What if the media — in its eagerness to neatly summarize the New Zealand terrorist attack within a “good guys” vs. “bad guys” context — is getting things exactly backwards, and is actually helping the terrorist realize his ultimate wish?

That’s not just a rhetorical question. That’s actually what’s happening.

If you’ve watched the news since reports of Friday’s horrific attack began circulating, you’ve heard the killer was a white supremacist who hated immigrant “invaders” and was clearly inspired by the white-supremacist movement in the United States, specifically President Trump.

But this narrative reveals more about the media than it does the killer. In painting the terrorist as a simple-minded anti-immigrant zealot, the media glosses over many conflicting details at their disposal.

If there’s one large animating theme to the killer’s 74-page manifesto, it’s sowing chaos. If there’s an ideology he subscribes to, it’s the ideology of nihilism, an anti-ideology devoid of core principles beyond deriving pleasure from the pain of others. The killer specifically mentions his interest in exacerbating pre-existing divisions within the United States, and bringing them to a boiling point.

For every comment about his hatred of immigrants, there’s another about his adoration of the environment. The manifesto appears designed to give both sides things to seize on, so that they can turn on each other.

And the media is taking his bait.

Rather than reporting the facts exactly as they’re known, the U.S. media is electing to selectively report on details from the manifesto — details that happen to coincide with a larger, anti-Trump, anti-“right wing” narrative. These reports are generously peppered with mentions of “anti-immigrant,” “anti- Muslim”; if you happen to be a member of one of these groups, you might be persuaded that your homeland isn’t as welcoming as you’ve always believed.

As an example, watch the montage we posted Friday, where the media raced to politicize the tragedy and present the story as an angry white man radicalized on Trumpism:

(Watch video at link)

Once again, these conflicting details are utterly absent from the media’s coverage of this atrocity.

Whether wittingly or not, the media is being used. The killer understand he could use their megaphone to use existing divisions to further turn the nation against itself. Ironically, it’s the same strategy Russia deployed in the 2016 presidential election.

This time, though, the media is aiding and abetting. The killer is surely delighted.

Poster Comment:

In Muslim lands they make heroes out of those who mass murder Jews and Christians. Perhaps they'd best move back into the sandbox they came from before the idea of killing them really catches on.

"...….was clearly inspired by the white-supremacist movement in the United States, specifically President Trump."

Of course this is another egregious mainstream media lie. The basis for calling the President a "white supremacist is the media report that he claimed there "decent people" in the Klan and Nazi, which was deliberately planted lie. There were 4 groups in Charlottesville - 1)Those residents who want the Confederate statues removed 2) Those residents who want the Confederate statues to remain, 3) Antifa and BLM, and 4)Klan and Nazis. The President said there were decent people in both groups 1 and 2. He never said it about group 4. This is why the mainstream media are enemies of American citizens.