Unfortunately, you know the answer to this, don't you. The answer is that no one's responses to this question matter. There's a huge divorce between what people say they want from journalism and what they do--
that is, the items on which they click, the length of time their eyeballs rest on the page, and what they buy as a consequence. Consider, for example, this April 29 press release from Condé Nast: condenast.com/press/ads-plac…
And then consider this one: condenast.com/press/conde-na…. Read them through. The big media outlets are either owned as a personal philanthropy project or by massive conglomerates like Condé Nast.
Chomsky and Wouk were wrong about Manufacturing Consent. They *were* right in seeing that "the news" exists at the pleasure of advertisers. But as we've seen, if you change the business model--from television to Internet--your job will now be Manufacturing Dissent.
Everyone who says, "I want the news to be less partisan, less sensationalistic, just tell me the facts, and I want more foreign news, and more discussion of policy and the issues, and less Donald Trump--"
"I don't want those dumb clickbait headlines. I don't want to hear from Scandalized Millenials who are Scandalized About Pronouns--"
You won't get it. You won't get it because you say that's what you want, but you don't, really.
You won't get it. You won't get it because you say that's what you want, but you don't, really.
And the advertisers now know, to an astonishing level of specificity, that in reality, nothing gets you clicking more avidly than a story about "A New Outrageous Thing Trump Said," or "A New Outrageous Thing that Happened to or was Demanded by Transgender Student."
Your hair is on fire with rage when you read those stories. And you just can't stop reading them. Long-form essays on tin-mining in Bolivia don't stand a chance against a story about a celebrity revealed to be a sex pest. The advertisers know all about your "purchasing journey."
They're not interested in your answers to this question. They're interested in your credit card. They know what really keeps your eyeballs on the screen. They know what makes you order new computers and luxury goods. It's not what you say you want.
They will keep giving you what you *really* want until you decide you don't really want it.
In 2019, you are the media. Every story that drives you crazy is there because you've proven how willing you are to click on stories just like that one.
In 2019, you are the media. Every story that drives you crazy is there because you've proven how willing you are to click on stories just like that one.
It's all part of your purchasing journey.
