82 Zombie Media
in particular to circumvent traditional media distributions to address
his followers directly. The aforementioned message about the “FAKE
NEWS media” had been retweeted nearly 40 thousand times and liked
by some 115 thousand followers by the end of Saturday, 18 February,
demonstrating some of the reach by which, according to Kurtzleben,
Trump would attempt to rebrand fake news in order to pursue his own
agenda.
It has long been a truism surrounding theories of the Fourth Estate
that an important task of journalism is to serve as a watchdog on those
in power. Tom O’Malley offers a clear summary of the power of the
press as playing “a central, if unofficial, role in the constitution. It could,
through the articulation of public opinion, guide, and act as a check on,
government.”
17
Likewise, Brian McNair observes that a political media
is important because, citing Anthony Sampson, “a mature democracy
depends on having an educated electorate.”
18
But McNair also notes
the many problems even at the turn of the century with this politics in
the modern world, that as a largely mediated phenomenon it has been
subject to a number of crises, whether the dumbing down of political
information in the service of infotainment or the rise of spin. More recently, Bob Franklin has offered an excellent summary of the problems
facing legacy media, with declining audiences and revenues, but also the
various challenges and opportunities to be viable in the future.
19
As was
indicated in the brief summary of alt-journalism, this crisis has been at
least two decades in the making, and indeed journalism has regularly
experienced similar crises.
In The People Vs. Tech, Bartlett proposes a framework of six pillars
of democracy, extending the constitutional notion of four branches of
government – executive, legislative, judiciary, and media – that protect
four principles based on equity, representation, freedom, and justice.
For Bartlett, democracy depends upon the following: active citizens; a
shared culture; free elections; stakeholder equality; a competitive economy and civic freedom; and trust in authority.
20
Each of these pillars,
suggests Bartlett, is threatened by technology – for example, economic
participation is facing challenges via mass automation, or the enforcement of tribal politics via social media bubbles leads to a breakdown
of shared cultures – yet, this should not be reduced to a simplistic tech
versus people that Bartlett chooses as his eye-catching title. For example,
he also points out that there is also a “tech arms race” between democratic societies and more authoritarian regimes such as those in Russia
and China, one that democracies need to win – and one in which Russia
and China, for very different reasons, have invested huge efforts, often
seeking to undermine the very notion of democracy through activities
around the election of Donald Trump.
The ability of Trump to hijack fake news and manipulate it as a rallying cry allowed him to distract attention away from what his Chief
in particular to circumvent traditional media distributions to address
his followers directly. The aforementioned message about the “FAKE
NEWS media” had been retweeted nearly 40 thousand times and liked
by some 115 thousand followers by the end of Saturday, 18 February,
demonstrating some of the reach by which, according to Kurtzleben,
Trump would attempt to rebrand fake news in order to pursue his own
agenda.
It has long been a truism surrounding theories of the Fourth Estate
that an important task of journalism is to serve as a watchdog on those
in power. Tom O’Malley offers a clear summary of the power of the
press as playing “a central, if unofficial, role in the constitution. It could,
through the articulation of public opinion, guide, and act as a check on,
government.”
17
Likewise, Brian McNair observes that a political media
is important because, citing Anthony Sampson, “a mature democracy
depends on having an educated electorate.”
18
But McNair also notes
the many problems even at the turn of the century with this politics in
the modern world, that as a largely mediated phenomenon it has been
subject to a number of crises, whether the dumbing down of political
information in the service of infotainment or the rise of spin. More recently, Bob Franklin has offered an excellent summary of the problems
facing legacy media, with declining audiences and revenues, but also the
various challenges and opportunities to be viable in the future.
19
As was
indicated in the brief summary of alt-journalism, this crisis has been at
least two decades in the making, and indeed journalism has regularly
experienced similar crises.
In The People Vs. Tech, Bartlett proposes a framework of six pillars
of democracy, extending the constitutional notion of four branches of
government – executive, legislative, judiciary, and media – that protect
four principles based on equity, representation, freedom, and justice.
For Bartlett, democracy depends upon the following: active citizens; a
shared culture; free elections; stakeholder equality; a competitive economy and civic freedom; and trust in authority.
20
Each of these pillars,
suggests Bartlett, is threatened by technology – for example, economic
participation is facing challenges via mass automation, or the enforcement of tribal politics via social media bubbles leads to a breakdown
of shared cultures – yet, this should not be reduced to a simplistic tech
versus people that Bartlett chooses as his eye-catching title. For example,
he also points out that there is also a “tech arms race” between democratic societies and more authoritarian regimes such as those in Russia
and China, one that democracies need to win – and one in which Russia
and China, for very different reasons, have invested huge efforts, often
seeking to undermine the very notion of democracy through activities
around the election of Donald Trump.
The ability of Trump to hijack fake news and manipulate it as a rallying cry allowed him to distract attention away from what his Chief