of collusion by the Robert Mueller investigation.
Definition of a Media Cult: A Left Wing news organization that promotes its own agenda without regard for the society. "Objective reporting is meant to portray issues and events in a neutral and unbiased manner, regardless of the writers opinion or personal beliefs." (2)
Media Cult Headship: The owners of the media organization that blesses the misdirection and dogma of information disseminated to the masses.
Media Cult Leaders: News Anchors who allow only thoughts that are in-line with the dogma of the organization.
An example would be inviting a panel discussion with only like minds, or an Expert with specialized knowledge that has a firm bias toward one opinion.
Media Cult Members: Anyone who is all-in with the dogma of the organization.
Media Seekers: Anyone who is searching for the truth, who visits the audio or video broadcast to find the answers to current news.
How does the Left Wing Media work?
A cult will usually bring in seekers using positive reinforcement and fodder for what they are aching for. Then slowly viewpoints are garnished to gain full agreement and membership. Much like dropping a frog into water and turning up the heat slowly till boiling. They like the warmth an security, but are ultimately unaware of the danger until it's too late.
Like a cult removing unsavory characters who may have influence on their flock, Left Wing media isolates those who are not aligned with their ideology. Glen Greenwald, a liberal Democrat and political expert, explained how he (and others) were removed as a source of knowledge, because he didn't agree with the credo the news agency was promoting. (3)
Like cults who delegitimizes former members and shames those who disagree, so too does the Left Wing media. Again, Greenwald and other can attest to this.
How will the Left Wing Media cult survive?
When a cult is faced with a catastrophe that will destroy its dogma, it is forced to either disband or reassess.
Many cults have predicted the coming of a Messiah of some type to deliver them from their bondage. An example of an extreme cult was the Heavens's Gate cult.
After the 1995 discover of the Hale-Bopp comet, Heavens Gate members were convinced that an Alien spacecraft was on its way to earth, hidden from human detection behind the comet. Leaders preached that suicide would allow them to leave their bodily "containers" and enter the alien spacecraft as it flies close to Earth. They killed themselves to keep aligned with the fictitious teachings. (4)
Other cults are less extreme, and usually wait for the arrival of the Messiah or Savior who will come back to rescue them in some way. When the Messiah doesn't arrive on the predicted date, the leaders will reinterpret the message of arrival as a miscalculation and submit another future arrival date, or they may just reinterpret the sacred views and writings to fit the scenario.
Future expected activities of the Left Wing Cult.
As noted in Slate magazine (5), most people when faced with obvious inaccuracies in the media would reassess their allegiance. A few people might abandon the group, typically the newest or least-committed members, but the vast majority experience little cognitive dissonance and so make only minor adjustments to their beliefs. They carry on, often feeling more spiritually enriched as a result.
After this obvious debacle, I suspect one or two scenarios.
The first scenario is that the Left Wing Media Cult will only disband if the members leave. Without patrons, they have no income. And without income, the organization can't afford to continue its business operation. Even if it does disband, it may re-institute a new media cult with a new name.
The second scenario is most likely. The Left Wing Media Cult will stay put and reinterpret the message that was promoted to its members. For example, they may say the Mueller Report was insufficient, and needs more interpretation or information. By digging into minutia and finding conspiracies that spiral into intellectual black holes, they can save face and have a reason to keep members fully engaged in the Left Wing Media cult broadcasts.
Final Note:
We must guard against slipping into a media cult. Therefore, listen closely to both sides of an argument in the news, research for authenticated data, and then watch for the results. Take the results and match it to previously made statements to determine which experts and organizations are the most reliable.
I have given only a few tactics that cults use to control their people. See this link and replace the title "Group" with Left Wing media (or Right Wing) as a way to discover if your media group is a cult or not. Other than the "secret rites" this list contains some damning realities of a cult dressed up like a media news source.
https://medium.com/@zelphontheshelf/10-signs-youre-probably-in-a-cult-1921eb5a3857
(1) https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/media-bias-left-study/
(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalistic_objectivity
(3)
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/09/03/glenn-greenwald-the-bane-of-their-resistance
(4) https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/heavens-gate-cult-members-found-dead
(5) https://slate.com/technology/2011/05/apocalypse-2011-what-happens-to-a-doomsday-cult-when-the-world-doesn-t-end.html
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