Picture a magician performing on stage. While you’re focused on the flourishing hand, the real trick happens elsewhere. This is precisely how billionaire-owned media works – but instead of pulling rabbits from hats, they’re pulling the strings that shape public opinion.
The Architect of Outrage: How Fox News Changed Everything
The story begins in 1996 when Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes launched Fox News. But their vision wasn’t just about news – it was about creating a powerful political force. As a 1970 memo titled “A Plan for Putting the GOP on TV News” revealed, Republican strategists had long dreamed of a conservative news platform. Murdoch and Ailes made it a reality.
Their genius? Recognizing that emotion drives engagement. While claiming to be “fair and balanced,” Fox News perfected a formula: Take real economic anxieties, blur them with cultural grievances, and direct the resulting anger toward carefully chosen scapegoats. And of course, those targets never include the wealthy interests actually driving economic policies.
The Billionaire's Playbook: Manufacturing Outrage
Think about it: When was the last time you saw sustained coverage of wealth inequality or corporate tax avoidance on a major network? Instead, the media, especially conservative outlets, feed us endless segments about:
- Immigration: Migrant “invasions,” “open borders,” immigrant crime
- Gender Identity: Trans “indoctrination,” gender-neutral bathrooms, drag queens
- Equity: Affirmative action, DEI programs, “woke” culture, reverse discrimination
- Free Speech: Conservative “cancel culture,” censorship claims
- Education: LGBTQ+ topics in schools, Critical Race Theory (CRT)
This isn’t random. Culture wars are designed to distract from the real crises facing the country, including wealth concentration, climate disasters, skyrocketing living costs, and housing shortages.
But they do more than divert attention. Culture wars fuel outrage, mobilize voters, and serve the interests of the ultra-wealthy. The politicians and media figures pushing these battles are often bankrolled by billionaires who benefit from the chaos. Not coincidentally, these same forces champion tax cuts, government rollbacks, and deregulation—shielding the rich from paying their fair share while ignoring the country’s most urgent problems.
How Billionaire-Owned Media Made Trump Unstoppable
Donald Trump’s rise perfectly illustrates this system at work. Billionaire-owned media outlets, such as Fox News, transformed a reality TV star into a political force by:
- Providing billions in free advertising through constant coverage
- Framing norm-breaking behavior as refreshing authenticity
- Amplifying culture wars
- Suppressing or downplaying criticism
Trump excels at stoking grievance and fueling culture wars. He would test material at rallies, tossing out trial balloons to gauge audience reaction. When something landed, he would hand it off to Fox News, and they were off to the races. The issue, whatever it was, would then get wall-to-wall coverage, with each new guest more outraged than the last.
Other conservative outlets would quickly jump on board, escalating the culture war in a fierce battle for audience attention. Traditional media, unable to ignore the frenzy, would further amplify the narrative—turning every manufactured controversy into a national conversation that benefitted Trump’s agenda.
Even after January 6th and multiple indictments, these same media networks continued providing Trump with platforms to attack his enemies while minimizing his legal troubles—because conflict and controversy drive ratings, and ratings drive profit. And billionaires love nothing more than profit.
Billionaire Power Grab: The Social Media Takeover
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, understood the immense power of billionaire-controlled media and saw an opportunity to exploit it. The media underworld—where misinformation fuels profit—didn’t deter him. After all, he was already a conspiracy theorist and prolific social media troll.
His $44 billion takeover of Twitter wasn’t just a business deal; it was a calculated power grab for one of the world’s most influential platforms. After seizing control, Musk transformed Twitter (now X) into a tool for propaganda, political influence, and personal power. His actions include:
- Spreading Disinformation: Reinstating accounts known for misinformation and conspiracy theories
- Shaping the Narrative: Altering algorithms to amplify certain political views
- Escalating Culture Wars: Fueling divisive issues to deepen polarization
- Silencing Critics: Attacking journalists, politicians, and others who oppose him
- Buying Influence: Becoming a major donor to political candidates
- Consolidating Power: Embedding himself within the highest levels of government
Musk’s control over one of the world’s most influential platforms allows him to manipulate discourse, crush opposition, and expand his political reach.
From Social Media Mogul to Government Powerbroker
Musk’s influence doesn’t stop at his social media platform. His control over political discourse has translated into real-world power, allowing him to shape government policies that affect all Americans while serving his personal and political interests.
As head of Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE),” Musk is aggressively dismantling federal agencies and firing tens of thousands of civil servants. With critical public services at risk, the impact on everyday Americans will be severe. Notably, many of those targeted were involved in investigations or regulatory actions against Musk’s government-funded companies, Tesla and SpaceX.
These actions are unpopular, but Musk is using his platform to manipulate public opinion. With 218+ million followers, he pressures politicians, threatens to fund challengers, vilifies government workers, and stokes grievance against the “deep state.” He frames DOGE as eliminating “waste” while actually cutting essential programs that millions rely on.
There are no limits to the propaganda Musk can push or amplify. Whether it’s tax cuts for the wealthy, deregulation that benefits corporations while harming consumers, or moves to consolidate power in the executive branch, he can flood the information ecosystem with messaging that supports his agenda.
Although his primary audience is on X, Musk’s message will spread far beyond the platform. His prominent role in the Trump administration, combined with his ability to command attention, ensures that his influence will shape policy, public perception, and the future of American democracy itself.
This creates a dangerous feedback loop: colossal wealth, control of a major communication platform, political power, and direct influence over government decisions—all bending to the will of one man’s extreme ideology. Such concentrated power would have alarmed the framers of the Constitution.
Following the Money: The Broader Network of Billionaire-Owned Media
But it’s not just big names, like Fox News and Elon Musk; there’s a vast network of billionaire-funded think tanks, news sites, social media influencers, and even other countries working to shape public opinion.
The Koch network funds hundreds of organizations that present themselves as grassroots movements while advancing specific political agendas. Meanwhile, think tanks produce academic-seeming justifications for corporate-friendly policies, lending an air of scholarly legitimacy to partisan positions. Behind the scenes, dark money groups pour millions into targeted ads and social media campaigns, creating an ecosystem of seemingly independent voices all pushing coordinated messages.
Beyond our borders, foreign adversaries, like Russia, use their vast wealth to fund disinformation campaigns. They exploit social media to sow division and influence public opinion in ways that benefit their geopolitical goals.
Seeing Through the Smoke of Billionaire-Owned Media
So how do we maintain clear vision in this hall of mirrors? Here are some tips:
- Follow the Money:
- Check who owns the media outlets you consume.
- Look up funding sources for think tanks and advocacy groups.
- Watch for Misdirection:
- When outrage erupts over a cultural issue, get the facts and consider the issue’s relative importance.
- Pay attention to timing. What important stories get buried under manufactured controversies?
- Learn Fact-Checking Techniques:
- Verify claims with reputable fact-checking sites like Snopes, FactCheck.org, or PolitiFact.
- Cross-reference stories across multiple trusted sources to identify consistent facts.
- Check the original source of a claim to ensure it hasn’t been distorted or taken out of context.
- Support Independent Journalism:
- Subscribe to outlets not owned by billionaires.
- Follow journalists who aren’t afraid to investigate wealth, power, and corruption.
- Share stories that expose wealth’s influence on politics.
- Beware of Foreign Influence:
- Check social media profiles—Avoid accounts with no history, few followers, or AI-generated profile pictures.
- Spot coordination—Identical messages spreading across platforms can signal an organized effort.
- Watch for language issues—Awkward phrasing or unusual grammar may indicate foreign manipulation.
Breaking the Spell
Democracy requires informed citizens making rational decisions. But how can we make rational decisions when the information we receive is controlled by the very interests that benefit from us making irrational, emotionally-based decisions?
The billionaire and donor class wield immense influence, but once you understand what you’re up against, you can’t unsee the patterns. The magic show loses its power when you know where to look.
The good news? We outnumber them. Together, we can bring back truth, foster critical thinking, and reclaim the power to shape our future.
This is part 3 of 4 in the series: Media’s Role in Democratic Decline. Up next is 4-The War on Truth: How Authoritarians Exploit Modern Media.
(Other posts in this series include 1-Crisis of Truth in Media and 2-Crime as Usual)
