The media can "create" experts a lot more convincingly. In fact it's very hard for someone to gain "expert" status on reddit for example. It's hard to do it whe

The media can "create" experts a lot more convincingly. In fact it's very hard for someone to gain "expert" status on reddit for example. It's hard to do it when your historic timeline is visible at every point (see also: paul krugman). It's easier for a mediocre journalist to hide behind her newspaper's brand (you see it every day with fluff filler pieces). Expertise is a perception problem , and perception can easily be gamed. It happens in mainstream media too, but it's harded to measure there than on the internet. I don't think we need to regress back to experts, that's always a power play. Giving people a plurality of opinions works better.