#media/article #media/Article#media#politics online discourse productive discourse
- Link:: https://www.discoursemagazine.com/culture-and-society/2020/05/26/the-way-out-of-post-truth/
- Author:: Martin Gurri
- we are now in an era of post-truth—in reality, nothing has changed but it’s a moment where we have sharply different perspectives on everything and no one can settle it and we defer to obliterating facts instead of persuasion
- 5 hypotheses:
- The Dishonesty of News
- “The hypothesis, which seems to me the most fertile,” wrote Walter Lippmann back in 1922, “is that news and truth are not the same thing, and must be clearly distinguished.” Lippmann found truth in the analysis of causes and relations—in context. I will have more to say about that.
- implicit ideology of news that are false: 1) consuming news produces competent citizens, 2) news is always right 3) news is voice of people against government
- “News is not truth. In the time of the tweet, news isn’t even first in delivering “news or information,” as journalism professor Jeff Jarvis recently noted. News is bait for ads sold by a hard-nosed business: rather than inform citizens or protect the underdog, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, Fox News, Vox, and Politico are trying desperately to make money.”
- conclusion: we must demystify the news and have realistic expectations of it
- Rhetoric of the Rant
- every online discussion shall turn into vicious conflict, ex: “cancel culture” and “internet of beefs”
- why choose anger
- anger is effective
- effective in gaining attention
- effective in being self-perpetuating
- ineffective in making long-term change
- usually anger is released via cortisol via fight or flight response
- now we get exposed to so many nebulous things that make us angry and we can’t do anything about them and our efforts to do something are useless
- i.e. being angry about republicans and tweeting about it doesn’t change anything
- ties to how we are exposed to so many things that are out of our control now
- we need the hope of being able to change things
- now we get exposed to so many nebulous things that make us angry and we can’t do anything about them and our efforts to do something are useless
- Illegitimacy of the Algorithms
- “Unlike news providers, digital platforms don’t need a pretentious ideology to survive. They rule their domains by means of digital slave labor: algorithms that structure information for users while peeling information from them. The relationship is asymmetrical. The user becomes totally transparent to the algorithm, while the algorithm remains totally opaque to the user. To achieve any sort of legitimacy, information obtained from such a black box must be responsive and truthful beyond question. But nothing in the online universe is beyond question, and the truth, in a time of shattered perspectives, is up for grabs”
- Hunger for Context
- “For Lippmann, truth was arrived at by unearthing the “hidden facts” and setting them “into relation with each other.” Meaning pertained to context. And context is what’s missing from our information diet. The digital age is big on speed and volume but oblivious to explanatory frameworks. The Internet of Beefs hurls a constant stream of provocative material at us, to which we are expected to respond instantly. Very little of this increases our understanding of the world.”
- stop looking at news start reading books lol
- Alternatively can there be a trusted broker of information in the information sphere?
- Restoration of Trust
- how do we regain trust without falling for what news do and rhetoric of the recant?
- “Certain rhetorical postures are known to engender trust”
- 1: humility, place doubts, uncertainties and upfront and acknowledge mistakes
- 2: political honesty, advertise preferences. being honestly partisan
- we are slowly coming around to this — people are unabashedly radical
- 3: transparency of sources
- The Dishonesty of News