The Left-Leaning Media is Following the Money. Not the Issues that Matter

“As newscasters reported in painstaking detail about the intricacies of a politician’s body language or outfit, 3.2 million Americans lost health insurance in 2017. Only 39 percent of Americans can afford a $1k emergency. And 41 million Americans are hungry.”

One of the headlines from New York magazine earlier this month said it all: “Trump Forgets Words to ‘God Bless America’ at Fake Fan Rally.” But that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what the media chooses to report on. Who can forget NBC’s fixation on Kellyanne Conway’s decision to sit on a couch with her knees tucked and shoes off during a meeting at the Oval Office? Then there was the series of CNN pieces about Samantha Bee attacking Ivanka Trump on Twitter. Sometimes, it seems that events such as these are all the media wants to talk about.

The question is: why does any of this matter when it comes to the real issues Americans face on a daily basis?

There’s an argument to be made that it doesn’t, and that these pieces gain unwarranted attention, while the truly important matters go unreported. During the 2016 election cycle, while the media remained stuck on then-candidate Trump’s antics, 12.7 percent (or 43.1 million Americans) lived in poverty. Currently, homelessness is increasing for the first time since 2010. Yet, these are not the issues that get on camera.