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> There's a meaningful difference between journalists and advertisers. In the dictionary, sure. In reality, for as long as advertisers are how journalists get
by RickS 9y ago
> There's a meaningful difference between journalists and advertisers.
In the dictionary, sure. In reality, for as long as advertisers are how journalists get paid, that difference is whittling towards nil.
- untog 9y agoThat's pretty obviously not true. I didn't see advertisers covering the mass shooting in Las Vegas, Harvey Weinstein or tax reform, to pick just three things from the last year.
- chiefalchemist 9y agoUm. Not really. The media covers that which gets clicks / eyeballs. That gets turned into revenue via advertisers. When you gather news from enough sources you start to see patterns in what gets a lot of attention, and what doesn't. Long to short, you're naive if you don't think there's a straight line been the mainstrean news media and advertisers. Note: The mainstream news media should also not be confused with journalism. The reasons are obvious.
- RickS 9y agoI am not saying "journalists only cover what advertisers will cover". I am saying "journalist's standards are increasingly coming second to the generation of advertising revenue". Once-reptutable media empires embed Outbrain widgets and generate fad-focused, celebrity-focused clickbait garbage because it makes them money. They are not doing this for Journalism's sake. They are doing it for revenue from advertisers. I understand that this is an ancient phenomenon (PG's "suits back in style" essay comes to mind), but I have observed the scale and shallowness of the phenomenon worsening as the coffers get lighter at the news orgs. For that reason, I am arguing that the "meaningfulness" of the difference between advertisers and journalists appears to be waning.