A growing number of americans don't read newspapers. They get their news from online influencers. The right dominates the online ecosystem.
A growing number of americans don't read newspapers. They get their news from online influencers. The right dominates the online ecosystem.
"Mildly interesting" is not very close to my reaction to this at all, rather something closer to "particularly concerning"
It’s not like newspapers or television are much better. The oligarchs bought and control both of those outlets. Plenty of “opinion disguised as news” to go around these days.
You have plenty of non-profit newspapers. ProPublica. The Guardian. The Colorado Sun. Mississippi Today. The Salt Lake Tribune. Mother Jones. The Walrus. Le Devoir. La Presse. Mediapart.
Also, if a journalist writes bullshit, they lose their job. It's career suicide.
The way to assess the credibility of a journalist is easy. Just look at their past articles. Their articles usually follow them for their entire career.
If someone on social media spreads bullshit, what happens ? Nothing.
We need to do better in supporting independent journalism, and journalism in general. Replacing perhaps slightly biased newspapers with influencers is not a good solution.. just makes it a million times worse. False information can spread so easily nowadays because influencers don't even bother checking anything, let alone asking experts. A lot of influencers also blatantly pander to their audience.
The act of reading highly factual, if biased and not independent, still cultivates thinking for one self. Listening to these influencers doesn’t, to the same degree.