Yellow Journalism & Social Media (I)
Fake News: Not A Novel Idea
Reportedly, at the end of the 19th century, Yellow Journalism started a war. Nowadays, at times, there are claims that Social Media seems to be trying to do the same. At least then, the US benefited from the opportunity and consolidated its military power. Unfortunately now, no one is sure who exactly is winning.
MEDIA HAS BECOME THE ACHILLES HEAL OF THE WESTERN POWERS
In the 21st century, media power seems to have become the achilles heel of the Western powers.
Since the 2016 presidential election campaign, it first destroyed America. A decade later, it is devastating Europe.
Social Media is now a tool for everyone, no one has exclusive control over it. That also includes the major powers of the West of the 20th century.
So, we are back to square one. That means Yellow Journalism and Social Media now will continue the precarious road ahead to fill the vacuum.
Unfortunately, the West at this stage does not have to power it used to have. As a result, it has to resort to Plan B or worse, the likes of Yellow Journalism, for example.
Yellow Journalism & Social Media
And Their Mother in Law
They all failed big time recently. 28 May Run-off Election in Turkiye clearly displayed the misery of the Western powers in the hands of a rising Eastern power.
In Turkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdogan won a crushing victory in the run-off election. All of the Western media were out in full force to stop him and his regime.
Before that, the battle was in the US. It lasted years, like the “Civil Var”. Unfortunately, its ripple effects are still lingering to the detriment of this great republic.
The Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, The battle marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars when the mighty French emperor lost big.
The Turkish presidential election in May 2023 was equally big. It simply marked the end of the dominance of the Western media when it was shredded into pieces.
The Batle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg marked the turning point of the Civil War. Confederate general Robert E. Lee’s ambitious second quest to invade the North failed.
Donald J. Trump became the 45th president of the US, against all the “confederated” media, of all things against with a “Twitter”. Trump proved to become a man over a “machine,” like a David.
Yellow Journalism and Social Media
21st Century Prospects
Unfortunately for the West, there is no other option but to turn to Yellow Journalism and Social Media nowadays. They are not only “cheap” but also the cheapest way.
After all, decaying Western society has an even faster decaying economy. Soon coupled with military failures to come out of desperation, the alternatives will wither away even faster.
As a result, Yellow Journalism & Social Media will seem like the way out or an excuse to find a scapegoat. Currenly, President Macron and France are good examples.
The Battle of Algiers
The Battle of Algiers ended aspirations of France becoming a superpower like the US and the USSR have become in the 20th century. Algerians kicked the French out of their country after suffering more than a million dead and wounded in 1962.
Fast forward to June 2023, French President Emmanuel Macron claims it is the fault of Social Media that is behind the current riots that brought the Battle of Algiers to the streets of Paris, Lyon, Strasbourg, and Marseille.
Fake News: Not A Novel Idea
About Yellow Journalism & Social Media
In the US, there is a well known saying, reflecting the American way, in general. It is called: “Three Strikes and Out!”
I believe the battles of Waterloo, Gettysburg, and Algiers are plenty to keep in mind. The Western media as we know it is dead and buried in the East.
As the “Sick Man of the Western Alliance” it is about time for Western media to turn to the basics. Like for example writing “All the News That’s Fit to Print”, in Earnest.
I have written more than two hundred, each over two thousand words, position paper types, posted on one of my websites, since 2021.
The headline I used for them, until I brought my writings to Substack here under “Erbil Writes”, was: “All the News That’s NOT Fit To Print in America.”
The popularity of my articles there, I noticed so far, are also picking up here, and fast. That is beside the fact that I continue to be traditionally published monthly & weekly.
The world’s leading media outlets are printing my articles and I am gaining popularity all the same. The single reason for that is that I have never been a Yellow Journalist.
Not starting war of all things!
Three Strikes and Out!
That is why all the Yellow Journalism & Social Media in the world could not stop Donald Trump and Recep Tayyip Erdogan winning elections, and why Emmanuel Macron and France could not put an end to all the uprisings since 2005.
It is about time in the West, the leaders start getting it together with the “Fake News: Not Being A Novel Idea” and it will not get them far. And if they don’t start “talking turkey”, the West will even lose the sight of the East that is rapidly rising.
Erbil Writes
In the meantime, as far as “Erbil Writes” is concerned, I started the “Yellow Journalism & Social Media” chapter at Substack, solely to address the problems in the media today.
As you see in the photo below, I am in a life long partnership with one of the world's most renowned television personalities, namely Daphne Barak. Simple Googling would say a lot about what we do, how we do, and why we do.
You can surely read the rest of the “media” intrigue in this chapter. That currently means “Ghislaine Maxwell”, “Britney Spears”, “British Royal Family”, and the likes. All exclusive first-time interviews. All “exclusive revelations.”
