Introducing News Smack
Trolling Mainstream Media with AI Analysis of Mainstream News
Mainstream Journalism is Dominated by Propogandists
Mainstream Disinformation – They Think You’re Stupid
Although, I’m not a big fan of labels, especially as they relate to a political or ideological spectrum, I’m a Classical Liberal, Right Libertarian and all around Patriotic American. I don’t think most people fit neatly on the spectrum. Of course, I don’t actually know what’s in the hearts and minds of most people, but my intuition tells me that most people don’t fit neatly into these Right/Left and Liberal/Conservative dichotomies. In an attempt to find a label for them, we invent terms like Moderate and Centrist. But I don’t think those work either. Labels usually present an either/or proposition and most either/or propositions are false. Similar to catch phrases, either or propositions are oversimplifications. When true, most catch phrases are only conditionally true. When they are stated in a non-conditional way, they are rendered false, untrue, and if intentional in any way, a lie. Take the old adage “all things in moderation”. So, love in moderation? Launch a rocket into orbit with fuel and thrust in moderation? Listen to Metallica at a moderate volume? Should we have fought moderately in WWII? Clearly, the phrase makes a point, but taken wholesale it constitutes bad advice. It would be more accurate to say “some things in moderation…and some things not…and some things to excess on an infrequent basis…unless you want really fast results and are willing to take some risk, then go hard for as long as you can.”
So why does mainstream media present either/or arguments and use catch phrases, and appeals to emotion, and every other fallacy known to man? One reason is because many of them are partisan ideologues. They do it boldly because they think you’re stupid. Finally, they are in the business of selling content for subscriptions and advertising.
News is a Business
Most news organizations are for-profit enterprises with only 3-5% being non-profits. Even non-profits are motivated by revenue, so being a non-profit doesn’t guarantee journalistic integrity. NPR is notoriously left leaning, with their former CEO Ken Stern and former senior editor (for 25 years) Uri Berliner have both outed NPR for liberal bias. Although, most of the liberal bias at NPR is probably a result of employee ideology and lack of an effective feedback mechanism.
Even Non-Profits Need Revenue and Produce Externalities
With 95%+ of news outlets as for-profit enterprises, it’s no wonder today’s news is full of false dichotomies that pit one faction against the other. Controversy and outrage sells advertising. Boring news doesn’t sell, so news outlets are in the business of manufacturing controversy and outrage. Even if an outlet doesn’t manufacture, as is the case with C-SPAN, it enables. Placing a camera in congress introduces an observer effect and influences legislators to behave differently because they have an audience. I love C-SPAN. I’s where I consume most of my news. The net effect is probably positive. However, there is no denying the effect on political theater.
Access to Media is a Beautiful Thing
It’s not just the news that uses controversy and outrage, it’s anybody with a special interest. The media is their platform too, which is actually a beautiful thing. As a democratic and constitutional republic that values pluralism, free expression, and a system of checks & balances, we need the media. And, we can’t go down the censorship road because it’s a very real slippery slope and one of the few either/or propositions where one is clearly the best choice.
Combatting Bias
The most effective way to combat bad journalism is to call it out and expose it. Professional journalists want to be regarded as professional. Reveal them as unprofessional, biased, or propagandists and the ones you can influence will be influenced. Holding people to higher standards works in every other case, so it will work here too. The ones that can’t be reached don’t care. The smaller their numbers the more irrelevant they will become. They can’t survive without profits. If they’re a public company, they can’t survive without shareholders. The best we can do is apply some pressure to incentivize more professionalism in broadcasting.
Big is Trending Down – Small is Trending Up
Most of the mainstream media is owned by a few companies referred to as The Big Six. If you’ve read any of my other posts, you should recall my argument that small has its advantages and big comes with challenges. I’ve also argued that even human stuff seems to follow the same rules that govern math, science and nature. These rules over a longer arc of time seem to favor the small over the big. The rise of the internet, social media and independent content creators support that. “Big’s” days are numbered and “Small” is trending up. I’ll argue we’re approaching a new point of equilibrium or homeostasis. For a period of time at least, we’ll be experiencing a New American Renaissance that Goat Pen calls USA 3.0. Opportunities will abound for those primed to identify them. Ignore this advice at your own risk. If you’re “BIG”, you stand a good chance of falling hard. In the case of Big News…News Smack is here to give you a little push.
