The pattern is obvious when you start looking for labor representation in mass media, like what were the labor leaders quoted saying regarding the same thing the capitalist executive is talking about, or how many articles quote just an executive vs how many just quote a labor leader.
In the UK, it’s because we have a monoculture. 80% of journalists come from professional and upper class backgrounds according to a new report from the NCTJ so they don’t question authority or speak truth to power because it’s their buddies!
Who believes billionaire media anymore? It’s not journalism, just more spin/entertainment designed to ignite a fire of hate between american citizens for dollars. I say we build a guillotine for capitalism (the rest of the shitty billionaires will fall soon afterwards).
Some genius got the idea to change the words at the top of an official statement from Public Relations Announcement to Press Release, and every news media fell for it.
His boss probably took credit for the idea, got a promotion and an enormous raise, and fired the guy who really thought if it.
Anyone reasonably trained knows this. But for reporters in their 20s, they’ve never seen or heard of anything else.
Journalism as a profession has been mercilessly crushed this entire century (at least) and we are all (save the 1%, perhaps) the poorer for it. There’s a reason it was considered one of the fundamentals of a functioning democracy.
What the article describes isn’t even reporting, let alone journalism, it’s a form of marketing.
Have you ever read newspapers from the 19th or 18th centuries? Cause I have bad news for you about the history of journalism.
Sure, stipulated, but in fact I’d say the more relevant analogy to today’s situation is 1930s Germany and Goebbels (along with radio). To my mind journalism mostly evolved into profession post WW2 as a reaction to the prior corruption of reporting.
For a period there it had a strong code of ethics (professional ethics even) and served society well before concentration of media in the hands of corrupt oligarchs (e.g. Murdoch) destroyed any competition on truth (when’s the last time you heard of a scoop?) and then the internet and especially social media drove home the nails.
This is not to say that there is not true journalism still alive, but that it is far removed from the majority of society, hard to find. It needs to be sought out, ironically in an age where information flows so freely, quality is lost in the slop (even before AI). It would behoove us as a society to raise it once more from the muck, wish I knew how.
There has always been true journalists, and it seems there are periods where groups become more prominent in waves, like you describe with that period, but, at least from the many news papers I have read from that time, from the US, Canada, and the UK it was all corporate voice, and extremely ham fisted government propaganda, and that portion of journalism seems to be outlier. Newspapers needs sales, Ads need viewer, etc., and sensationalist bullshit, outrage, and gossip, have always been the solution to that.
I can’t tell you how many ads I have seen for over consumption, especially of questionable shit, with the US government calling for being a real American, or whatever, that buys this American product. Write-ups about military actions, especially ones with natives, that are basically just fabricated stories about brave christian soldiers protecting innocent homesteaders from the savages. When I first started looking these up I was kinda surprised at how bad it was actually, and I was expecting pretty much the same. The biggest thing I noticed was that there was a LOT more long form article 200 years ago. However they, like today, were largely industry/political puff pieces, socialite blather, etc.
Also, the amount of casual libel in century plus old news papers is insane. Absolutely would not fly today.
Thanks for the perspective, appreciated.
Remember the Maine!
Data centers IN SPACE!
Acritically repeated by every news source.
Modern journalism is PR for the rich.
I’m a ceo we’re not smrt i mean smart
I see some angry person. The good type of angry — directing his anger at the right things.
To be clear: Bode is not criticising the fact that journalists quote what CEOs say. He’s criticising the fact they do it and call it a day, as if saying “trust the CEO”.
It goes without saying that CEOs are really loud when saying what they want the sucker (you) to believe. So if that’s all you want, you need no journalist. A journalist is only useful if you want to know the factual reality; but for that they need to contextualise and challenge the claims, not just parrot them.
I’d end with some noble call for the U.S. media industry to do better, but it’s abundantly clear they don’t want to.
If it’s any consolation it isn’t just the United-Statian media.
The world needs more action like the people of Quebec did to the suddenly former ceo of Air Canada.
The pilots were French, the jet flying from Montreal. The least that fucker could have done is have someone who knows French give the apology.
