Journalism Faces a Crisis As Media No Longer Influential
Michael Spencer
A.I. Writer, researcher and curator - full-time Newsletter publication manager.
Just when digital has decimated the media and what journalism used to be, it faces another existential crisis. This time it comes from a new global mood of isolationism, anti-globalization tension, under-appreciation, and public mistrust that is accompanied by a general rise of autocratic world leaders.
Some experts believe citizens are no longer able to tell the difference between fact or fiction, or between opinion, and manufactured propaganda.
Feud with the NY Times
Recently the President Elect had an interview with the NY Times, you can read the transcript here.
I think I’ve been treated very rough. It’s well out there that I’ve been treated extremely unfairly in a sense, in a true sense. I wouldn’t only complain about The Times. - President Elect
Free Press in Decline
In an era where publicity trumps common sense, and non-political candidates of the elite-rich (the billionaire class) are able to bust through to power by preaching anti-establishment slogans, inspite of the age of fact-checking antics and outright lying, you knew the future of the "free press" in America might be in decline.
Rigged Media, Fake News and Media Bias
In the most aggressive and chaotic elections in recent memory, when the winning candidate accused the media of being rigged, while a left-leaning bias does seem to be prevalent, some members of the media themselves took this to heart as a targeted attack on the institution of the media itself.
However, the new media actually looks like this:
Social Media is being Relegated to News
What became clear in 2016, in retrospect, was the start of an era when social media influence trumps the voice of the traditional media, and publications vying for clicks via Facebook, Twitter and other digital media channels.
Social media itself, once a place for personal sharing, the socialization that has migrated to SMS communication apps, relegating news as the dominant "leftovers" on older networks such as Facebook, Twitter and even LinkedIn.
Changing Face of Social Turns Influencer Brands Up
The personal brand for the ordinary person, has migrated to Instagram, Snapchat and in some few extraordinary cases, YouTube. While the entire planet has 57 more days until the ushering in of a new President, some are even vocalizing their fear that America will become a post-truth Nation.
Fear For America's New Policies
Journalists, academics, teachers and many other concerned parties, including immigrants and minorities, are worried. If Canada's Prime Minister has done significant bonding with the Chinese, the President Elect seems to have unusual ties with Russia. In a post-Brexit world, were we really so surprised this happend?
The Rise of Emotional Hacking and Populist Movements
Many in the wider world believe Trump’s election to the presidency is tragic because it marks a turning point in world politics. November 8, 2016 is the day, that proved Americans could no longer differentiate between fact and fiction.
That America voted with its heart rather than its head, is not what's most embarrassing. The heart is generally louder than the head, right? What's embarrassing are the policy changes to come:
End of Journalism? Danger to Tolerance
- Suddenly global warming will no longer exist, with a very high probability of the US pulling out of the Paris climate deal.
- Hard liner immigration policies.
- Hate and bias-based crimes are on the rise. What does this mean for specifically targeted minority citizens?
- General decline of the role of the Press shadowing Presidential affairs.
- Trade deals will be scrapped, that have the potential to shake up the global economy.
- Uncertainty, the fear of the unknown and an insecurity regarding the future global economy.
- Signs that the Mainstream media (MSM) no longer have the influence they once did. In other words, News is dying and has been for quite some time.
The Death of Objectivity & a Looming Epoch of Growing Unrest
Namely, some journalists fear for what this signals for their very role in society, their livelihood and the future relevancy of the mainstream media. The rise of the fake news debate on Facebook, has many people calling legacy social media networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, the new media.
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What is your opinion on the future of journalism & news in the current anti-globalization climate and in the noise of social media?
Confidential
7 年Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a method for controlling people's minds that was invented by Richard Bandler and John Grinder in the 1970s, became popular in the psychoanalytic, occult and New Age worlds in the 1980s, and TV news media, advertising, marketing and politics in the 1990s and 2000s. QED
Confidential
7 年Any normal human being endowed with common sense, critical thinking and scientific reasoning, is immune from Jedi mind tricks ... employed by the government, media, advertisers and marketeers. Your usual daily dose of mind control is delivered directly into your brain via the magic black square or rectangle programming box, permanently and prominently positioned, in almost every room, in almost every home, throughout the world. Your perceptions have been cleverly manipulated by marketeers employing a subtle mind control technique known as Predictive Programming. You have been programmed to really believe that corporate media hyped Black Friday (sic) sale offers are irresistibly low-priced bargains, never to be had again, whereas there is no factual evidence or data to support this totally predictive assumption. Predictive Programming is a subtle form of psychological human conditioning provided by the media to acquaint the public with planned societal changes to be implemented by your rulers. QED
Physician Assistant Independent Contractor - Urgent Care, Emergency Medicine, Critical Access, Aesthetics
7 年It has been replaced with propaganda released by Russia and spread by paid trolls or useless idiots with nothing better to do than sit around on social media all day. Fantastic !