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To what extent can the mass media influence our daily lives? The answer is compelling: infinitely. There is nothing more influential than mass media; even less so when they have completely adapted to new technological and social platforms. In that sense, it is no secret that, in the U.S., “liberal” media – mostly Democratic-like – far outnumber conservative media. Although that may change over time.
This 2020 has been a difficult year, not only to live through, but also to understand. A pandemic, economic crisis, social conflicts, wars and major political struggles. All are edges that have confused the citizens of the world, too much information added in a short time to process and understand it facilitates the task for manipulation.
In this sense, the mass media, not only in the United States but throughout the world, took charge of suppressing relevant information that could have turned the election in favor of Trump to the detriment of Biden. In total, eight extremely relevant issues were presented to Joe Biden voters in several swing states.
The states where the survey was conducted were Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Of all of them, so far only North Carolina would go to Trump, waiting to see how the president’s legal battle would go.
The study involved The Polling Company – the company hired to conduct the poll – consulting 1,750 Biden voters about issues that the conservative MRC News Busters did not consider to be well covered or reported by the liberal mass media. In other words, they were manipulated or directly suppressed.
The results showed that a large majority (82%) of those who voted for Biden did not know at least one of the 8 key issues, and 5% said they did not know the 8 issues used for the survey.
According to the study, “this lack of information proved crucial: one in six Biden voters surveyed (17%) said they would have abandoned the Democratic candidate if they had known the facts about one or more of these stories.
What does this mean? Well, considering that the elections in the swing states were fairly close, with only a fraction of that 17% the situation in several states was able to change and turn in favor of the Republican candidate.
The 8 issues suppressed or misinformed by the mass media
The first of these issues was Tara Reade’s allegations of sexual assault against Joe Biden. Of those surveyed, 35.4% were unaware of the issue; in addition, 8.9% said that their vote would have gone to Trump, an independent candidate, or they would not have voted at all if they known about the news.
According to the study, this would have been enough to potentially turn Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin into Trump.
The Hunter Biden scandal and his shady foreign business was the second topic. 45.1% of voters do not know about it and 9.4% would have changed their vote.
Kamala Harris’ radical socialist positions were the third issue addressed. The study indicated that 25.3% of Biden’s voters are unaware of this reality; in addition, 4.1% say they would have changed their vote, enough to possibly change Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to Trump, according to Newsbusters.
Fourth issue: job reports and job recovery provided in the pre-election climate, that is, from June 5 to October 2. 39.4% were unaware of the job recovery; 5.4% would have changed their vote if they had a better sense of what was happening all these months at this point.
The huge economic growth was the fifth issue. Forty-nine percent did not know about the huge economic rebound after the pandemic fell, and 5.6% would have changed their vote, which could have impacted the bottom line in the States mentioned above.
The historic peace agreements with Israel and its Arab neighbors was the sixth issue: 43.5% were unaware of the foreign policy achievements of the Trump administration and 5% would have chosen another candidate.
U.S. energy independence achieved during the Trump administration, the seventh issue: 50.5% were unaware and 5.8% would have changed their vote.
The – apparently – imminent success of Operation Warp Speed was the last of the 8 issues evaluated in the study. The results were as follows: 36.1% of Biden’s voters were unaware of the role played by the administration; 5.3% would not have voted for Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
It is important to mention Newsbusters’ conclusion: “not all of these voters would have voted for President Trump, of course (although about 6% of Biden’s voters say that’s exactly what they would have done). Just by choosing to abandon Biden, these voters would have given all six states and a second term to the president – if the media had properly informed them about the two candidates.
The MRC Newsbusters study is key to at least putting it into perspective and thinking: what would have happened if the largely Democratic Party-friendly media had been less lapidary in reporting on Trump and less complacent in reporting on Biden?
Of course, the analysis may be subjective, as some may argue that the media’s anti-Trump bigotry has ended up having the opposite effect from the one it was intended to have: benefiting him. For example, the pandemic strengthened the argument of the strong economy achieved by the Trump administration. And let’s not forget: Trump did not do badly in this election, in fact, he is the second most voted presidential candidate in U.S. history.
But, at the same time, it is inevitable to think that the eight issues suppressed or manipulated by the mass media, with a different, perhaps a little more objective, coverage, could have made a difference in the election for the president.
Emmanuel Alejandro Rondón is a journalist at El American specializing in the areas of American politics and media analysis // Emmanuel Alejandro Rondón es periodista de El American especializado en las áreas de política americana y análisis de medios de comunicación.
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