Since the 2016 presidential election, talk about fake news influencing the results still remains. All identities on the political spectrum made claims that fake news facilitated or impeded their movement during the election. The fake news narrative gained traction amongst mainstream news outlets after Edgar Maddison Welch fired a rifle into a pizza restaurant in Washington D.C. It was said that he did this to investigate a debunked conspiracy theory disseminated by various alternative media outlets, often referred to as “Pizzagate.” However, after doing research I can’t be sure Pizzagate is really fake news, and the mainstream media didn’t just use this incident to silence proponents of the Pizzagate theory.
Pizzagate revolves around the owner of Comet Ping Pong Pizzeria in Washington, D.C. People became skeptical of owner James Alefantis’ integrity after realizing his Instagram contained hundreds of lewd photos that could be considered child pornography. This was disheartening to many as Alefantis had been ranked the 49th most powerful individual in D.C. by GQ. Emails within Wikileaks confirmed that Alefantis had fundraisers for many high-ranking democratic officials (New York Times). Some emails between political operatives in Wikileaks contained peculiar remarks that led to many questioning whether these people were complicit in a crime. Alefantis had many connections to elites in Washington, including husband David Brock who is the founder of Media Matters and a very influential democratic operative. Because the allegations against Alefantis may have merit, the mainstream media should not condemn the story as fake news without the D.C. police first conducting a formal investigation. The effect this rash decision made by the mainstream media had was destructive toward any possible investigation.
Pizzagate was not a one time thing. There are many examples where the mainstream media deliberately lied to mislead people. For example, the war in Iraq was perpetuated because of a completely fake story that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. This led to sanctions and an invasion that killed over a million Iraqis and thousands of American troops (The Washington Post). It is likely that NBC encouraged a pro-war stance due to being owned by an element of the military industrial complex, GE, which profits from war.
Another instance where the mainstream media deliberately lied was the “hands up, don’t shoot” narrative regarding Michael Brown’s death. Fabricated reporting sparked widespread protests across the country where people died, and buildings were looted and burned to the ground. The Attorney General at the time, Eric Holder, said that the media’s portrayal of Brown putting his hands up was “a complete falsehood” (The Washington Post). A more recent example of the mainstream media lying was when ABC stated that Michael Flynn was directed by President Trump to contact the Russians during the 2016 election. ABC later retracted the story, and Brian Ross was suspended. Recently, President Trump has begun to flip the narrative and refer to various mainstream news organizations as fake news. It’s important to be wary of major media outlets who have unchecked power.