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I disagree that the job of news is to inform people. I think that it’s just a possible side effect that they champion in order to keep you engaged.
by Machado117 6y ago
I disagree that the job of news is to inform people. I think that it’s just a possible side effect that they champion in order to keep you engaged.
- awillen 6y agoOkay, fine, then the job of news is to get people to watch so they can sell advertisements. An enormous number of people want to watch news about sports. The logic doesn't change.
- unreal6 6y agoThis feels like an incredibly cynical viewpoint. Nevertheless, would you say this also applies to non-profit news organizations like Propublica or forms of public media?
- Machado117 6y agoThis may not apply to non-profit oriented media, and I also believe that in larger outfits you can find individuals that have a genuine goal of informing people but their views happen to be divorced from the true goals of the organisation. However even if they aren't looking for profits they will still have to compete for eyeballs, which might skew their behaviour. It's hard to find media that doesn't resort to clickbait.