# Media intentionally emphasizing less-inflammatory issues to duck tough topics **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 2, 2017, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-intentionally-emphasizing-less-inflammatory-issues-to-duck-tough-topics/790392 "2017-07-02T21:12:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-intentionally-emphasizing-less-inflammatory-issues-to-duck-tough-topics/790392/1 "2017-07-02T21:12:25Z")
In the wake of Brexit and Trump’s election, there have been many folks who tried to cast the election in terms of practical issues: The working-class has been suffering, jobs have been lost, income inequality is severe, the Rust Belt feels neglected, etc. These arguments, of course, are partly or mostly true; economics did play a big role. But I cannot help but feel that there is another motive behind these arguments: A deliberate attempt to steer the narrative away from “inflammatory” election factors (such as race, refugees, immigrants, left-wing vs. right-wing views, Islam, etc.) and instead “tone down” the discussion by focusing on economics, which is a more academic-sounding, less inflammatory issue. This wasn’t just the case with Brexit or Trump. In Taiwan’s elections last year, the “pro-independence” candidate won the presidency; yet, many academics were quick to steer the conversation away from the Taiwan vs. China issue (many voters in Taiwan, especially the young, hold increasingly negative views of China and disliked the previous president’s pro-China stance) and instead focus on issues such as, “Under the previous administration, there was high income inequality, a brain drain, stagnating wages, etc.” All valid, true points, but - I suspect - a deliberate attempt to steer the conversation from the “inflammatory” topic of Taiwan vs. China, and towards a more “calm-sounding” issue of economics and personal finances. Anyone else feel this way - that many in the media, post-Brexit, post-Trump-election, were intentionally trying to play up “academic-sounding” issues such as economics and trade as much as possible, while downplaying “inflammatory” topics such as race, abortion, gays, Islam, illegal immigration, refugees, etc. as much as they could? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-intentionally-emphasizing-less-inflammatory-issues-to-duck-tough-topics/790392/2 "2017-07-02T21:31:29Z")
Unless you think the gay-bashers flipped from voting for Obama in 2012 to voting for Trump in 2016, I think it’s more reasonable to assume that it was something less partisan (like economics) that allowed for the switch-over of votes. Of course, that’s assuming that there was a switch-over. Plausibly, the result is purely one of partisan dominance. If no one turned out to vote but the people who are single-party voters, then the Presidency goes the same way as the House. Either way, it doesn’t have to do with any shift in inflammatory/PC topics. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-intentionally-emphasizing-less-inflammatory-issues-to-duck-tough-topics/790392/3 "2017-07-02T22:02:28Z")
Well that might also be why some bills or political actions take place while the nation has its attention somewhere else like the Super Bowl. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-intentionally-emphasizing-less-inflammatory-issues-to-duck-tough-topics/790392/4 "2017-07-02T22:20:49Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Anyone else feel this way - that many in the media, post-Brexit, post-Trump-election, were intentionally trying to play up “academic-sounding” issues such as economics and trade as much as possible, while downplaying “inflammatory” topics such as race, abortion, gays, Islam, illegal immigration, refugees, etc. as much as they could? Not just the media; non-“media” discussions like forums have done much the same. Probably because the fact that Trump and the Republicans won because they appealed to hatred rather than in spite of it is something most people don’t want to admit. Blaming Hillary and economic issues means they can continue to pretend that Americans are nicer than they actually are. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-intentionally-emphasizing-less-inflammatory-issues-to-duck-tough-topics/790392/5 "2017-07-02T22:36:23Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Anyone else feel this way - that many in the media, post-Brexit, post-Trump-election, were intentionally trying to play up “academic-sounding” issues such as economics and trade as much as possible, while downplaying “inflammatory” topics such as race, abortion, gays, Islam, illegal immigration, refugees, etc. as much as they could? The media _ **heavily** _ assisted Trump’s win by focusing _ **mostly** _ on Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric during the election. And guess what? That’s exactly what got him just enough electoral votes to squeak by. That’s exactly what his voters wanted to hear, because they don’t know shit about governance and choose their candidate the same way they choose what to watch on TV–the more the bullshit smells, the better for them. The media only started to talk about the “academic-sounding” issues once he got elected and they realized their culpability. That was BS too, because they kept talking about the white working class as though their issues were worse than the other working classes. What the media HARDLY EVER did was show Trump supporters what a bullshit artist he is. _ **That’s** _ what they were ducking. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2017, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-intentionally-emphasizing-less-inflammatory-issues-to-duck-tough-topics/790392/6 "2017-07-03T04:34:07Z")
Of course. The bias of the news is not what they report, but what they do NOT report. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2017, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-intentionally-emphasizing-less-inflammatory-issues-to-duck-tough-topics/790392/7 "2017-07-03T04:59:50Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > … > > Anyone else feel this way - that many in the media, post-Brexit, post-Trump-election, were intentionally trying to play up “academic-sounding” issues such as economics and trade as much as possible, while downplaying “inflammatory” topics such as race, abortion, gays, Islam, illegal immigration, refugees, etc. as much as they could? Not just no. Hell no! IMHO the media have played up the most inflammatory angles of almost every issue. The loss of nuance is spectacular. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-intentionally-emphasizing-less-inflammatory-issues-to-duck-tough-topics/790392/8 "2017-11-28T02:37:19Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Unless you think the gay-bashers flipped from voting for Obama in 2012 to voting for Trump in 2016, I think it’s more reasonable to assume that it was something less partisan (like economics) that allowed for the switch-over of votes. > > Of course, that’s assuming that there was a switch-over. Plausibly, the result is purely one of partisan dominance. If no one turned out to vote but the people who are single-party voters, then the Presidency goes the same way as the House. > > Either way, it doesn’t have to do with any shift in inflammatory/PC topics. How white your neighborhood was seems to play a big role. > **[Opinion | White-on-White Voting (Published 2017)](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/16/opinion/trump-white-voting.html)** > > When an area is more than 85 percent white, support for President Trump skyrockets — and that makes all the difference. Compared to Romney, Trump did worse among neighborhoods that were 0-90% white. However at about 85% white, support for Trump starts to climb dramatically. For neighborhoods that are 0-85% white, support for Trump is about 2-3 points lower than support for Romney. By 90%, it matches Romney support and when a neighborhood is 100% white, Trump support is about ~8 points higher than Romney support. So if a neighborhood is 85% white, they were 3 points to the left of Romney in 2012. If they are 100% white, they are 8 points to the right of Romney. I do not see any reason why economics would be the issue. The issue seems to be fear of multiculturalism and the neighborhoods exposed to the least multiculturalism fear it the most (which made Trump more appealing). Having said that, it is unfair to say all Trump supporters are white nationalists. Even in 100% white neighborhoods, an 8% move would basically just mean that 4% of the electorate who’d normally vote democratic decided to vote republican. The rest either still voted dem, or voted GOP like they always do. Even in the most lily white neighborhoods, only about ~5% of voters changed their behavior due to Trump’s nativist white nationalism (and lots of voters who are naturally republican were also turned off by Trump’s white nationalism too). ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-intentionally-emphasizing-less-inflammatory-issues-to-duck-tough-topics/790392/9 "2017-11-28T08:13:57Z")
The media’s attempt to explain election results have always been far too oversimplified. Bill Clinton won because of soccer moms. George W Bush won because of NASCAR dads and you’d rather have a beer with him. The Year of the Woman was because of the treatment of Anita Hill. For just about every election, there’s multiple factors that are responsible for the result. Just like one event isn’t usually the reason for a win or loss in a sporting event Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-intentionally-emphasizing-less-inflammatory-issues-to-duck-tough-topics/790392/10 "2017-11-28T09:13:22Z")
I agree with the OP; it’s just another part of this depressing picture. For example, I watched a Some News video where they pointed out that Trump \*literally \*advocates for Fascist values at every turn. Not a pejorative; that his values actually align with the core ideas of Fascism. However, you couldn’t point that out on CNN or whatever, because that sounds like an emotional, partisan statement and CNNs brand is too valuable for that. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-intentionally-emphasizing-less-inflammatory-issues-to-duck-tough-topics/790392/11 "2017-11-28T14:29:56Z")
And for the UK, now we have a royal wedding for the media to try and distract everyone with. Great. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-intentionally-emphasizing-less-inflammatory-issues-to-duck-tough-topics/790392/12 "2017-11-28T17:04:30Z")
The media plays up the economic angle because historically the economy is a big factor in elections. It also changes from year to year more than other factors. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-intentionally-emphasizing-less-inflammatory-issues-to-duck-tough-topics/790392/13 "2017-11-28T23:21:47Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > I agree with the OP; it’s just another part of this depressing picture. > > For example, I watched a Some News video where they pointed out that Trump \*literally \*advocates for Fascist values at every turn. Not a pejorative; that his values actually align with the core ideas of Fascism. > > However, you couldn’t point that out on CNN or whatever, because that sounds like an emotional, partisan statement and CNNs brand is too valuable for that. I assume you mean this video. People are kind of iffy about calling Trump a fascist, but terms like wanna be dictator or authoritarian are used much more freely. I guess people don't want to Godwinize the situation. One of the few saving graces is that only about 25% of Americans score high on authoritarian personality traits. So hopefully they won’t be able to establish a majority long enough to truly fuck with America. But that doesn’t always work. In Poland the authoritarian regime is working to take away people’s rights as we speak. But I could be wrong. My fear is they will attack democracy via death by a thousand cuts. Constantly assaulting the tenets of democracy until they win even if it takes decades. Attacking the free press, free judiciary, civil rights, human rights, voting rights, etc. until people get tired of defending them. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-intentionally-emphasizing-less-inflammatory-issues-to-duck-tough-topics/790392/14 "2017-11-29T20:11:23Z")
Not disagreeing with Wesley’s cite. But there’s a different way to interpret the numbers. It’s not whiteness that predicts/retrodicts Trump’s vote share. It’s rate of change in non-whiteness. As the article says about one of the example semi-rural counties. Over the last 16 years from 2010 to 2016 the white population declined from 98.7% white all the way “down” to 95.4. Doesn’t look like much change. But in the same timeframe the non-whites went from a whopping 22 people to 64 people; they darn near tripled. As we’ve talked about in other threads, the perception of a jump from zero to 1 is a lot bigger than the jump from 100 to 101. That’s what people are reacting to. The good news is that once the non-white population gets up to WAG 15-20% the :eek: OMG :eek: reaction mostly dies out. We just have to get over that hump in more of the country. It’s at that point that the decent people who are resisting change for change sake alter their beliefs and all that’s left are the hard core racists \*qua \*racists. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-intentionally-emphasizing-less-inflammatory-issues-to-duck-tough-topics/790392/15 "2017-11-29T20:54:17Z")
I can’t imagine a news organization that would steer away from anything that would raise their ad revenue, or further their agenda. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-intentionally-emphasizing-less-inflammatory-issues-to-duck-tough-topics/790392/16 "2017-11-29T22:49:49Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Not disagreeing with Wesley’s cite. > > But there’s a different way to interpret the numbers. It’s not whiteness that predicts/retrodicts Trump’s vote share. It’s rate of change in non-whiteness. > > As the article says about one of the example semi-rural counties. Over the last 16 years from 2010 to 2016 the white population declined from 98.7% white all the way “down” to 95.4. Doesn’t look like much change. > > But in the same timeframe the non-whites went from a whopping 22 people to 64 people; they darn near tripled. > > As we’ve talked about in other threads, the perception of a jump from zero to 1 is a lot bigger than the jump from 100 to 101. > > That’s what people are reacting to. The good news is that once the non-white population gets up to WAG 15-20% the :eek: OMG :eek: reaction mostly dies out. We just have to get over that hump in more of the country. It’s at that point that the decent people who are resisting change for change sake alter their beliefs and all that’s left are the hard core racists \*qua \*racists. I agree, but I think thats the argument in the article. That areas that are going from pure white to only mostly white have the most to fear from multiculturalism because the only exposure they get is through the media (blacks are lazy and violent, muslims are authoritarian terrorists, latinos are job stealing criminals, etc). ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-intentionally-emphasizing-less-inflammatory-issues-to-duck-tough-topics/790392/17 "2017-11-30T00:00:18Z")
There’s an operational difference between the two interpretations of the same statistics. If a party is deciding where to run a Trump-like White Fear candidate for Congress or the other party is running an opponent to such a candidate, it’s important to distinguish between a district that’s say, 98% white with no change, which is unfavorable ground for a White Fear candidate compared to a district that’s 96% white but the non-white numbers are growing 50-300% per decade. Despite almost identical white percentages, this latter district is far more favorable for a White Fear candidate. Because these demographics are already mostly fixed through at least 2020, it’s already possible for both parties to determine which districts will respond to which messages. For the Ds, they have a some time to try to alter the terms of debate to more favorable issues. For the Rs, they have time to fan the flames of baseless fear. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-intentionally-emphasizing-less-inflammatory-issues-to-duck-tough-topics/790392/18 "2017-11-30T01:26:52Z")
Broke: Racism was invented by capitalism to justify slavery and colonialism and to divide the working class and is still with us despite centuries of struggle. Woke: White people were racists in 2016 because they lost their jobs and their towns were gutted by neo-liberal trade deals. Bespoke: Americans were tricked into being racist by Russian bots. One prominent genre of this media phenomenon are war movies and documentaries. The morality of the war itself and the people and systems responsible will be glided over, but boy howdy did killing all those foreigners make American soldiers _sad_. > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > My fear is they will attack democracy via death by a thousand cuts. Constantly assaulting the tenets of democracy until they win even if it takes decades. Attacking the free press, free judiciary, civil rights, human rights, voting rights, etc. until people get tired of defending them. The best argument against this is that fascism is capitalism in decay, or capitalism with the gloves off, and they’re sitting pretty right now, so there’s no point in handing over power to a bunch of Viking worshipers unless some sort of actual workers movement happens. American culture is already pretty fashy, though. Just as a recent example, check this quote out from a prominent liberal news anchor: > [@](#): > > America is a land of myths. Those myths are what knit a disparate people together. Right now we feel rudderless because there’s nothing soaring or mythic about our leadership. It’s just crassness, greed and grasping. That was MSNBC’s [Joy Reid](https://twitter.com/joyannreid/status/933396842771111936) tweeting boilerplate fash rhetoric. Wild stuff. It’s also crazy how much pop culture stuff is so easily read as fashy propaganda. Super heroes, obviously, but so much else too – yes, we get it, great men will save the stupid masses, hierarchy is good, immigrants are bad, and cooperating with foreigners is for suckers. Sometimes the media is trying to critique these ideas but just makes them end up looking correct, like how so-called anti-war movies make war look awesome, or how so many people watched Fight Club and decided that the solution to what ails the West is embracing masculinity. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-intentionally-emphasizing-less-inflammatory-issues-to-duck-tough-topics/790392/19 "2017-11-30T09:23:42Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > That was MSNBC’s [Joy Reid](https://twitter.com/joyannreid/status/933396842771111936) tweeting boilerplate fash rhetoric. Wild stuff. No, not really. “We need great leaders” is only fascism if you’re trying really, really hard to see it. Earlier, when I said the news media is reluctant to label Trump, or any of his ideas, fascist, it’s because they’re worried it will be seen as this kind of hyperbole, not the true definition of the word.