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The most common way the free market fails to do the "right" thing is by ignoring externalities. By optimising for user engagement, media is ignoring the effect

by maest 6y ago

The most common way the free market fails to do the "right" thing is by ignoring externalities. By optimising for user engagement, media is ignoring the effect it has over society at large. This is actually an argument for government sponsored news outlets implemented in a politically neutral manner; i.e. the television shouldn't just be a mouthpiece for the state/the ruling party. For an example of state-financed but politically independent organisation, one can look at the civil servants system in the UK.

WalterBright 6y ago
You're always beholden to the paymaster.
- AnthonyMouse 6y ago
  Case in point, the BBC does a lot of good reporting in general, but they're rarely critical of the government. It may not even be possible for them to cover politics in a "neutral" way, because anything but the party line on a political issue is heresy to the partisans. If you gave people the hard truths on partisan issues you'd have both sides trying to shut you down because everything you said would be contradicting one side or the other.
  - nimvlaj30 6y ago
    Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has been rightly critical of our government, and has been hit with pay cut after pay cut.
    - mmm_grayons 6y ago
      > rightly Case in point about the difficulty in covering politics in a manner most would consider neutral.
      - quintushoratius 6y ago
        One could argue that a journalist's duty is to be critical of the government, regardless of the specifics. The ABC might still be considered neutral.
    - Khaine 6y ago
      The ABC are not neutral. They lean centre left. Our current government is conservative, of course they are critical of it. This is the same ABC that reports on the BLM protests in Australia, is happy to parrot the 434 Aboriginals have died in custody since 1991, but fails to include the facts[1]: 58% of deaths were due to natural causes 32% of deaths were due to hanging 5% of deaths were due to drugs/alcohol 4% were due to external trauma In total, 9 Aboriginals have died in custody from unlawful acts from custodial staff. 10s of thousands of people are violating social distancing orders, because 9 people have been killed unlawfully since 1991. The ABC AREN'T REPORTING THAT. Instead, they have activist after activist deriding the system that is killing black men. It's all bullshit. In 2019, the Australian Institute of Criminology did a study on deaths in custody, and its conclusion was: Indigenous people are now less likely than non-Indigenous people to die in custody, largely due to a decrease in the death rate of Indigenous prisoners from 1999–2000 to 2005–06.[1] So don't go around telling people the ABC isn't biased. [1] https://aic.gov.au/publications/sb/sb17 https://aic.gov.au/publications/sb/sb17 EDIT: To be clear, this doesn't mean there aren't things we should be doing better, given that Aboriginals make up 28% of the prison population, its just that the current narrative openly being pushed by the ABC and others is pure, unadulterated bullshit.
  - swsieber 6y ago
    > be contradicting one side or the other. Or both. Both American parties are full of contradictions.
nickpp 6y ago
> state-financed but politically independent The very definition of an oxymoron.
- simongray 6y ago
  That is how public media works in many parts of Europe. It is not an oxymoron, but a great idea when done right and it has been working well for decades. Think of it like constitutionalism for media. If the politicians suddenly start changing this constitution it is a clear red flag to voters as it's considered off-limits, so they mostly don't touch it.

by maest 6y ago

WalterBright 6y ago

You're always beholden to the paymaster.

AnthonyMouse 6y ago
Case in point, the BBC does a lot of good reporting in general, but they're rarely critical of the government. It may not even be possible for them to cover politics in a "neutral" way, because anything but the party line on a political issue is heresy to the partisans. If you gave people the hard truths on partisan issues you'd have both sides trying to shut you down because everything you said would be contradicting one side or the other.
- nimvlaj30 6y ago
  Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has been rightly critical of our government, and has been hit with pay cut after pay cut.
  - mmm_grayons 6y ago
    > rightly Case in point about the difficulty in covering politics in a manner most would consider neutral.
    - quintushoratius 6y ago
      One could argue that a journalist's duty is to be critical of the government, regardless of the specifics. The ABC might still be considered neutral.
  - Khaine 6y ago
    The ABC are not neutral. They lean centre left. Our current government is conservative, of course they are critical of it. This is the same ABC that reports on the BLM protests in Australia, is happy to parrot the 434 Aboriginals have died in custody since 1991, but fails to include the facts[1]: 58% of deaths were due to natural causes 32% of deaths were due to hanging 5% of deaths were due to drugs/alcohol 4% were due to external trauma In total, 9 Aboriginals have died in custody from unlawful acts from custodial staff. 10s of thousands of people are violating social distancing orders, because 9 people have been killed unlawfully since 1991. The ABC AREN'T REPORTING THAT. Instead, they have activist after activist deriding the system that is killing black men. It's all bullshit. In 2019, the Australian Institute of Criminology did a study on deaths in custody, and its conclusion was: Indigenous people are now less likely than non-Indigenous people to die in custody, largely due to a decrease in the death rate of Indigenous prisoners from 1999–2000 to 2005–06.[1] So don't go around telling people the ABC isn't biased. [1] https://aic.gov.au/publications/sb/sb17 https://aic.gov.au/publications/sb/sb17 EDIT: To be clear, this doesn't mean there aren't things we should be doing better, given that Aboriginals make up 28% of the prison population, its just that the current narrative openly being pushed by the ABC and others is pure, unadulterated bullshit.
- swsieber 6y ago
  > be contradicting one side or the other. Or both. Both American parties are full of contradictions.

nickpp 6y ago

> state-financed but politically independent The very definition of an oxymoron.

simongray 6y ago
That is how public media works in many parts of Europe. It is not an oxymoron, but a great idea when done right and it has been working well for decades. Think of it like constitutionalism for media. If the politicians suddenly start changing this constitution it is a clear red flag to voters as it's considered off-limits, so they mostly don't touch it.