6 ms·

At what point do we look to capitalism as a driving factor for misinformation spreading? Media outlets are incentivized to bring in clicks/shares/likes. They'r

At what point do we look to capitalism as a driving factor for misinformation spreading? Media outlets are incentivized to bring in clicks/shares/likes. They're not incentivized to research stories sufficiently, so...a shaky lead from a sketchy source but a super compelling headline? Of course that gets published. Taking this as some anti-conservative war from the tech industry is super misleading.

luckylion 6y ago
> Media outlets are incentivized to bring in clicks/shares/likes. Yes, in a way, but also obviously not. If that was their only/primary driver, they'd go all click bait all the time. They wouldn't report things that aren't loved by the masses. They clearly do, so clicks/shares/likes can't be their primary things. I do believe that it's partially right, it's just not number one. Number one is agenda, and within the pool of stories that benefit the agenda of the company, they choose what generates most engagement.
- srtjstjsj 6y ago
  The "agenda" of the paper is whatever position it thinks it's reader base has, if it's reader/ad funded. The political bias due to owner or donor conflict of interest is only one potential source of funding.
  - luckylion 6y ago
    Since newspapers are often front-runners and form their readers opinion (rather than just parroting back what their readers already believe), I have doubts. There's certainly a part of "we need money from ads", but being able to influence the political decisions of a nation is power. That's a value in and by itself, it's not just something you wield to sell ads.
ThrowawayR2 6y ago
> "Media outlets are incentivized to bring in clicks/shares/likes." Even an individual who posts a blog post wants clicks/shares/likes, even if there's no money involved, to validate their work in putting out a post and to bolster their self-esteem. That highlights why capitalism is not itself the issue; any type of news media would just respond to what its customers want. And what the public wants is infotainment, not well-researched stories. The real problem is people and that's a problem that can't be solved.
jokethrowaway 6y ago
It's not capitalism, is the lack of capitalism. It's having a centralised government (which can be used to obtain a lot of power) that create an incentive for misinformation.
cmdshiftf4 6y ago
> Taking this as some anti-conservative war from the tech industry is super misleading. Very wrong, but we both know that. Not the brightest war for leftie tech companies to be provoking though.
centimeter 6y ago
The abundance of low-quality news today can be understood as a consequence of the cantillon effect in an inflationary environment. American-style crony capitalism might incentivize low-quality media, but without the presence of massive subsidies propping up News Corp, AT&T, and the other few firms owning the vast majority of American media, I would expect more legitimate and reputable news firms like Bloomberg or Reuters.
- srtjstjsj 6y ago
  The low quality media we are drowning in is memes and conspiracy theories from random individuals. Even in the mainstream, the worst news is Rupert Murdoch's, and he made his money selling low quality media, not made his low quality media from crony capitalism.
- Covzire 6y ago
  Capitalism is the least of journalism's problems. Journalists making political endorsements has all the same dangers under communism (where they always endorse the state party without exception) or capitalism (where in the last 50 years they've overwhelmingly endorsed global interests and Democrats over American ones).
pessimizer 6y ago
This isn't capitalism, this is an outlet with connections to a the current regime trying to come up with ways to protect that regime, while intermediaries with deep connections to the previous regime try to blunt the effectiveness of that outlet to aid in restoring that previous regime. Nobody cares about the clicks on this article, and no one is taking a moral stance. Capitalism is trash, but this is traditional kleptocracy. Both sides are conservative; one is literally running to "restore normality."

luckylion 6y ago

> Media outlets are incentivized to bring in clicks/shares/likes. Yes, in a way, but also obviously not. If that was their only/primary driver, they'd go all click bait all the time. They wouldn't report things that aren't loved by the masses. They clearly do, so clicks/shares/likes can't be their primary things. I do believe that it's partially right, it's just not number one. Number one is agenda, and within the pool of stories that benefit the agenda of the company, they choose what generates most engagement.

srtjstjsj 6y ago
The "agenda" of the paper is whatever position it thinks it's reader base has, if it's reader/ad funded. The political bias due to owner or donor conflict of interest is only one potential source of funding.
- luckylion 6y ago
  Since newspapers are often front-runners and form their readers opinion (rather than just parroting back what their readers already believe), I have doubts. There's certainly a part of "we need money from ads", but being able to influence the political decisions of a nation is power. That's a value in and by itself, it's not just something you wield to sell ads.

ThrowawayR2 6y ago

> "Media outlets are incentivized to bring in clicks/shares/likes." Even an individual who posts a blog post wants clicks/shares/likes, even if there's no money involved, to validate their work in putting out a post and to bolster their self-esteem. That highlights why capitalism is not itself the issue; any type of news media would just respond to what its customers want. And what the public wants is infotainment, not well-researched stories. The real problem is people and that's a problem that can't be solved.

jokethrowaway 6y ago

It's not capitalism, is the lack of capitalism. It's having a centralised government (which can be used to obtain a lot of power) that create an incentive for misinformation.

cmdshiftf4 6y ago

> Taking this as some anti-conservative war from the tech industry is super misleading. Very wrong, but we both know that. Not the brightest war for leftie tech companies to be provoking though.

centimeter 6y ago

The abundance of low-quality news today can be understood as a consequence of the cantillon effect in an inflationary environment. American-style crony capitalism might incentivize low-quality media, but without the presence of massive subsidies propping up News Corp, AT&T, and the other few firms owning the vast majority of American media, I would expect more legitimate and reputable news firms like Bloomberg or Reuters.

srtjstjsj 6y ago
The low quality media we are drowning in is memes and conspiracy theories from random individuals. Even in the mainstream, the worst news is Rupert Murdoch's, and he made his money selling low quality media, not made his low quality media from crony capitalism.
Covzire 6y ago
Capitalism is the least of journalism's problems. Journalists making political endorsements has all the same dangers under communism (where they always endorse the state party without exception) or capitalism (where in the last 50 years they've overwhelmingly endorsed global interests and Democrats over American ones).

pessimizer 6y ago

This isn't capitalism, this is an outlet with connections to a the current regime trying to come up with ways to protect that regime, while intermediaries with deep connections to the previous regime try to blunt the effectiveness of that outlet to aid in restoring that previous regime. Nobody cares about the clicks on this article, and no one is taking a moral stance. Capitalism is trash, but this is traditional kleptocracy. Both sides are conservative; one is literally running to "restore normality."