7 ms·

Journalism would only be improved if every journalist got off of Twitter tomorrow. It's not representative of mainstream opinion. And the artificially created a

Journalism would only be improved if every journalist got off of Twitter tomorrow. It's not representative of mainstream opinion. And the artificially created and cultivated Twitter echo chamber couldn't help but warp anybody's neutrality. Unfortunately, it's still seen as the best way to drive clicks.

blfr 7y ago
Journalism is over. It doesn't matter what journalists do now. It was a by-product of mass media massive ad business which is being quickly taken over by tech companies.
- LifeLiverTransp 7y ago
  Journalism has turned into a sort of institutionalized shamanism, where you try to anger the attention gods, so they may flood your place with attention and clicks.
- xiphias2 7y ago
  There's still very important independent journalism payed using donations that uncover the corruption that's going on in my small country (Hungary). The government took over all media, they are what's left for us, and this year was the first time that they were able to change the result of local elections.
- mycall 7y ago
  Journalism is not dead, it just won't make any money.
- hos234 7y ago
  It's not over. Value might appear diluted because of the ever increasing noise, but people will still look to say a Dexter Filkins for signal. Where else are you going to find that kind of signal?
- jackfoxy 7y ago
  It's more like the veneer of unbiased trustworthy journalism was a by-product of the mass media ad business. Journalism has reverted back to the journalism mean which was always biased, propagandizing, shoddy, and appealed to the confirmation biases of the target audiences since the 18th century. That's not to say there are not excellently written and researched articles produced today, but hey, today anyone can be a journalist.
  - bakuninsbart 7y ago
    I wonder if there might have only been the appearance of unbiased trustworthy journalism, as the "thought bubble" of a society was so much smaller just 20 years ago, and journalists could get away with much less knowledge on a topic since readers couldn't really fact check them.
    - peter_d_sherman 7y ago
      Thought Bubbles, Echo Chambers, Circular Sources, Communal Reinforcement, Epistemic Closure, Errors Of Omission, False Consensus Effect, Groupthink, Opinion Corridors, Sleight Of Mouth, Talking Points... all sophistry ("the art of making the lesser argument appear the greater"), call it by whatever name you will, fake news, propaganda, "speaking with a forked tongue" -- or just plain disingenuity... Media is dead! Long live the media! (In case you forgot that old saying, "The King Is Dead... Long Live The King!"... oh forget it! <g>)
- spinach 7y ago
  Isn't journalism a pillar of democracy? The well educated professionals who deep, lengthy dives into corruption, raw data, etc. How will democracy survive if no is being paid to spends weeks, years, to go deep on a subject and citizens can't be fully informed?
  - cwkoss 7y ago
    We'll cross our fingers that benevolent general AI overlords are developed before we destroy ourselves.
  - pntnp 7y ago
    > Isn't journalism a pillar of democracy? No. Journalism isn't a pillar of democracy. The ancient greeks who invented democracy didn't have journalism. When the US was founded, we didn't have journalism. Also, dictatorships have journalism. Nazi Germany, Soviet Union, Communist China all had journalism. > The well educated professionals who deep, lengthy dives into corruption, raw data, etc. Do you think really think this is what journalists do? The older I get and the more I learn about the history of journalism, the more skeptical I get about this claim. > How will democracy survive if no is being paid to spends weeks, years, to go deep on a subject and citizens can't be fully informed? How did democracy come into existence without journalism? You could argue free speech/free press are one of the pillars of modern democracy. If you look at who is attacking free speech/free press, you'll notice it is idealogically driven corporate journalists.
    - sushid 7y ago
      The US definitely had journalism before it was founded.
  - jdkee 7y ago
    "Democracy dies in darkness."
    - paulddraper 7y ago
      Is that a warning, or a mission objective?
- Krasnol 7y ago
  There is still public broadcasting and it works pretty good in some places. Germany for example. Even though people tend to lament the fact that they have to pay for it and it's always too much if you have to pay for something, it doesn't look like it's going away soon.
- specialist 7y ago
  Even I'm not that cynical. I would agree that ad-founded (engagement-driven) journalism is a dead-end. Aspiring journalists will need to find other ways to pay the rent.
doyoulikeworms 7y ago
Imagine believing that anyone, anywhere was ever "neutral".
thewhitetulip 7y ago
This gets worse in India where IT cells are the ones tweeting!
Fjolsvith 7y ago
Twitter is just a portion of the information warfare going on in the media: https://mobile.twitter.com/TS_SCI_MAJIC12/status/1182008427930931200 https://mobile.twitter.com/TS_SCI_MAJIC12/status/11820084279...

blfr 7y ago

Journalism is over. It doesn't matter what journalists do now. It was a by-product of mass media massive ad business which is being quickly taken over by tech companies.

LifeLiverTransp 7y ago
Journalism has turned into a sort of institutionalized shamanism, where you try to anger the attention gods, so they may flood your place with attention and clicks.
xiphias2 7y ago
There's still very important independent journalism payed using donations that uncover the corruption that's going on in my small country (Hungary). The government took over all media, they are what's left for us, and this year was the first time that they were able to change the result of local elections.
mycall 7y ago
Journalism is not dead, it just won't make any money.
hos234 7y ago
It's not over. Value might appear diluted because of the ever increasing noise, but people will still look to say a Dexter Filkins for signal. Where else are you going to find that kind of signal?
jackfoxy 7y ago
It's more like the veneer of unbiased trustworthy journalism was a by-product of the mass media ad business. Journalism has reverted back to the journalism mean which was always biased, propagandizing, shoddy, and appealed to the confirmation biases of the target audiences since the 18th century. That's not to say there are not excellently written and researched articles produced today, but hey, today anyone can be a journalist.
- bakuninsbart 7y ago
  I wonder if there might have only been the appearance of unbiased trustworthy journalism, as the "thought bubble" of a society was so much smaller just 20 years ago, and journalists could get away with much less knowledge on a topic since readers couldn't really fact check them.
  - peter_d_sherman 7y ago
    Thought Bubbles, Echo Chambers, Circular Sources, Communal Reinforcement, Epistemic Closure, Errors Of Omission, False Consensus Effect, Groupthink, Opinion Corridors, Sleight Of Mouth, Talking Points... all sophistry ("the art of making the lesser argument appear the greater"), call it by whatever name you will, fake news, propaganda, "speaking with a forked tongue" -- or just plain disingenuity... Media is dead! Long live the media! (In case you forgot that old saying, "The King Is Dead... Long Live The King!"... oh forget it! <g>)
spinach 7y ago
Isn't journalism a pillar of democracy? The well educated professionals who deep, lengthy dives into corruption, raw data, etc. How will democracy survive if no is being paid to spends weeks, years, to go deep on a subject and citizens can't be fully informed?
- cwkoss 7y ago
  We'll cross our fingers that benevolent general AI overlords are developed before we destroy ourselves.
- pntnp 7y ago
  > Isn't journalism a pillar of democracy? No. Journalism isn't a pillar of democracy. The ancient greeks who invented democracy didn't have journalism. When the US was founded, we didn't have journalism. Also, dictatorships have journalism. Nazi Germany, Soviet Union, Communist China all had journalism. > The well educated professionals who deep, lengthy dives into corruption, raw data, etc. Do you think really think this is what journalists do? The older I get and the more I learn about the history of journalism, the more skeptical I get about this claim. > How will democracy survive if no is being paid to spends weeks, years, to go deep on a subject and citizens can't be fully informed? How did democracy come into existence without journalism? You could argue free speech/free press are one of the pillars of modern democracy. If you look at who is attacking free speech/free press, you'll notice it is idealogically driven corporate journalists.
  - sushid 7y ago
    The US definitely had journalism before it was founded.
- jdkee 7y ago
  "Democracy dies in darkness."
  - paulddraper 7y ago
    Is that a warning, or a mission objective?
Krasnol 7y ago
There is still public broadcasting and it works pretty good in some places. Germany for example. Even though people tend to lament the fact that they have to pay for it and it's always too much if you have to pay for something, it doesn't look like it's going away soon.
specialist 7y ago
Even I'm not that cynical. I would agree that ad-founded (engagement-driven) journalism is a dead-end. Aspiring journalists will need to find other ways to pay the rent.

doyoulikeworms 7y ago

Imagine believing that anyone, anywhere was ever "neutral".

thewhitetulip 7y ago

This gets worse in India where IT cells are the ones tweeting!

Fjolsvith 7y ago

Twitter is just a portion of the information warfare going on in the media: https://mobile.twitter.com/TS_SCI_MAJIC12/status/1182008427930931200 https://mobile.twitter.com/TS_SCI_MAJIC12/status/11820084279...