The weeks since the election have fully revealed the vicious cycle that has pushed right-wing media further and further into extremist territory. This phenomenon is not new. Fueled by the core belief that the “media is biased,” conservatives continue to seek ever-more sensationalistic media sources to support their world view.

The microcosm of the post-election coverage shows how out-of-control this pernicious trend has grown. Since most news media is supported by advertising, and advertising (particularly online) is buoyed by views, clicks and shares, there is a strong incentive for so-called “news” outlets to push anything that will drive such actions — even if their stories are not grounded in fact.

The problem is when media outlets that present themselves as news spout completely unhinged conspiracy theories. There is a word for ostensibly objective news that pushes a particular agenda: propaganda. Conservatives may bash the New York Times, Washington Post or CNN as “liberal”, but the reality is these media outlets are still anchored in the core tenets of journalism — fact-based, accurate, corroborated with evidence, confirmed with reliable sources, and representing multiple points of view.

The tired trope of the “liberal media” contradicts the reality that most mainstream media is actually right-leaning. What makes so-called liberal media seem liberal is its basis in truth, objectivity and representing contrary points of view. For conservatives, the assertion that the media is biased becomes the justification for new right-wing media outlets that don’t even pretend to abide by journalistic integrity.

The cycle is clear. The media is biased, therefore let’s create ever-more-right-leaning media outlets, let’s turn those outlets into increasingly paranoid echo chambers of our latest talking points, if those media outlets demonstrate a shred of journalistic integrity and fail to parrot our outright lies, then they must be “biased” and new media outlets formed in their place. And the cycle repeats. Fox News gives way to Newsmax, Breitbart to Infowars, Twitter to Parler.

As previous generations of quasi-legitimate conservative media outlets are marginalized or driven out of business for daring to part with Trumpian orthodoxy, what remains is an ever-more deeply biased form of entertainment that cynically feeds off an audience of devotees that don’t seem to care about facts or impartiality — they just want to hear more of what they already believe, like conscripts in a cult. This vicious cycle is, of course, accelerated by Trump himself — beseeching his 89 million followers to abandon any media outlet that so much as questions his hegemony. And why not? The strategy has worked. According to a recent survey, 70% of Republicans do not believe the presidential election was “free and fair” — a narrative espoused solely by Trump, despite his own exceedingly loyal Attorney General finding no evidence of fraud in the election.

Of course, Trump’s real goal is likely to dis-intermediate media entirely. Why bother with even the most die-hard sycophantic press if even they won’t let him rant for 46 minutes about imaginary election fraud? Why let them profit off his own outlandish showmanship? Why communicate in mere 280-character tweets when a Trump TV network could give him an un-filtered platform for his wildest paranoid fantasies, 24/7? If the past is any indicator, Trump TV would be a huge success, with his rage-blind followers lapping up every incantation, not to mention generating ad revenue, merchandising opportunities and a propaganda platform unlike any other to propel him to regain the White House in 2024?

Only Republicans can stop this downward spiral. No amount of criticism, facts, even trials and convictions seem to have changed the minds of his fans — all that negative media coverage is just biased anyway, right? So my question for conservatives is: Just how gullible are you?

The Vicious Conservative Media Cycle