America’s descent into mass delusion isn’t happenstance. The demise of courageous journalism isn’t a happy accident. Its replacement with engagement-chasing infotainment and propaganda isn’t an error. It’s a global assault on reason and informed consensus, and corporations and authoritarian bullies like Donald Trump are both architects and benefactors. For decades, academics warned anybody who’d listen
I’ve often wondered what can be done about this. It’s accepted that good journalism is expensive- crews need to document, reporters need to travel, interview and investigate, writers have to write and editors need to edit. Nobody works this hard for free.
But now we’re also collectively showing we don’t want to pay for subscriptions, we don’t want to see ads, and we definitely want the fourth column to remain independent from government funding. Effectively there are no revenue streams available that work for these organizations.
Meanwhile AI slop, propagandists and trolls are more than happy to keep publishing because they don’t have the overhead of investment in truth. It seems like the ultimate lose situation and truthful, fact based reporting will eventually die completely.
Funding should be tied to ethical journalism practices. Editorial content clearly separated from news, sourced facts, clear conflict of interest statements, equal time for opposing views, and corrections should be prompt and obvious.
Even on The Left we are full of people who shit on news outlets endlessly and “help” by pulling stuff out of ad walls or to reproduce everywhere.
And the moment they see something they don’t want to? Personal attacks, accusations that journalists are shills, etc. Let alone if a news outlet decides they don’t want to risk persecution when they know nobody has their backs.
This battle is more or less lost. But the only hope is to push back against all the “all of this is just clickbait” stupidity and discourage people from pulling those articles out of the ad and pay walls.
“among rich countries, the United States is a biiiiiiiiig outlier [in per capita spending on public broadcasters]”
“Germany spends $142.42 per person on its public media. Norway spends $110.73, Finland $101.29, Denmark $93.16. Leave Scandinavia for Western Europe and you see the U.K. at $81.30, France at $75.89, and Spain at $58.25. Heading a bit east? The Czech Republic’s at $60.08, Estonia $55.70, and Lithuania $32.71.
Only trust the Anglosphere? Try Australia $35.78, New Zealand $26.86, or Canada $26.51. How about Asia? Japan spends $53.15, South Korea $14.93. Africa? Botswana’s at $18.38, Cabo Verde $15.22.
And then there’s the United States — which spends $3.16, per person, per year, on public broadcasting.”
Behind the Bastards does a great podcast about that. Called “How Conservatism Won”.
It was an incredibly interesting piece about how Think Tanks are behind the shit show you see before us today. A literal playbook shadow written by a future supreme court justice nominated by Tricky Dick Nixon. It was well worth a listen much like most of BtB stuff is.
Part of the problem is pay-gating fact based media, while right wing propaganda is wide open.
https://intpolicydigest.org/how-paywalls-are-making-us-dumber/
“The truth is paywalled, but the lies are free”
I’ve often wondered what can be done about this. It’s accepted that good journalism is expensive- crews need to document, reporters need to travel, interview and investigate, writers have to write and editors need to edit. Nobody works this hard for free.
But now we’re also collectively showing we don’t want to pay for subscriptions, we don’t want to see ads, and we definitely want the fourth column to remain independent from government funding. Effectively there are no revenue streams available that work for these organizations.
Meanwhile AI slop, propagandists and trolls are more than happy to keep publishing because they don’t have the overhead of investment in truth. It seems like the ultimate lose situation and truthful, fact based reporting will eventually die completely.
I think public funding with independent editorial control is the way to go. It’s not perfect by any means but it’s the best we have.
Funding should be tied to ethical journalism practices. Editorial content clearly separated from news, sourced facts, clear conflict of interest statements, equal time for opposing views, and corrections should be prompt and obvious.
Regarding this you have to be careful to avoid false balance. Someone posted this image recently:
https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/pictrs/image/4f42cdbc-ca5e-4327-9237-3d6278e43dc3.webp
Sometimes one side is not equal to another.
No. It isn’t.
Even on The Left we are full of people who shit on news outlets endlessly and “help” by pulling stuff out of ad walls or to reproduce everywhere.
And the moment they see something they don’t want to? Personal attacks, accusations that journalists are shills, etc. Let alone if a news outlet decides they don’t want to risk persecution when they know nobody has their backs.
This battle is more or less lost. But the only hope is to push back against all the “all of this is just clickbait” stupidity and discourage people from pulling those articles out of the ad and pay walls.
https://www.niemanlab.org/2022/01/do-countries-with-better-funded-public-media-also-have-healthier-democracies-of-course-they-do/
“among rich countries, the United States is a biiiiiiiiig outlier [in per capita spending on public broadcasters]”
“Germany spends $142.42 per person on its public media. Norway spends $110.73, Finland $101.29, Denmark $93.16. Leave Scandinavia for Western Europe and you see the U.K. at $81.30, France at $75.89, and Spain at $58.25. Heading a bit east? The Czech Republic’s at $60.08, Estonia $55.70, and Lithuania $32.71.
Only trust the Anglosphere? Try Australia $35.78, New Zealand $26.86, or Canada $26.51. How about Asia? Japan spends $53.15, South Korea $14.93. Africa? Botswana’s at $18.38, Cabo Verde $15.22.
And then there’s the United States — which spends $3.16, per person, per year, on public broadcasting.”
Fund PBS and NPR.
Behind the Bastards does a great podcast about that. Called “How Conservatism Won”.
It was an incredibly interesting piece about how Think Tanks are behind the shit show you see before us today. A literal playbook shadow written by a future supreme court justice nominated by Tricky Dick Nixon. It was well worth a listen much like most of BtB stuff is.
I’d also suggest the alt-right playbook videos on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/P55t6eryY3g