Media's False Narratives Lead to Warped Perceptions of Reality

The following article has been authored by a non-clinician

The dissemination last week of three different sets of data focusing on the prevalence of police shootings, the lethality of COVID-19, and the perceived dangers of the coronavirus vaccine, illustrate how the media’s painting of false narratives is leading the American public to develop radically warped perceptions of reality.

The first set of numbers were highlighted in an oped by the New York Post’s Miranda Devine. Liberal outlets (CNN and MSNBC - and others), have devoted such a high extent of coverage and slanted analysis that 53% of its prime audience of liberal America believe that there are over 1,000 cases of unarmed black men being shot each year by police officers, when the actual number is 12.

Meanwhile, Republicans, who don’t wallow in these left-wing media waters, believe the number is much closer to reality.

The false narrative has led to many Blacks fearing their children may be murdered by a police officer when, according to FBI statistics, the reality is they are almost 50 times more likely to be shot by another Black male.

In fact, of the 2,870 murders of Blacks in 2016, 2,570 were at the hands of a Black suspect. 

According to "War on Cops" author, Heather MacDonald, "In 2019, the police killed 235 blacks, most of them also armed or dangerous, out of 1,004 police shooting victims overall. That roughly 25% ratio has also remained stable."

While the 25% figure is double the black percentage of the overall population, it must be remembered that police contact with blacks is proportionally far higher than that of the general population due to calls emanating from black communities.

Left-wing media distortions are so pronounced that even uber-liberal talk show host Bill Maher ("Real Time With Bill Maher," HBO) chastised the liberal cable shows for distorting the views of progressive Americans when it comes to the dangers of COVID-19.

While any death from the virus is one too many, over 40% of liberals believe that you have a 50% chance or higher chance of being hospitalized from coronavirus if you contract it, when the actual number is between one and five %.

This is a remarkable ten fold difference from reality and has the potential to impact people‘s decisions on the closing of schools and the shut downs of our economy.

Here too, conservatives — who are not likely to view these channels as regularly — believe the numbers to be much closer to reality.

There is increasing evidence that the liberal channels were purposely hyping COVID-19 dangers for political and economic reasons.

In a now viral undercover video produced by Project Veritas, one high-level producer admitted to joining the CNN staff for the intent purpose of artificially pumping up the danger of COVID-19 to deleteriously impact the Trump administration.

Yet, distortions of reality do not exclusively emanate from the left. Surveys issued last week show that while 83% of liberals are comfortable getting the shot, a mere 56% of conservatives feel the same.

This is so despite the fact that there is a mere one in a million chance of getting complications from the vaccine, even for those vaccines that have been sidelined due to healthcare concerns.

It's entirely possible, and even probable, that the reason relates to conservative media pushback, and often legitimate skepticism, of proclamations issued by health officials considered to be products of the deep state.

The bottom line is that the media's coverage indeed plays a major role in public perceptions and behavior.

As Bill Maher so pointedly stated in his recent monologue, it’s time for officials to stop sugarcoating what they are telling us.

Don’t lie to us for our own protection.

Tell us the truth.

We’re old enough and smart enough to make the correct decisions for ourselves, so long as we receive the correct information, and not a false narrative coated with the spin of an agenda driven media producer.

Steve Levy is President of Common Sense Strategies, a political consulting firm. He served as Suffolk County Executive, as a NYS Assemblyman, and host of "The Steve Levy Radio Show." He is the author of "Solutions to America's Problems" and "Bias in the Media." www.SteveLevy.info, Twitter @SteveLevyNY, steve@commonsensestrategies.com. Read Steve Levy's Reports — More Here.