Journalism exists in a political economy of commercial and philanthropic capital that skews its practice along class lines, and produces institutional corruption (per @Lessig) that disrupts trust and opens the door for mass-media demagoguery and political extremism. Commercial news cannot compete in the attention economy unless it jumps the shark via lolcats, "if it bleeds it leads," and pandering to ideological politics; nonprofit news cannot survive unless it caters to donors, who skew affluent, thus perpetuating existing class bias.

@GibranAshraf @jgksf Thanks for asking. Multi-part answer here. :) First, consider that journalism practice exists in one of two economic spheres, commercial or philanthropic, each with distinct but connected legal/regulatory structures that are rooted in the political nature of capital. @GibranAshraf @jgksf In the commercial sphere. news is a product and it must thrive as such in the marketplace, which today is the attention economy. As a news producer you must create demand within that marketplace in order to convert customers for the product.