How the media misleads people about the media

Henry Scanlon:

Ever notice how the press smushes stuff together?  If you say something about illegal immigration, like how you don't want it, the media say you're against immigration in general, which is to say "brown people," which is to say, aha, you have been exposed for what you are: a racist, a bad person, probably a Republican, and quite possibly a World Wrestling Entertainment habitué.  All this for pointing out something no more complicated than that when you decide to have laws, they ought to be obeyed, and when they're not obeyed, they should be enforced.  You want to say no, no, no, it's only illegal immigration I want to have a look at, but they blur the lines, pretending you're saying something you're not, something broader than that, so you can be vilified and ridiculed for the stupid, racist thing you're not saying.

In the same way, you can be very much in favor of the free press but against dishonest, agenda-driven reporting – i.e., "fake news."  In each set, one of these things – legal immigration and the free press – is not like the other one – illegal immigration and fake news – and that's true no matter how much somebody scruple-challenged might bleat otherwise in order to gain purchase on a fraudulent, dishonest position.

Make no mistake: all this smushing together of things does not flow from sloppiness or lack of discipline – it is purposeful.  It's how they get away with flat-out lying about things, smearing those they disagree with and whom, therefore, they wish to invalidate, and it's why claiming there is no such thing as fake news is itself fake news.  How's that for a hall of mirrors?
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There is more.

Scanlon goes on to give examples of how the media does this in an effort to shut down debate over its unfair treatment of critics.