myrmepropagandist
Journalism wasn’t always an academic discipline with prizes & prestige. I get the feeling there are people who wish they could put it back in the “trash writing, work-a-day propaganda milling for hacks & second class writers” box.
They even seem to be winning.
This is why I get so passionate about the need to recognize social media in the same way. To hold it to not just standards of decency but of excellence.
Because it’s *media* and for many it’s their primary exposure to media.
13 barn owls in a trenchcoat
Reading back, I think my intent and take is tangential to yours rather than really in response to it. But it also seems like the kind of thing that might interest you - happy to delete if I've derailed too far, however.
I am not sure that limiting journalism to those who can afford to get a degree in it was actually a good idea.
I'm probably biased, as I got on-the-job training in one area and at one point ended up doing news and investigative journalism - there are certainly points where I would have appreciated more training, a broader angle on my craft, I'll admit.
But the prestige and academic clout of journalism means that you don't see a lot of people from disadvantaged backgrounds getting into the profession (I was less than six months sober and housed when I got my first staff gig, although I'd exchanged money for writing before).
As a professional, it only seems to be becoming wealthier, whiter and more conformist, with the manufactured consent already inculcated before many writers even get their first gig.
I'm not saying "everyone sells what they can to tawdry rags for money" is a better way (hell, even the tawdry rags prefer an oxbridge background these days), but there has to be some kind of middle ground.
13 barn owls in a trenchcoat
@futurebird I firmly agree - independent and citizen journalism has turned out the kind of work that puts my erstwhile profession to shame in recent years.
And yes, I see where you're going with the idea that journalism - and social media - have a societally important impact that should be taken seriously for the benefits and genuine depth that can be found within.
myrmepropagandist
This is another axis. And not one that isn't impacted by the first. But I don't think that marginalized voices are helped by not having some notion of Journalism as a difficult, and important endeavor rather than just being a human GPT mouthpiece for whoever pays you. Because that idea that journalism could Do Things and even that it's Needed is kind of new when you think about it.
And Journalism can happen within in any media including Social Media.
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