BRZEZINSKI: "Our job is to control exactly what people think"

[Damajin]

https://news.grabien.com/story-brzez...t-people-think

Controlling "exactly what people think" is the job of the media, MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski boldly declared Wednesday morning.

While discussing President Trump's entreaties to the American people to remain skeptical of the press, Bzezinski worried that if the economy turns south, Americans may end up trusting him over the media.

"And it could be that while unemployment and the economy worsens, he could have undermined the messaging so much that he can actually control exactly what people think," Brzezinski said. "And that, that is our job."

SCARBOROUGH: "Exactly. That is exactly what I hear. What Yamiche said is what I hear from all the Trump supporters that I talk to who were Trump voters and are still Trump supporters. They go, 'Yeah you guys are going crazy. He's doing -- what are you so surprised about? He is doing exactly what he said he is going to do.'"

BRZEZINSKI: "Well, I think that the dangerous, you know, edges here are that he is trying to undermine the media and trying to make up his own facts. And it could be that while unemployment and the economy worsens, he could have undermined the messaging so much that he can actually control exactly what people think. And that, that is our job."

The comment failed to raise any eyebrows from her co-panelists. Instead, her co-host, Joe Scarborough, said that Trump's media antagonism puts him on par with Mussolini and Lenin.

SCARBOROUGH: "It’s the -- it's the ground noise that he is throwing out there also, whether he is questioning, Mark, the legitimacy of federal judges to do what they have done since Marbury v. Madison. It's when he says the media is the, quote --"

BRZEZINSKI: "Enemy."

SCARBOROUGH: "-- 'enemy of the people', where he sounds like Mussolini or Lenin which obviously causes concern that phrase right there makes him sound more like a dictator in training, when he sends Stephen Miller out and says, basically the president has absolute power, he shall not be questioned."

Scarborough also accused Trump's base of having a "blind spot" on the issue of illegal immigration.

"We have an economy, let’s face it, we have an economy that is built on illegal immigration," Scarborough said. "We have an economy that is built on that. That is why I say why don’t you just legalize it?"

Not news to anyone but the head in the sand types. GG Mika

[zenkai]

https://news.grabien.com/story-brzez...t-people-think



Not news to anyone but the head in the sand types. GG Mika

This is explains why most die hard MSNBC readers are zealots.

[sheggaro]

Yeah that's not journalism, that's propaganda.

[Kraenen]

This is explains why most die hard MSNBC readers are zealots.

Given most who are into MSNBC are also into several other different news outlets, I doubt it's working much.

[Belize]

Those gosh darn LIBRULZ with their heads in the sand, us Conservatives are Awake and completely unaware that our media wants the same!

[ShadowofVashj]

See your first mistake is putting any faith or gravitas into editorials. Fox News was famous for creating this, just put on alpha looking males and blonde women who spout shitty opinions and people take that as "news". They got good ratings so in the copycat industry that is TV/media everyone else just followed. CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, they all do the same shit.

You want some decent tv news? PBS news hours is at least somewhat unbiased (if almost a little conservative leaning).

[isuridedes]

I mean he's not entirely wrong.

The job of the fourth estate and why it is so essential to a functioning Democracy is simple; they are meant to present evidence and information to the masses, regardless of whether that evidence supports or is in contradiction to the current Administrations claims. The Trump Administration, for whatever reason, wants US Citizens to so completely mistrust the media that their sole source of information is directly from the Administration.

That is literally one of the steps necessary to become a Fascist or Authoritarian regime.

Media is not without bias, though some objectively mitigate that bias better than others. They are, nonetheless, an integral part of our democracy. Labeling outlets that disagree with the Administration as Fake News won't change that. Without media willing to challenge the Administration we never would have known about major US Political scandals like Watergate, or the Iran-Contra Affair, or that the current administration's National Security Advisor was potentially compromised by Russia.

Our Checks and Balances really only works if there exists a media capable of holding the government accountable.

[TwoNineMarine]

See this is where the media has it all wrong.

It's not ANYONE's job to tell us what to think. They are there to inform us of what is going on so that we may form our own opinion on it.

No more and no less.

Douchebags like this guy deserve to receive a solid kick to the nuts.

[Devonitar]

Oh, we are only 32 years late.

[Damajin]

I mean he's not entirely wrong.

The job of the fourth estate and why it is so essential to a functioning Democracy is simple; they are meant to present evidence and information to the masses, regardless of whether that evidence supports or is in contradiction to the current Administrations claims. The Trump Administration, for whatever reason, wants US Citizens to so completely mistrust the media that their sole source of information is directly from the Administration.

That is literally one of the steps necessary to become a Fascist or Authoritarian regime.

Media is not without bias, though some objectively mitigate that bias better than others. They are, nonetheless, an integral part of our democracy. Labeling outlets that disagree with the Administration as Fake News won't change that. Without media willing to challenge the Administration we never would have known about major US Political scandals like Watergate, or the Iran-Contra Affair, or that the current administration's National Security Advisor was potentially compromised by Russia.

Our Checks and Balances really only works if there exists a media capable of holding the government accountable.

You might want to check the National Defense Authorization Act provisions and how it legalizes propaganda against the America people. Your dog slobber all over the media here is unjustified and frankly naive.

The media doesn't hold the government accountable, that's ridiculous. It's owned by the same corporations who are lobbying the government in the first place. You think it's doing anything other than advancing the socio-corporate narrative and reinforcing their ultimate aims?

I'm at work so I can't respond more but really, this post of yours is blind.

[isuridedes]

You might want to check the National Defense Authorization Act provisions and how it legalizes propaganda against the America people. Your dog slobber all over the media here is unjustified and frankly naive. The media doesn't hold the government accountable, that's ridiculous. It's owned by the same corporations who are lobbying the government in the first place. You think it's doing anything other than advancing the socio-corporate narrative and reinforcing their ultimate aims? I'm at work so I can't respond more but really, this post of yours is blind.

You say I'm blind... but I think rather that your own review is covered in half-truths. The National Defense Authorization Act does exactly what you say it does, but that does not preclude members of the media from presenting fact over fiction. Your comments about corporate ownership are also true but again, you're conflating corporate wants with government wants, as though these always line up.

The history of this country is full of examples of members of the fourth estate risking (and sometimes losing) their lives and their livelihood in the pursuit of truths that this or other nations would rather not have revealed.

To presume that all media is without merit because of the issues you cite is sheer ignorance.

[Allybeboba]

Wait for it...
Wait for it...

[Machismo]

I don't think I have ever watched a single show of hers. I'm not a fan of watching any on-air personalities when it comes to the news networks. To me, she's not much different than Hannity, O'Reilly, Blitzer, and most of the rest of them.

[Tijuana]

https://news.grabien.com/story-brzez...t-people-think



Not news to anyone but the head in the sand types. GG Mika

I don't see why this is shocking. This is a core belief of the media.

[xChurch]

"Control" seems a very poor word to use since it sets off a lot of warning bells for people. The overall of what they're saying isn't bad though, the Media should be a more trusted source of news than the leader of a country.

[Evil Midnight Bomber]

https://news.grabien.com/story-brzez...t-people-think



Not news to anyone but the head in the sand types. GG Mika

It's funny how the only thing you took from that bolded paragraph was what Mika said about "It's our job" and just dismissed the rest of it entirely.

You don't have a problem with the president making up his own facts or that he is also trying to control what you think.

[Pipebomb]

She learned her arrogance from her Dad.

[Saucexorzski]

Folks like being told what to think. Life is so much easier that way.

[Glorious Leader]

Those gosh darn LIBRULZ with their heads in the sand, us Conservatives are Awake and completely unaware that our media wants the same!

Its fucked up because none of this fucking news to actual left wingers. Chomsky wrote the manufacture of consent like 30 years ago.

[Krigaren]

Well, to be fair, your topic implies that "Our job is to control exactly what people think" is a quote from Mika, when it's not.

All she said was, "And that, that is our job" after at making at least 4 different points about Trump trying to "undermine the media", "make up his own facts", and that he could "undermine the messaging" about unemployment and the economy as it gets worse, so that he can "control exactly what people think."

So what's "our job" in this context? To undermine themselves? Undermine messaging about the economy and unemployment? Make up their own facts? Control what people think? Or was she saying that "our job" is to do those things against Trump's attempt to do those things?

Hmmmm.