Media expert: Digital reader-based “post-journalism” model promotes polarization
Andrey Mir, author of Postjournalism and the death of newspapers, asserts that traditional ad-based journalism has evolved out of necessity to rely on digital readership. When editorial once depended on ad revenue, it was essential to prioritize credible and objective reporting so they could reach median/wealthy consumers. Now, publications aiming to attract subscribed readers must play to anger and polarization, morphing our economy’s need for “news supply” to propaganda-esque “news validation.”
Indeed, the ad-based business model had kept the natural liberal predisposition of journalists in check. The balance between the liberalism of the newsrooms and the business necessity to appeal to the “vast middle” for better advertising maintained both the market value and cultural power of journalism. Despite its inherent liberalism, journalism still needed to address affluent consumers, encouraging journalists to follow the professional standards of objectivity and unbiased investigative rigor. The highest examples of that work—such as the Watergate investigation, the Pentagon Papers, and the Boston Globe’s “Spotlight” investigation of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church—bolstered the professional reputation of the news media…
Advertising revenue fell below the level of reader revenue at the same time across the world. In 2014, ad revenue in the global newspaper industry ($86.5 billion) trailed reader revenue ($92.4 billion) for the first time in the history of industrial measurement. Even the strongest American newspapers could not hold advertisers: the New York Times began getting more revenue from readers than from ads in 2012…
[During 2016’s contentious presidential election,] The media quickly learned to solicit subscriptions as support for a noble effort—the protection of democracy from “dying in darkness,” as the Washington Post put it. A new business model emerged, soliciting subscriptions as donations to a cause…
By no means were the media interested in mitigating this divide. They needed to maintain frustration and instigate polarization to keep donors scared, outraged, and engaged. The news media reminded readers how outrageous the outrageous events were, and their focus turned toward such events. As the scare came to replace news as a commodity, the mainstream media switched from news supply to news validation…
What comes next for the media industry? The validation of disturbing news within certain value systems has finally become a viable business model.
This article originally appeared in City Journal. Read the whole thing here.
Image by Jon S