You hear it all the time. The media lies. The media favors the powerful. The media are communists, fascists, or part of a global conspiracy. The media this. The media that.
Trouble is, there is no "the media."
Take a few seconds to consider this label, and it reveals itself to be a ridiculous concept.
Every conceivable perspective on Earth is represented by some organization, group or person categorized as part of "the media."
If someone believes that "the media" has lied, misled, or favored some powerful interest, the reason they believe that is that they have facts and perspectives provided to them by some other media organizations. That is, of course, unless that someone personally travels around the world to investigate all matters by themselves and to see all current events with their own eyes and does all their own investigation.
It's true that we live in a world of weaponized lies, attention-algorithm garbage, state-sponsored disinformation, conspiracy theories, and bullshit.
But the reason that characterizes our world is that people choose bad media and bad sources of information.
Trouble is, there is no "the media."
Take a few seconds to consider this label, and it reveals itself to be a ridiculous concept.
Every conceivable perspective on Earth is represented by some organization, group or person categorized as part of "the media."
If someone believes that "the media" has lied, misled, or favored some powerful interest, the reason they believe that is that they have facts and perspectives provided to them by some other media organizations. That is, of course, unless that someone personally travels around the world to investigate all matters by themselves and to see all current events with their own eyes and does all their own investigation.
It's true that we live in a world of weaponized lies, attention-algorithm garbage, state-sponsored disinformation, conspiracy theories, and bullshit.
But the reason that characterizes our world is that people choose bad media and bad sources of information.
X's algorithm, TikTok's algorithm, Facebook's algorithm are bad sources of information.
NN News, RT, Sputnik, CGTN, Global Times, Iran's Press TV, and Venezuela's TeleSUR are bad sources of information.
National Report, RealTrueNews, Huzlers, 70news, Disinfomedia, and Global Associated News are bad sources of information.
Fox News, Newsmax, One America News Network, The Daily Mail, The Sun, The Epoch Times, Breitbart News, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, and InfoWars are bad sources of information.
They are all "the media."
Meanwhile, BBC, PBS, Reuters, NPR, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Economist, Consumer Reports, Mother Jones, Nature, The Wall Street Journal, The Dispatch, The Christian Science Monitor, The Bulwark, and National Review are good sources of information.
Meanwhile, BBC, PBS, Reuters, NPR, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Economist, Consumer Reports, Mother Jones, Nature, The Wall Street Journal, The Dispatch, The Christian Science Monitor, The Bulwark, and National Review are good sources of information.
These are also "the media."
The blogosphere, the podcast world, and the newsletter platforms have uncountable numbers of content creators providing truly excellent reporting and perspectives.
The blogosphere, the podcast world, and the newsletter platforms have uncountable numbers of content creators providing truly excellent reporting and perspectives.
These are also "the media."
Even if you disagree with my lists, you cannot disagree with the fact that there is far, far more high-quality journalism available than you could ever read. The internet and the larger media ecosystem have handed all of us brilliant sources of factual information on a silver platter.
Even if you disagree with my lists, you cannot disagree with the fact that there is far, far more high-quality journalism available than you could ever read. The internet and the larger media ecosystem have handed all of us brilliant sources of factual information on a silver platter.
It's all "the media."
So choose your media diet well. And reject lame venting that rails against "the media." In fact, the best media is literally the only thing that can save us from the world of falsehoods pushed by the worst media.
Because there is no "the media."
So choose your media diet well. And reject lame venting that rails against "the media." In fact, the best media is literally the only thing that can save us from the world of falsehoods pushed by the worst media.
Because there is no "the media."