How the Media Shapes the Healthcare Debate

As grateful that I am — and I am, genuinely and abidingly — that Jimmy Kimmel is willing to speak up about his son's healthcare issues on behalf of people with preexisting conditions and/or without insurance, and is willing to keep speaking up about it, even after navigating lots of very personal criticism directed at him and his infant child (for fuck's sake!) for having spoken out in the first place, I'm not thrilled that his is the loudest — or indeed only — opposition voice lots of people in this country are hearing.

How many people have seen a single headline about anything Nancy Pelosi, for example, has said on healthcare this week? And it ain't because she hasn't said anything!

Et cetera. Her entire timeline is filled with RTs on the subject, and that's just what she's doing on Twitter.

This is, in large part, because of whom the media chooses to amplify. And it's worth taking a moment to consider why it is that Kimmel in particular is being amplified.

Sure, yes, it's because he has a compelling story and he is an extremely good teller of that story.

But Kimmel also works for ABC, which is owned by Disney, one of the biggest media conglomerates in the world. All of their media properties want to amplify Kimmel because it's good busine$$ for them.

Meanwhile, all their competitors will either decide to try to steal some share by amplifying Kimmel or amplify his critics, because it's a neat hit on the host of ABC's late night host, to try to ding his ratings with conservative viewers. (Or both. Whatever's good for business!)

Which means that the healthcare debate (such as it is) is primarily being driven by the networks' late night ratings wars, about which literal movies have been made, because the competition is so fierce.

Cool.

That's not, of course, the only reason that Kimmel is being amplified, nor the only reason that people are listening to him, but media profits are playing a big, if unseen, role.

The same networks whose political news properties host guests paid to publicly ponder: What do the Democrats even stand for?

That's a problem, my friends.