How Media Narrative Created The Red Mirage

By Susie Madrak — November 9, 2022

I hate to keep beating this dead horse, but I'm a former journalist and I remain appalled at just how inept (and maybe insidious) our corporate media is.

This can’t really be the @nytimes front page today, can it? pic.twitter.com/WAWiINEUtj

— Sawyer Hackett (@SawyerHackett) November 9, 2022

We just came through months of horse-race "journalism" that focused on questionable polls -- and broad questions.

Q: "Do you think the country's headed in the wrong direction?"
A: "With MAGAts threatening to kill public officials, the Jan. 6th insurrection, a corrupt Supreme Court, losing abortion rights, and Republicans obstructing everything Joe Biden's trying to do? You're goddamned right the country's headed in the wrong direction."

See how that works? These pollsters are asking questions that can be slanted to please the people who pay them - and most of the polls that flooded the narrative were paid for by Republicans. So the media amplifies their false conclusions, and many voters start to believe them:

We need to talk about how the far right holds an iron grip on the media narrative in American politics. Yesterday, almost every media outlet and scores of political reporters followed that narrative off the cliff. They all look like fools this morning.

— Tom Watson (@tomwatson) November 9, 2022

We need a reckoning on how the media relentlessly sold an open fascist in Lee Zeldin to New Yorkers. Completely falsely. https://t.co/tweKAZozfN

— Tom Watson (@tomwatson) November 9, 2022

Among the biggest losers last night: the main stream media, which bought hook line & sinker the idea that we were headed for a giant Red Wave, unquestioningly embraced bogus polls, and fell back into the herd mentality, protecting each other by buying the same conventional wisdom

— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) November 9, 2022

media: americans deeply divided over abortion

americans, even in states that go gop like kentucky and kansas: GET YOUR FUCKIN' HANDS OFF OF WOMEN'S BODIES https://t.co/9xIyiETuNB

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) November 9, 2022

The idea that the crime issue is *just* media propaganda is overstated but it’s certainly true that you wouldn’t know from the coverage or politics that many more people are shot and killed in Florida than in New York.

— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) November 9, 2022

Our elite political reporters were partial to a Republican narrative because it insulated them from accusations of being liberal, which is their worst nightmare.

— Dan Froomkin/PressWatchers.org (@froomkin) November 9, 2022

Every outlet from @politico to @nytimes needs to introspect heavily and ask themselves what they did wrong in manufacturing a false red wave narrative.

— David Atkins (@DavidOAtkins) November 9, 2022

So turns out there was a major Red Wave. In New York state. Stunning for New York state Dems. But for national Dems, if you had to lose House seats thats where you want to lose them. Because good luck to the new reps who are now the emissaries of Marje Greene in the NYC suburbs.

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) November 9, 2022

Republicans wouldn’t be slight favorites to win House control right now if they hadn’t been able to gerrymander far more states than Dems.

And, Dems wouldn’t hold the slight majority today if courts hadn’t struck down GOP gerrymanders in FL, NC, PA and VA in the last 7 years.

— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) November 9, 2022

Morning everyone! It is a good day. As we hoped!

Here's yesterday's thread which assembled many of the elements of the argument @tbonier and I have been making about why we thought Dems would do better in the election than many believed. 1/https://t.co/TizTdxsUck

— Simon Rosenberg (@SimonWDC) November 9, 2022

Yes, we called bullshit on the red wave, the GOP flooding the zone w/crappy polls campaign, the people don't care about abortion argument.

But we also have been calling BS on "Hispanics fleeing to Rs" narrative. This needs much more attention. See 👇 5/https://t.co/bdPxHwpPbF

— Simon Rosenberg (@SimonWDC) November 9, 2022

The polls were wrong. The media narrative was wrong.

The ONLY THING we know that works is gerrymandering, felony disenfranchisement and Hershel Walker’s dick.

— Michael Harriot (@michaelharriot) November 9, 2022

Will the media admit they were wrong? Will they admit their erroneous conclusions tilted the election? Hahahahaha!

Just kidding.