If I Stayed in My Progressive Bubble, Woke Media May Have Affected My Opinion on the Rittenhouse Verdict
Since Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all charges, it’s been rough as a progressive because those on “my side” have been outraged due to being fed misinformation from woke media. As Jesse Singal pointed out on the Bari Weiss Common Sense podcast, the verdict should have been no surprise. Throughout the Rittenhouse trial, I had to turn to right-wing media just to get somewhat accurate reporting because woke media was spreading so much misinformation before, during, and even after the trial.
Silicon Valley programmer turned technology ethicist Tristan Harris has been outspoken about how social media algorithms purposely push us into echo chambers. If I hadn’t been aware of this and understood it, I could have been trapped in a bubble where I was being force-fed false narratives about the Rittenhouse trial and the actual events from Kenosha on the night in question. Fortunately, I noticed something was wrong early on in the coverage of the trial.
The first red flag was how many left-leaning media sources were using the word “protests” for what happened in Kenosha. Following the shooting on August 27, 2020, the New York Times published a piece stating in the sub-heading, “Footage appears to show a teenager shooting three people during protests in Wisconsin.” CNN ran a story with the headline “Illinois teen arrested in fatal shooting at Kenosha protest, police say”. For anyone who remembers that night, the situation escalated far beyond protests.
I remember watching the events in Kenosha unfold after police shot Jacob Blake, and it was pure chaos. There were images that I’ll never forget of all of the buildings on fire in Kenosha that night. It was reported that more than 100 buildings were damaged and at least 40 were destroyed. After two days of unrest, Wisconsin Governor, Tony Evers, declared an official State of Emergency due to the violence and destruction. To call what led to Rittenhouse going to Kenosha to protect buildings against protests is to deny reality and is a clear example of misinformation.
Once I realized I wasn’t going to receive the proper information from liberal media, I knew I had to leave my bubble, and that’s when I had to turn to right-wing and anti-woke media sources. As much as I ideologically disagree with Tim Pool, I found myself tuning into his YouTube podcast daily for better information. Pool’s episode with two gun experts helped me better understand gun laws and why the prosecution had such a weak case. Progressives like myself even had to tune in to Tim’s episode with Joe Rogan, Alex Jones, and Blaire White, which was pure pandemonium.
I would have loved to stay in my bubble, but I couldn’t any longer. Woke media coverage is pushing people like myself away. Even though I’m firm in my progressive values, I can see some are moving to the right. If you consume liberal media and high-profile figures feeding into the woke narrative, you’d believe Rittenhouse is a white supremacist. Like many others, former USA Today and The Hill writer Cheri Jacobus tweeted to her 178k followers the viral image of Rittenhouse doing the “OK” hand sign and referring to him as “KKKyle Rittenhouse” and a “white supremacist hero”. Through the woke lens, he looks like a white supremacist in the image, but to me, he looks like a kid just trying to look cool.
The woke narrative has become so bad that The Independent incorrectly said that the men Rittenhouse shot were Black, which they had to correct. But the murderous white supremacist narrative isn’t limited to the media, either. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley reacted to the verdict by tweeting that “Racism & white supremacy remain the bedrock of our legal system.” Meanwhile, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, “What we are witnessing is a system functioning as designed and protecting those it was designed for.” I’m half Black and have been very vocal about issues with the justice system towards Black Americans, but making the Rittenhouse case about race isn’t helping.
What finally pushed me over the edge and made me decide to write about the issue with woke media was this viral video with over 8 million views on Twitter from Amber Ruffin. She starts by saying, “You guys, because I have my own show, I have a responsibility to say things that people need to know that aren’t being said,” before going on to parrot the same talking points that you’ll find from thousands of liberal commentators. After a long pause, holding back tears, she says, “It’s not okay for a man to grab a rifle, travel across state lines, and shoot three people and then walk free.” In just one minute, Ruffin not only spread misinformation but omitted crucial information.
There’s a discussion to be had about gun laws, whether or not citizens should protect communities from riots, or if Rittenhouse should have even been there that night. But not a single liberal media outlet has discussed the violence and destruction in Kenosha that night. And now that Rittenhouse said on Tucker Carleson that he supports Black Lives Matter and said, "If they did this to me, imagine what they could've done to a person of color who doesn't maybe have the resources I do, or [if] it's not widely publicized like my case," he’s still being accused of being a monster with murderous intentions.
Last week, I wrote an OpEd about the record-high overdose deaths in the United States that topped 100,000. People are turning to drugs due to massive wealth inequality, poor healthcare, and a struggling working class. There are a group of progressives like myself who are sick and tired of woke media perpetuating the culture war any chance they get while people are struggling to put food on the table. If liberal media doesn’t resolve this soon, people like me will be forced to tune in to Fox News or worse.
I’m currently writing a book about how we’re manipulated by the news, social media, technology, advertisers, and each other. It dives into the psychological history of manipulation, our biases, tribalism, and more.
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