Source: When Silicon Valley Took Over the New Republic – The Atlantic
We seldom get to see the kind of naked honesty about the present state of journalism discussed in such candor as in the linked article. Of course this will be a shock to those that have their worldview shaped by Facebook news or for that matter, many of the popular news outlets. In the parlance of phone email services, the trends are all about push news, not pull news. In other words, you don’t look for news; news is pushed onto you.
I have extensively pointed out the sinister creep of push news for years, starting with of course, my favorite, Climate Change, tactfully re- branded from Global Warming. Given the recent inconvenient publicity that Al Gore has received once again by the supportive media, we are expected to believe that his discredited bleats are in the forefront of the average person’s consciousness. The first fantasy movie that he produced was such a success, that apparently, people are waiting in rapt anticipation for his newly released sequel…well, at least those that didn’t sell everything and are hunkered in the mountains waiting for high tide Armageddon.
That Gore continues to attract the media spotlight is amazing until you consider all of the other annoying spam that gets media exposure…like a staph infection that won’t go away. I refer to regular revelations of the Kardashian Clan, the Jenners, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, etc etc. On a too often basis, we get the most recent Michael Moore utterance. If you believe the media, at this very moment, the life of Diana has suddenly attained must know status for people. Diana. She’s been dead for 20 years! Yet the entire media are splashing headlines about her as if she just had breakfast. You know the tabloids are running out of ideas if they revive a long dead story to get clicks. Next in line; is JFK really dead?
Most people don’t even know that they are the victims of push news. The effectiveness of modern push media is such that confirmation bias is rampant among much of the populace. If your peer group confirms the same worldview based on their sources of news, then an entire fake reality becomes real…without anyone knowing why. They’ve become parrots who regurgitate what’s been repeatedly heard. Let me say this: if climate change is really the number one concern among your peer group, you may have been co-opted by push news. If you think transgender bathroom issues are at the top of society’s concerns, you may need to expand your news sources. Do people really think Russia, Russia, Russia is a valid news thread? The linked article confirms what many have known for years and perhaps many more are awakening to: News is no longer news. It’s structured to get the most clicks. It’s a business…with a world of unwitting customers.