The Media’s Limited Power to Change Observable Reality

The bias, malfeasance, and incompetence of the national political press is a common theme in conservative media; I’ve written about it many times, and so have many others at National Review. The media undoubtedly has an effect on what people learn and believe about American politics.

There is, however, an unhealthy tendency on the part of political partisans — especially those whom one encounters in online debate — to attribute to the media powers it simply does not have. Observable reality still exists, voters can still see it, and no amount of media gaslighting can change that.