But now that the midterms are in the rear-view mirror and a new year is upon us, the nation is entering into a new political season in which Democrats will once again be on defense. With Republicans set to take control of the House, the Biden administration will have to contend with numerous investigations into matters that could easily make life hard for those on the left. What role will the once-vaunted Fourth Estate play in this next epoch?

While Democrats did not take the shellacking many expected in the midterms, they didn’t fare too well either. President Biden, in particular, has received substantial criticism from both the left and the right, and as of the latest FiveThirtyEight poll, his approval hovers at 43.2 percent. If the administration’s past performance is any indication, these numbers will not improve as the president’s ineptitude continues to remain apparent on the national stage.

Complicating matters is the reality that House Republicans are set to launch investigations into the president’s son, Hunter Biden, the White House’s handling of the migrant crisis, the botched military withdrawal from Afghanistan, and a slew of other issues that are sure to give the chief executive a series of headaches. President Biden’s team is already developing a strategy designed to address any damaging discoveries that result from the investigations.

While the administration is preparing for the onslaught, the activist media is likely doing the same. Members of the press are shining their plate mail armor, ironing their capes, sharpening their swords, and making sure they are ready to mount their steeds and ride into battle, fulfilling their duty as white knights for the Democratic establishment. Their strategy will be designed to accomplish two objectives. First, to downplay any damning material coming from the investigations and, secondly, to attack these probes as politically-motivated endeavors on the part of desperate Republicans.

But it is also worth mentioning that a critical component of the press’ strategy will not only be how they report but what they choose not to report. It would not be surprising to see mainstream activist media outlets almost completely ignore some of the revelations that come from the investigations. Some of the information that emerges might just be too damaging for a concerted spin cycle to whitewash.

Of course, the White House will not be the only area in which the activist media will need to employ its propaganda efforts.

When Twitter CEO Elon Musk began disclosing the inner workings of the social media company’s censorship practices, he ruffled more than a few feathers – especially on the left. Its cozy relationship with the FBI and other federal agencies was particularly eye-opening, and a recent Newsmax report suggests House Republicans are taking an interest:

The FBI’s relationship with Twitter will be the focus of an investigation by House Republicans who say the government agency abused its power “to advance censorship of certain speech on Twitter’s platform” following the release of internal documents by Twitter CEO Elon Musk.

The report noted that “Twitter’s decision in October 2020 to block users from sharing a story containing material from Hunter Biden’s laptop” was “[a]t the heart of the controversy.”

But the latest Twitter Files drop on Saturday will likely add more fuel to the fire after it exposed the fact that multiple federal agencies were involved in pressuring the company to censor certain types of content being shared on the platform by American accounts.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) said the revelations raised concerns that the Bureau leveraged this relationship “as a permanent and ongoing surveillance operation.”

If GOP lawmakers look into this matter, it will not only place more scrutiny on various three-letter agencies but also on the man tasked with overseeing them. The activist media has already alternated between ignoring and downplaying the details coming from the Twitter Files. But again, House Republicans are likely to uncover information that is simply too damning to sweep under the rug.

Nevertheless, they will continue trying. But in this case, it won’t only be the GOP who becomes a target for the activists in the press – Musk will have an even bigger target on his back for becoming the catalyst of the investigations. This will be a full-court press on the part of the Fourth Estate. The nation can expect to see the full force of the propaganda apparatus applied even more aggressively than it has been in the past in the lead-up to 2024.

The next season will be a critical one. While the midterms may have given Democrats some breathing room, Republicans will be going hard in the paint over the next two years. Needless to say, the activists in the press will have a tough road ahead of them.