Tuesday, May 28, 2019

The New Mass Media


Chris Hedges writes that there have been three media revolutions in the last thirty-five years:

the rise of right-wing radio and Fox-style TV news that abandon the media’s faux objectivity, the introduction of 24-hour cable news stations, and the creation of internet platforms—owned by a handful of corporations—that control the distribution of news and information and mine our personal data on behalf of advertisers, political campaigns and the government. The sins of the old media, bad though they were, are nothing compared with the sins of the new media. Mass media has degenerated into not only a purveyor of gossip, conspiracy theories and salacious entertainment but, most ominously, a purveyor of hate.

Hedges turns to a new book by Matt Taibbi titled Hate Inc. to help him explain what has happened. In the old media model, the goal was to manufacture consent. The new media still has the same goal:

The new media, Taibbi points out, still manufactures consent, but it does so by setting group against group, a consumer version of what George Orwell in his novel “1984” called the “Two Minutes Hate.” Our opinions and prejudices are skillfully catered to and reinforced, with the aid of a detailed digital analysis of our proclivities and habits, and then sold back to us. The result, Taibbi writes, is “packaged anger just for you.” The public is unable to speak across the manufactured divide. It is mesmerized by the fake dissent of the culture wars and competing conspiracy theories. Politics, under the assault, has atrophied into a tawdry reality show centered on political personalities. Civic discourse is defined by invective and insulting remarks on the internet. Power, meanwhile, is left unexamined and unchallenged. The result is political impotence among the populace. The moral swamp is not only a fertile place for demagogues such as Donald Trump—a creation of this media burlesque—but channels misplaced rage, intolerance and animosity toward those defined as internal
enemies.

The old and new media set up battles in which there are only two sides:

The classic example was the show “Crossfire,” in which two antagonists, the stereotypical liberal and the stereotypical conservative, could never agree. The liberal, Taibbi pointed out, “was always cast as the person who couldn’t punch back. He was always in retreat. The conservative was always in attack mode. A personality like Tucker Carlson.” These staged and choreographed confrontations were, in essence, sporting events.

That two sided debate continues, even though -- on most issues -- the two sides agree:

The fact that on most big issues the two major political parties are in agreement is ignored. The deregulation of the financial industry, the militarization of police, the explosion in the prison population, deindustrialization, austerity, the endless wars in the Middle East, the bloated military budget, the control of elections and mass media by corporations and the wholesale surveillance of the population by the government all have bipartisan support. For this reason, they are almost never discussed.

Politics have now devolved into a sporting match -- which is on the air 24 hours a day. Each side rabidly roots for its team -- and nobody thinks.

Image: NBC News


4 comments:

the salamander said...

.. I pay attention to 'media' .. and please believe, my patron saints are Marshall McLuhan, W Eugene Smith and Hunter S Thompson.. among others

Years back I was whining about irresponsible media.. and when would they self police, if ever, Now look where we are.. The current President of the United States of A.. is a grifter & compulsive liar, adored & fawned upon by media.. who flopped about on a contrived TV show called The Apprentice. I may have watched two minutes or even less.. if that. I would rather read the back of cereal boxes. Here in Canada we may be worse.. ie a worse state of media.. like really really sloppy (might I also employ the term sellout?)

Social media has really added to or 'loaded' or toxified the 'news' or media environment.. a viral video or freight train twitter.. Facebook, Google 'News' .. heck, not long ago I could spot a breathless Faith Goldy tweet preceding Andrew Coyne or a pronouncement by Stephen Harper via some webwank CPC junior unpaid 'intern', complete with laughable typos. I commented earlier today.. whining to Mound on the ludicrous state of reportage (or garbage) re 'Energy Extraction' and hiw Mainstream media fumbles or gropes or fails.. to differentiate various blends of Alberta ethical (blessed by jeebuz & Andrew Scheer & Ezra Levant) oil.. aka a slurry properly called diluted bitumin.

Trailblazer said...

Re,
Politics have now devolved into a sporting match -- which is on the air 24 hours a day. Each side rabidly roots for its team -- and nobody thinks.

Life has become a sporting event with the expectation of winner take all.
Sad but true.

TB

Owen Gray said...

We are in a sad state, sal. We have confused knowledge and analysis with entertainment. And, as Neil Postman predicted, we are Entertaining Ourselves to Death.

Owen Gray said...

A very accuate observation, TB. The entertianment we now consume is a zero sum game -- which is perhaps best represented by the television show "Survivor." I don't watch it. But I marvel that it is still on.