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Can’t believe I’m defending journalist but this analogy is only partially accurate imho. People consume press and news media on their own volition, and even mo

Can’t believe I’m defending journalist but this analogy is only partially accurate imho. People consume press and news media on their own volition, and even more less-vetted but newsworthy information through social media. Journalists are gassing what consumers respond to. I believe what’s happened is that in the past, local news consumers were aware of their own “fire” (crime, civics, politics) and now in a connected world it feels like their standing amongst a great massive fire, but really they just have visibility into all of the little fires (or consternation that their local fire doesn’t seem important to anyone).

wahern 4y ago
Many journalists, arguably most journalists, also see themselves as advocates; advocates for something other than journalism or speech. And this has become much more prevalent than in previous generations. Everybody is an underdog, everybody else is an abuser, and abuse can't be tolerated. Even the concept of being able to report on an issue without becoming entangled in it has become anathema. The concept was, of course, always a fiction, but fictions matter. All morality is fictional, if not all reality. Even self-styled centrists and moderates tend to tacitly accept this new narrative; that dispassion and distance is impossible and undesirable. Many older journalists who were keeping the flame alive crumbled during the Trump years. It was understandable, but it was sort of a one-way street; they accepted defeat and have largely embraced the new narrative. I think we've all done this, myself included. It's one thing to recognize a pathology, but quite another to seek to address it, and yet another to actually succeed. Now we're all sort of lost in the wilderness. Even the ones who have clear memories from whence we came don't know how to get back.
- specialist 4y ago
  s/journalist/pundit/g
  - egberts1 4y ago
    so sayth the specialist.
- chiefalchemist 4y ago
  Unfortunately, most of those "journalists" don't qualify for the title. https://kottke.org/20/01/jim-lehrers-rules-of-journalism-1 https://kottke.org/20/01/jim-lehrers-rules-of-journalism-1

wahern 4y ago

Many journalists, arguably most journalists, also see themselves as advocates; advocates for something other than journalism or speech. And this has become much more prevalent than in previous generations. Everybody is an underdog, everybody else is an abuser, and abuse can't be tolerated. Even the concept of being able to report on an issue without becoming entangled in it has become anathema. The concept was, of course, always a fiction, but fictions matter. All morality is fictional, if not all reality. Even self-styled centrists and moderates tend to tacitly accept this new narrative; that dispassion and distance is impossible and undesirable. Many older journalists who were keeping the flame alive crumbled during the Trump years. It was understandable, but it was sort of a one-way street; they accepted defeat and have largely embraced the new narrative. I think we've all done this, myself included. It's one thing to recognize a pathology, but quite another to seek to address it, and yet another to actually succeed. Now we're all sort of lost in the wilderness. Even the ones who have clear memories from whence we came don't know how to get back.

specialist 4y ago
s/journalist/pundit/g
- egberts1 4y ago
  so sayth the specialist.
chiefalchemist 4y ago
Unfortunately, most of those "journalists" don't qualify for the title. https://kottke.org/20/01/jim-lehrers-rules-of-journalism-1 https://kottke.org/20/01/jim-lehrers-rules-of-journalism-1