Fidelity To “The Narrative”

     A reposted Jack Cashill article (the original American Thinker posting is apparently inaccessible) on the George Zimmerman / Trayvon Martin episode illuminates exactly where the media stands on “facts” and “truth.” Cashill was offended by the appearance of a deceitful Trayvon Martin canonization piece, on February 26 of this year, the ten-year anniversary of the episode, in the Washington Post. He emailed a complete, meticulously researched account of the encounter that resulted in Martin’s death to the paper…and has heard nothing and has seen no changes to the paper’s mendacity:

     Four days after sending this email, I have not heard a word in reply, not even a “Thank you. We are looking into your concerns.” Blow and his colleagues were right about one thing. The Trayvon Martin case did launch a new phase in the civil rights movement. They even got Obama to lend his imprimatur, the former president calling the furor over [Zimmerman’s] acquittal, “a galvanizing force in helping to create a broader based movement now known as Black Lives Matter.”

     For the Post editors to “correct” this story would be to undermine their own credibility, the legitimacy of Black Lives Matter, and Barack Obama’s place in history. I almost pity them. In their world, they have no choice but to dishonor their profession and let democracy die in darkness.

     “The Narrative” is a jealous god. A bit like Islam, it seems: once your outlet enlists in it, the exit is barred to you. Why a paper that aspires to be taken as a faithful reporter and recorder of events would subordinate those goals to “The Narrative” is worthy of study, but that’s a side issue for the moment. What’s truly significant here are the considerations that prevent the Washington Post —which is not alone among major papers – from correcting its coverage.

     It’s a staple of Public Choice theory that small, tightly focused groups – i.e., groups that have a very narrow agenda, no more than one or two items long – are more effective at shaping the policies of large institutions than the reverse. The members of such groups tend to be passionate. They devote large amounts of their time and their personal resources to their Cause. This gives them the appearance of potency beyond what they actually possess – and when it comes to the media, that appearance is more important than the actuality behind it.

     Add to this that some such groups are militant. Their activism doesn’t stop at protests or writing angry letters. They assault their “enemies” physically, sometimes with deaths as a consequence. The Jyllands-Posten and Charlie Hebdo incidents have been much on the minds of managing editors ever since they first occurred.

     In this country at this time, Negroes are permitted to riot without legal consequences. Gentle Readers who’ve paid attention to the “Black Lives Matter” riots that destroyed two dozen American cities will already be aware of this. Those riots are incited and partly directed by Leftist agitators. Therefore we must conclude that those agitators expect to gain from Negro riots and widespread destruction.

     Nothing would prevent those agitators turning their attention to the Washington Post. The Post’s editorial cadre is surely aware of this.

     So the Post has a survival interest in remaining faithful to “The Narrative” about Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Michael Brown, and the other Negro thugs whose deaths have become cause celebre for Negro rioters. Add its pecuniary interest – a paper that butchers an important public issue as completely as the Post did the Trayvon Martin incident can’t afford to admit to that level of deceit and / or incompetence – and the odds of a corrected version appearing in the Post’s pages dwindle toward zero.

     Finally though not insignificantly, today there are forces deeply entrenched in America’s governments that actively desire the perpetuation of the “whites privileged / blacks oppressed” evil fairy tale. It’s a rod with which the State can flail white Americans, who pay the overwhelmingly greater share of Americans’ tax burden, into coughing up still more valuta for “programs,” “equity,” and (of course) “reparations.” Virtually none of the money will ever reach anyone who genuinely needs and deserves help; government is like that and always has been. The political operators will find ways to glom the greater part of it…but only if they can keep the “racist white oppressors” lie alive. They have ways to ensure that the media are kept “on-side.”

     Not much of a mystery after all, is it?

     Those who have an interest in the incident and the coverage should read the whole of Cashill’s piece. It’s a sturdy lesson in how little credibility the media deserve today. Studying the parallels between the treatment of the Trayvon Martin incident and the coverage of the other black thugs elevated to political sainthood would be equally worth your time. Anyone who feels himself beginning to trust in the emissions of the New York Times, the Washington Post, or any other major media organ could use the reminder.