When used by a person, a fence is an instrument to protect and defend, a further extension of the skin, beyond clothes and huts. However, when used by a culture, a fence is an environmental force that transforms a nomadic… Read More ›
Future of journalism
The hamsterization of journalism and cannibalism of news teasers
Being forced to compete for attention on social media, the media turn the readers of articles into the readers of recaps. News teasers on social media do more than just announce the news; they actually deliver the news. A chapter… Read More ›
How both old and new media polarise society for profit (or survival)
Why polarisation is a media effect and what we can do about it. Populism and polarisation are structurally embedded into this social-economic symbiosis. This media hardware can and must work only with this cultural software. Excerpts from the paper. Full… Read More ›
Postjournalism: Subjective modality in the guise of objective modality
Postjournalism passes off the opinion as the fact, the connotation as the denotation, the attitude as the referent. To put it simply, in postjournalism, reporting is commenting. A chapter from “Postjournalism and the death of newspapers” (2020). Subjective modality in… Read More ›
Philanthropy funding of journalism: noble corruption
Foundation funding of the news media comes with a price. It quietly pushes journalism towards activism. A chapter from “Postjournalism and the death of newspapers” (2020). Funding journalism by foundations is perceived as a positive tendency because no one’s individual… Read More ›
The news media: manufacturing anger, not consent. Herman-Chomsky’s Propaganda model revised
When Herman and Chomsky described their Propaganda model, the news media were paid predominantly by advertisers and therefore tended to beautify reality. But advertising is gone. The media try to attract reader revenue. But this is a very peculiar reader… Read More ›
The quantum theory of media
“The future of the book is the blurb,” as McLuhan once said. The news teaser, not even the article, is now the quantum of media content. A chapter from “Postjournalism and the death of newspapers” (2020). What is the unit… Read More ›
Martin Gurri on “Postjournalism and the Death of Newspapers”
Andrey Mir’s previous book, “Human as Media”, was a little masterpiece that accounted for the large transformations brought about by the “emancipation of authorship” in the internet. His latest book, “Postjournalism and the Death of Newspapers”, may be the most… Read More ›
Scheduling the extinction of newspapers
Newspapers are in decline because of economic and technological factors, but their life span is measured by demographic factors. They will exist as an industrial product for no longer than the mid-2030s. A chapter from “Postjournalism and the death of… Read More ›
Ownership of the media: it is not what you think it must be
Traditional media owners may still control the news media, but they no longer control the news. A chapter from “Postjournalism and the death of newspapers” (2020). Under the idea of ownership as a filter of the Propaganda model, Herman and… Read More ›
