Posted on 01/01/2017 12:13:09 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
As new research reveals, right wingers understand far better than liberals how cyberspace can connect like-minded souls
Before we finally let go of 2016, it’s worth reflecting on what we learned from it. For me, the most striking lesson was the way it demonstrated how the internet has changed democratic politics. While there is no single, overarching explanation for Donald Trump’s election, his ascendancy would have been unthinkable in a pre-internet age, for two reasons.
The first is that much of Trump’s campaign rhetoric would never have got past the editorial “gatekeepers” of an earlier era – the TV network owners and controllers, the editors of powerful print media and the Federal Communications Commission with its “fairness doctrine” (which required holders of broadcast licences to “present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was, in the Commission’s view, honest, equitable and balanced”).
The second reason is that in the pre-internet era, the multitudes of Trump’s vigorous, engaged and angry supporters would have had little option but to fume impotently in whatever local arenas they inhabited. It would have been difficult, if not impossible, for them to hook up with millions of like-minded souls to crowdsource their indignation and their enthusiasm for the candidate....
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
I wonder if the author knows he is projecting.
The article seems to blame the alt right and fake news.
one thing that helped trump was the bragging on line that the consultants did every time they tried to set up a situation to discredit trump. if these idiots had not been bragging about it and social media had not been there to spread the word about this bragging I think trump would not of gotten past the gatekeepers,
I think we beat the US “news media” at their own game and it probably makes a lot of people nervous to not have a monopoly on propaganda.
Actually, this is us, folks, all Freepers and like minded folk on websites all over the Internet. We were the backbone of Trump’s campaign, the glue that kept the Trump supporters together and hanging tough right up until Trump’s win. We all deserve a collective pat on the back because WE WON!
Imo, the big difference this time, beyond the internet Trumpinators, was that a significant portion of our population knows now, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the msm and all its talking heads are full of impacted fecal matter on every issue all the time.
The only time the msm lays out a situation according to actual true facts in only ever on accident.
P.S., this writer gets the reasons all wrong, but the use of the Internet by savvy Trump supporters totally correect. So the writer is right for all the wrong reasons.
My God but these people are stiff-necked.
The “reason” ostensibly “fake news” resonated with so many voters is because we kept seeing the “real news” disproven with our own eyes!
Trump was repeatedly accused of admitting to sexual assault citing a quote that clearly did not admit such a thing.
James O’Keefe was called “discredited” and “a convicted felon” when anyone with an internet connection, and the will to use it, could quickly discover both charges are false.
Hillary Clinton was lauded for her great accomplishments when clearly the deafening silence in this regard show her only accomplishment was achieving various powerful positions.
Trump supporters were continually suspected of criminal mischief while Clinton supporters continually had their criminal mischief redefined as “protest.”
Yes, I understand the writer of this nonsense works for The Guardian, and will probably never read my reply to his attempt at trading “cause” for “effect,” but I have to believe there are others much closer to him than I who feel as I do, so I have to believe that the slimy gob he finds in his drink one day will be a loogie.
funny thing I was not a trump supporter till it came down to Cruz or Trump for the nomination but every time I heard some lobbyist brag before he tried to take out trump it got me mad and eventually it turned me into a trump supporter.
The real problem is that what the MSM calls “fake news” is actually the truth and what the MSM spews is propaganda.
This has been going on since the invention of newspapers, but the ordinary man had no way to see it, understand the reality, or fight back.
As the internet has become more important and relevant to ordinary life, the gatekeeper function of the MSM has become much less powerful.
Even 4 years ago Trump would have been a fringe candidate and would have been ignored. The MSMN was all-in on the administration lie that we were “recovering” from the great recession and all the economically devastated people across the country would not have know that there were a hundred million kindred souls just like them. The idea that a candidate actually knew about their problems and wanted to solve them would not have entered their consciousness .
The MSM is in a truly horrible position. DJT knows how to reach the American people without their filter. They can either get on board or be run over. PC is going overboard and they are going to have to report the truth or lose out to someone who will report it.
I was in somewhat the same position, except I got on the train much earlier.
I loved what Trump was saying, but I liked Cruz’s resume much better until I actually started looking into it.
Once Trump gave out Lindsey Graham’s cell phone number for calling him an asshole: I was hooked! Clearly, we had a guy here who was NOT going to play by the establishment’s rules.
A major part of the story is that the Bernie supporters shared outrages that happened around the country with one another and worked themselves into a frenzy of hatred toward Hillary and the DNC.
That frenzy was totally justified and as the Wikileaks information came out they found that their worst fears were not nearly extreme enough to match reality.
For the strangest of reasons I was asked to join a Sanders group on Facebook. I never volunteered I was a Trump supporter, but I did say what I thought of Hillary and was accepted by them. I learned a lot about how pissed off those folks were with Hillary. I had one person tell me he would vote for Trump any day over Hillary, even though he didn't like Trump. He said at least he wouldn't be corrupt.
In short I think that the Internet connected and educated lots of different groups that would have had limited information about what was really happening if they had to rely upon the corrupt traditional media.
I see where you’re coming from on that. But, it also goes to what I was saying.
The talking heads on TV news progs are just upside down and sideways.
Very 1984 the way they go about pushing their agendas.
If Trump supporters had listened to these people who clearly have no idea what is going on Hillary would be measuring the Oval office right now for new drapes.
Future Campaigns will be won or lost on Social Media. Just posting on Free Republic will be preaching to the choir. You got to get out there where the voters are and they are on Twitter (for now) and Facebook (not going away any time soon.
the guy I wanted was the first to bow out. I wanted Scott walker and my reason for him turned out to be the same reason trump won. I wanted a president that was not scared by the competition and would challenge them when they attacked his position.
It is just amazing when you think of all the hurdles the establishment placed in front of Trump. You could write a book just describing and listing all of them. The establishment assumed no mere human could make it through that gauntlet. Certainly a Joe Plumber or even a Sarah Palin stood no chance to make it all the way through. Even the left needs to give credit to Trump for that. And addressing the authors specific topic, there were numerous hurdles placed in front of the Trump Army. We had censorship and intimidation on Facebook. Numerous disruptors here. Physical and verbal assaults at political rallies. And on and on. Clearly we all participated in the upset of the millennium.
1) first is that much of Trump’s campaign rhetoric would never have got past the editorial “gatekeepers” of an earlier era >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
But it was the left who changed that rhetoric, they were defeated with their own tools.
2)It would have been difficult, if not impossible, for them to hook up with millions of like-minded souls >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Nope. Patriots and Americans have hooked up to defeat the enemies of freedom repeatedly. This is a point that Brits like John Naughton have not understood since 1776. The People are not Sheeple like they are in the UK, nor are they Sheeple as Obama assumed as an 8 year accomplishment.
For the most part America ignored their traduced media and their push polls, which Naughton falsely insists connected them.In short, America has an indelible culture of freedom and liberty.It was on full display during the election campaign, yet the Naughtons of the left centric press missed it. Why? Because they are not a part of that culture of freedom.
The author wants us to believe we are the shysters who sold a false narrative to the public for advantage. What liberals refuse to acknowledge is that their messaging requires lying to advance a corrupt agenda and now through alternative media we are able to overcome this propaganda by getting the truth out to the public.
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