Media

The media is broken. That began when blogging platforms started to take off at the end of the 90s. People began to espouse their own opinions, just like me. It is one thing for me to go to a restaurant and write a review, but it has become another thing since platforms are now being used to push out any information regardless of fact.

I know a few people who have become Foxers (I’m not sure that’s a term), but they watch Fox all day long and believe anything they tell them. Their fair and balanced motto was inaccurate; now, it is real news we report, you decide. How about we lie, you believe?

Instagram is a feed to the world. We can watch someone making food in rural Turkey, some random kids in suburban America perform, and others espouse their political views. It is a little bit like being on the subway, where you can see everything and keep your finger on the pulse of what is happening. Instagram has flattened the world, creating chaos in the world causing anxiety in our youth and anger in adults. It’s painful to watch. It’s why there is an epidemic of sadness.  I believe it is also the long tail of Trump’s ire, although that anger has been simmering for decades. That happens when the beneficiaries of most taxes go to the wealthiest.

As an eternal optimist, I believe we will figure out the value of platforms like Instagram, but perhaps there needs to be more oversight. Journalism has a code of ethics when reporting, such as confirming information with multiple channels to create fair and balanced stories. It isn’t a law, but maybe it should be.

Each country monitors its media differently, even though global companies report the news. Perhaps it is time to create laws that treat online platforms differently than old-school print. Slanted journalism is one thing; full-out lies are another. We evolve and must be aware of the need to monitor lies that spread throughout society. Change is inevitable, but right now, we all have a front seat to what is happening to our children and the people who have crawled down the Fox-hole, no pun intended.