“Mainstream media,” or the “MSM” for shorthand, falls into the retronym category. Once, we had only the media, which morphed into the “mass media” as niche mediums multiplied. Then, the niche mediums felt the need for a weighty counterbalance and the “MSM,” in all its apparent wickedness, was born.

I’m also guilty of using the term on occasion, but it gets worn out quickly. Let’s take a closer, albeit reasoned, look.

From Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed.:

Mainstream, n., adj., a prevailing current or direction of activity or influence.

Media, n., a medium of cultivation, conveyance or expression.

Apply the former to the latter, and a combined definition sounds something like: a prevailing method of expression. By the book, it is the mode in which the largest percentage of the population experiences news and events. That’s a start, but that definition ranges far from what those using the term often mean. It disparages, and its beauty lies in the fact that it can disparage from right or left of the political spectrum.

On the left, it connotes rebelliousness. Liberal users of the word seem to link the MSM with the spectre of The Man. See? I’m just this little blogger poking a stick in the eye of the behemoth establishment machine.

On the right, it connotes strict contempt. Conservative users tend to link the MSM to elitist rhetoric as in, You won’t read this in the MSM. The MSM covers up good news from Iraq; The MSM treacherously exposes state secrets in the war on terrorism; et al.

Both sides employ MSM to their own reactionary ends. It’s a useful straw dog. While its utility makes it an appealing term, it paradoxically empties it of its original useful meaning. The term instead conveys a point its user desperately wants to make: I’m on your side. And, if I’m on your side, the corollary must be true: You’re on my side. It acts as a rhetorical in-joke.

Remember that whenever a speaker or writer lazily throws out the term or its too-cool-for-school acronym. Their true meaning likely goes something like this: I’ve picked my side, have you?

Remember also that dividing is a shortcut to conquering.

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