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> what will replace the media as an arbiter of independent information and truth Lament of the Catholic Church during the Reformation: Who will replace the Chu

> what will replace the media as an arbiter of independent information and truth Lament of the Catholic Church during the Reformation: Who will replace the Church as the arbiter of truth. Maybe it is best that we not have people and institutions that claim to be the “arbiter of truth.” Anything that gives power to the people is messy. Democracy is messy and the elite wondered how people would be able to rule themselves without an absolute monarch telling them what to do. Now we have the journalistic elite wondering how the people will be able to figure out truth without the journalist high priesthood telling them what truth is.

nexthash 6y ago
The Catholic Church pivoted from being a policy maker to a spiritual leader for billions. Maybe journalism can do the same. Now that everybody has a voice and network to distribute that voice, journalism can shift from being the chief reliable information source to the role of a thought leader and promoter of the highest quality public discourse.
jariel 6y ago
Like the commenter above indicated, it does not work that way. 'The Press' is already a structure of independence and decentralization. Without integrity in those systems, someone will come along and dictate the Truth. 15% QAnon, 35% Trump (those willing to go along even if they don't fully agree), and then the rest are compelled when the President orders the press to communicate his words, verbatim, without criticism etc.. Twitter does not actually give power to the people, or the Truth - it concentrates power in the hands of those who have the most popular Truth. But yes, the press needs to be less biased, but that's also partly our fault. We don't read the less biased news, unfortunately, we like tabloids and click bait.
- afiori 6y ago
  the press is both an idea and an institution, today it is not unreasonable to say that the institution is both showing signs of diverging from the idea of free press and is showing problematic signs of corruption. this is not a debate of press vs no press, but one of good press vs bad press

nexthash 6y ago

The Catholic Church pivoted from being a policy maker to a spiritual leader for billions. Maybe journalism can do the same. Now that everybody has a voice and network to distribute that voice, journalism can shift from being the chief reliable information source to the role of a thought leader and promoter of the highest quality public discourse.

jariel 6y ago

Like the commenter above indicated, it does not work that way. 'The Press' is already a structure of independence and decentralization. Without integrity in those systems, someone will come along and dictate the Truth. 15% QAnon, 35% Trump (those willing to go along even if they don't fully agree), and then the rest are compelled when the President orders the press to communicate his words, verbatim, without criticism etc.. Twitter does not actually give power to the people, or the Truth - it concentrates power in the hands of those who have the most popular Truth. But yes, the press needs to be less biased, but that's also partly our fault. We don't read the less biased news, unfortunately, we like tabloids and click bait.

afiori 6y ago
the press is both an idea and an institution, today it is not unreasonable to say that the institution is both showing signs of diverging from the idea of free press and is showing problematic signs of corruption. this is not a debate of press vs no press, but one of good press vs bad press