Sorry folks, despite the title, this isn’t a screed on government overspending its revenue.
We’re not talking money here, in traditional dollars and cents. But the 2016 Election process has revealed a major deficit – of trust. Americans have lost faith in government, and in almost all media that’s supposed to keep an eye on government. (The media we don’t label a lying sellout is the one that -- in this age of fragmented, ideological messaging – reflects to us exactly what we think we believe about what we think we know. Yes, it’s twisted logic. And, yes, it’s sad and true.)
In today’s media atmosphere, the art of lying has been refined. Fast-paced fake news and out-right fibbing are drowning out the truth, which is often complex and complicated and needs space and time to be understood and accepted.
So how did we get here?
The answer is complex and complicated, just like the truth. But there were some obvious signposts on this highway to information Hell that called out for more attention.
Devaluation of Reporting – the Media, as an industry, has been in a financial death spiral for some time, with the spinning accelerating in the last decade or so. In business speak you might hear this trend called a time for reorganization or re-branding, as audiences moved to more accessible -- often free -- digital platforms.
This triggered massive layoffs of trained, ethical journalists. Those who remain are paid abysmal salaries. And poor salaries mean that today’s researchers and content providers are ever younger and less experienced. And since audiences are smaller for a growing number of individual media outlets, the net result is more people getting less meaningful information.
Information Wants to be Free – This paraphrases a famous quote from the dawn of the Internet Age, when American began to discover they could get more and more cool stuff online, for less money. But we misunderstood the message: What Information really wants to be free from is tyrannical control, government filters and corporate spin.
Of course, in our zeal to get stuff cheap or free, we thought it meant that news and information wanted to be researched, produced and delivered for free.
And, really, you get what you pay for. Now that’s been true since the old days when news was printed out and delivered to you once a day.
Media as Commodity – Today there’s content for every ideology, every pro and every con, and every political belief – as bizarre or untrue as it might be. It’s no longer the message that matters, but whether someone out there will buy it. And if there is, then you’re likely to find an advertiser to help you deliver that message.
This new landscape is increasingly hostile to journalists, writers, academics and policy wonks who crave a space where they can still deal in objective analysis and information. These are the professionals who still believe that truly free information provides transparency, which holds political candidates, leaders, and institutions accountable.
An unfettered, but responsible, press is indeed the currency of Democracy. Without it, democracy fails.
The freedom of speech (and a press not driven by government interest) is the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Our founding fathers envisioned free expression as the enabler of liberty.
The only practical limits on our freedom of expression have been the truth and the ability to amplify our voices. Does a woman with a megaphone on a park bench have greater freedom of expression than a guy cupping his hands in front of his mouth? No. It’s the same right, only exercised at different volumes because one can afford a megaphone that reaches a larger audience.
But the amendment doesn’t protect you if you lie, or cause harm or chaos. (Like yelling fire in a crowded theater.) That’s it. There’s very little to this huge, beautiful freedom. And yet it’s allowed us to thrive in so many ways.
So, is it possible to close this nationwide (federal) Trust Deficit?
We need to support the information sources that set out to earn credibility with every story, every chart and data analysis. We need to trust content providers who deal in verifiable truth, regardless of the politician, corporate titan or high-profile celebrity caught with a hand in the cookie jar, or uninvited on someone’s privates.
Coming soon, from the Buchanan Group, will be new center-point of credibility and trust.
In-Deep Media will focus on empowering news consumers hungry for context, history and deeper thought behind global issues that drive our daily lives. In-Deep Media will engage audiences and provide a platform for diverse voices from around the world. And it will allow once-passive news consumers to experience global capitols and regions in a way that brings them face to face with important issues. The results will be US citizens with increased knowledge and awareness of the world around them. They’ll be armed with information that can shield them from today’s streams of fake news and BS now.
In-Deep Media’s goal is a more robust – and free – society.
Ready to engage? Stand by.