Apparently, news media is hot…but I knew that, that’s why I’m here. What I really find amazing is the high profile people who suddenly became interested only because of an election, as if spammy news hadn’t been showing up in anyone’s Facebook feed until a week before the election. Suddenly, the Pope is interested. Obama was reputed to be interested in a media start-up which has since been squashed, but that tells you where his head is. I covered Jon Stewart’s sudden expertise in all things fake news in my own recent article. And let us not forget Mark Zuckerberg, the “now you don’t see it, now you do” fake-news savior. I commented on him on November 10 and November 16. Truth be told, he’s in a tough spot, but when you preside over a platform that’s used/depended on by 1.7 billion people, you have some responsibility; after all, we hold utilities responsible for similar reasons. The point is, everyone is jumping on the true-news bandwagon. Fake news is the scourge of all of us according to Hillary, but not everyone agrees with this sentiment, even by people in her own camp, such as MSNBC host Joe Scarborough.
Who woulda thought that some kids from Macedonia – reported to be the source of some hundred or so sites filled with fake news – could move heaven and earth to spur luminaries and world leaders to vow retribution and change? Or think of this: What does it really say about all of the self-crowned kings and princes of American media that they have been so thoroughly upstaged by fake news? The potentates of multi-billion dollar empires are shouting into the wind and nobody in Peoria trusts them. Instead of trying to crush those news outlets that are producing the fake news – Yomama.com or some such – they’re using the opportunity to trash Drudge with its 21.9 million unique-view audience.
There is utter well-deserved disrespect and scorn of the US media, which conservatives left long ago. Now that same media is starting to have some equally well-deserved self-flagellation over how badly they screwed their own side. But their plight is not so dark, because the giant has more skin in the game. Facebook is the world’s largest news distributor– and watch to see if they don’t move to further capitalize on that position. I think it’s poor that Facebook is the primary news source for so many, but rather than criticize it, the need here is to accept it and make sure it remains an open channel for all.
I found it interesting that Obama had expressed some interest in media just weeks after it was reported that Zuckerberg was interested in politics.The grass is always greener on the other side. I can imagine that they each viewed the other as the most powerful person and wanted to trade places. Rule the most powerful country in the world (319 million) or the largest media platform in the world (1.7 billion)? Hmmmm, hard choice.
I’m totally for traditional media with paid reporters validating real news, but they’re going to have to re-earn the respect of the whole public if they want to become the center of gravity in media again. Here are a few things that need to happen with traditional big media:
- Stop denying liberal bias and be more forthright about your conceits. You’re fooling no one.
- Publicly purge hateful editors and reporters on the far left and let them go work for Slate, Salon, MSNBC, Huffington etc. They won’t starve.
- The biggest thing: Big media must operate from the center. No exceptions. There must be proof, and it must be real this time.
- Big media must make their most immediate web-news consistently available outside of pay-walls. You want money? You can’t have it without influence. If the only regular readers who can afford you wear tweed sports jackets, that’s a problem. Hand it to Zuckerburg: He figured out the hardest pie$e of the puzzle for you. See what you can learn from him. If you can’t join him, he’ll beat you – he and all the other free platforms.
And for media consumers:
- Realize that some news is indeed fake (including some major media reporting). Have three sources and cross-check everything you see of consequence.
- Realize that a lot of news is not and cannot be fully validated for days, week, or even months. Take everything with a grain of salt.
- Realize that news is not finished being democratized. There are still major opportunities waiting to be invented in news media and made possible by emerging technologies. News is an old business that’s being ripped apart so that the even newer channels can be developed. Especially look for ways for a new generation of beat reporters to be validated and supported.