Currently, there’s an unprecedented level of disapproval towards the media among Americans. In a rather strange move, the management at CNN decided to conduct interviews with violent Mexican drug cartels.
According to a Gallup poll from February, around a third of American adults express a lack of trust in mainstream media, including newspapers and television. For organizations like MSNBC, CNN, and others, this is a significant issue, as audiences are increasingly turning to alternative media outlets.
It would make sense for liberal media to reassess their strategies, perhaps tone down biases, and work to win back their audience. In an interesting development, CNN has brought in commentators like Scott Jennings, who has become a notable conservative voice on their panels. His debates with left-leaning hosts often become the highlight for viewers.
Imagine that intruders are ready to come to our shores and enter our city. Among them are many violent criminals.
Do we go to the judge first and ask if the US president is allowed to protect our borders?
The answer is no.
However, in a surprising twist, it seems someone at CNN approved an interview that showed sympathy towards the Sinaloa Cartel. Isobel Yong traveled to Mexico and reported on the ongoing conflicts involving drug cartels. She spoke with military personnel and families impacted by these cartels, which were recently classified as terrorist organizations.
This interview might have made sense had CNN also shown the devastation caused by the violence of these criminals. Instead, Yong conversed with cartel members about how recent drug crackdowns affect their operations, framing their actions almost like a regular job rather than recognizing the immense harm caused to countless lives.
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Things took a turn for the worse when Yong directly asked a cartel member about being labeled as terrorists by the Trump administration.
Yeung: “According to the Trump administration, you are a terrorist. Cartels are labelled as foreign terrorist organizations. What do you do with that?”
Anonymous Sinaloa Cartel member: “Well, the situation is ugly. But we have to eat.”
Yeung: “If Donald Trump is watching this, what’s your message?”
Anonymous Sinaloa Cartel member: “My respect. According to him, he is looking for his people. But the problem is that the consumer is in the United States. Without consumers, we will stop.”
Yong seemed to provide a platform for cartel members to criticize Trump, yet they ended up praising him. It’s hard to see how anyone thought this was a good idea.
Towards the end of the interview, she gave cartel members a chance to express their regrets about the violence stemming from their actions, implying that the blame lies with American consumers. They suggested that if there weren’t drug users in the U.S., they could be upstanding citizens. CNN’s portrayal made it seem as though their violence was somehow justified and that the onus was on Americans to change.
The interview notably failed to address the efforts of the Mexican government in combating cartel violence and instead seemed to shift blame for the rising violence onto Trump’s administration. This kind of reporting feels, frankly, dishonorable and gross. It’s no surprise that public trust in the media is dwindling.
