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Brink Lindsey @lindsey_brink
, 6 tweets, 1 min read Read on Twitter
Resolved: the profit-seeking, audience-chasing news industry is bad for democracy. Reluctantly, I currently vote in the affirmative. Here's why. 1/n
First, most obvious and widely recognized: democratized access to mass audiences (cable, talk radio, internet) plus rapid cultural change creates huge market opportunity for fomenting and catering to cultural backlash. This tees up the right for authoritarian demagogues.
Second, less obvious but increasingly understood: once a demagogue arises, mainstream media's ratings and click chasing turns them into an unwitting megaphone for the demagogue, letting him drive the agenda and use them as a foil. 3/n
Third, and so far almost totally ignored: mainstream TV and print reporters' commercial need to build personal brands leads them to sell themselves as cable talking heads and social media personalities. 4/n
This undermines their authority as objective fact finders by rubbing their irrelevant personal views in the public's faces. This stokes paranoia about bias and gives gives the "fake news" lie plausibility. Consensus on facts breaks down--terrible for political discourse. 5/n
Bottom line: of course there are important exceptions, but overall the contemporary commercialized media environment is hostile territory for liberal democratic norms & institutions. Media now not a bulwark of democracy but a source of vulnerability. END
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