Re main-line media, don’t we also have much less than in the past? How many newspapers do we have as compared with 1932 (FDR’s first election), 1952 (Eisenhower), 1980 (Reagan), even 2000 (Bush), and now?
Far fewer newspapers, possibly similar numbers of "mainstream news media" when you count radio, TV and online outlets structured like one of those. And almost all of those mainstream "traditional journalism" operations are struggling to stay afloat.
J.M., really great to be reading you again regularly and congrats on your MIIS appointment, makes us colleagues to an extent (again)! Keep up the great work.
Thanks, Craig! I'm feeling very fortunate to be working with this crowd and look forward to some future Monterey junket where we can catch up properly (when things are just a little more "post" COVID than right now).
Jul 7, 2023·edited Jul 7, 2023Liked by J.M. Berger
Really cool insights, thank you. The winners sure do write the history books.
Regarding social media ownership/control and this dynamic, I think this is really is in the forefront of our political conflicts. Michael Flynn’s so-called 5G warfare is explicitly about control of online narratives and discourse, and this same concept seems to be motivating other right wing players like Musk. Controlling the online information space becomes critical as democracies are based in collective decision making. Its not great that billionaires would control that space.
A public nonprofit social media service might actually garner broad trust and have transparent moderation practices. It would need a whole lot of seed money tho.
Re main-line media, don’t we also have much less than in the past? How many newspapers do we have as compared with 1932 (FDR’s first election), 1952 (Eisenhower), 1980 (Reagan), even 2000 (Bush), and now?
Far fewer newspapers, possibly similar numbers of "mainstream news media" when you count radio, TV and online outlets structured like one of those. And almost all of those mainstream "traditional journalism" operations are struggling to stay afloat.
J.M., really great to be reading you again regularly and congrats on your MIIS appointment, makes us colleagues to an extent (again)! Keep up the great work.
Thanks, Craig! I'm feeling very fortunate to be working with this crowd and look forward to some future Monterey junket where we can catch up properly (when things are just a little more "post" COVID than right now).
Really cool insights, thank you. The winners sure do write the history books.
Regarding social media ownership/control and this dynamic, I think this is really is in the forefront of our political conflicts. Michael Flynn’s so-called 5G warfare is explicitly about control of online narratives and discourse, and this same concept seems to be motivating other right wing players like Musk. Controlling the online information space becomes critical as democracies are based in collective decision making. Its not great that billionaires would control that space.
A public nonprofit social media service might actually garner broad trust and have transparent moderation practices. It would need a whole lot of seed money tho.
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/digital-future-daily/2022/12/15/the-other-5g-00074195
Better investment than, say, a Metaverse...