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Comment by Pils | Hacker News Reader

> This was a widely cited poll that asserted for the first time ever, the majority of Americans mistrust the mainstream media

A poll released by the largest PR firm in the world[0], famous for their work with Walmart, GEO Group, Keystone XL, etc.

Why would the creators of "Working Families for Walmart" ever try to manufacture consent? One wonders.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edelman_(firm)

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Reader distrusts media poll showing high distrust in media.

and more importantly... reader shows obvious bias against Walmart... I wonder if he works for Target?

(Lesson: Random idiots on the idiot yelling at each other about who can't be trusted pushing "conspiracy theories" about "The Wallsmart" pushing polls and people who don't believe the polls and etc etc etc. Yes... I'm one of those random idiots.)

Manufacturing Consent is a book that had a big impact on how I perceive media, and I think it's wise to examine who's saying something and what their motives are, but I don't totally understand what you're saying. What's their motive here? I can't see a link between the narrative that people distrust media and their pr work for a bunch of gross corporations.

Removing the media as an independent voice increases the power of the voices left. Meaning, one less force to counterbalance corporate power.

Same reason Trump hammered on the media — one less voice to speak against him.

I'd buy that except the major media outlets are the corporate power.

Well mostly, although corporate power is not a single entity or a unified bloc. And independent media does exist, just without the reach of the large operators.

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