When I returned to social media after being offline for a week in the countryside, I saw that my timeline was filled with news about the assassination attempt on Trump.
My first thought, given my impeccable timing, was: “Now let's see how CNN presents it.,
And look: the first thing he wrote was “Trump was carried off stage after collapsing at a rally,
Maybe you’ve been thinking the same thing as me, and if you have, you’ll probably agree that the media landscape has changed.
Very.
Fueled by the political leanings of its workforce, the rise of cancel culture, and the need to make money, this shift has majorly affected how technology and bitcoin (and almost everything else) are viewed.
So what's going on here?
Let us see how today's media is taking shape.
No monolithic media elite
First, let’s make one thing clear: No secret group of media elites makes the decisions.
The idea that the big “M” media controls everything is simply not true.
This is a myth.
What is actually happening is that many journalists come from elite schools like Columbia, Harvard or Penn. This trend has led to a liberal bias in the media, not because of some grand conspiracy, but because of the background and views of those who produce the news.
This liberal tilt has particularly affected the coverage of technology and bitcoin, leading left-wing media outlets to essentially Anti-Tech,
Libertarians have generally been wary of the rapid technological advancements and decentralized nature of Bitcoin and view it as a threat to regulations and traditional financial systems.
The rise of cancelation culture
Another factor is that cancelation culture has become increasingly prevalent over the past decade, where people or companies are publicly shamed for controversial views or actions.
It has also had a significant impact on media companies, with journalists feeling they must conform their reporting to prevailing viewpoints to avoid backlash.
As a result, media companies have allowed the political biases of their employees to influence their content more than ever before.
Now, you might think this is different from the MSM of previous decades, who thought their goal was to be more balanced and less politically charged.
Sure, political bias often trumps factual reporting, especially in important sectors like tech and bitcoin, but this is nothing new.
The search for truth versus making money
At the core of media operations is the conflict between the pursuit of truth and making money.
These companies make money in two ways: advertising, which connects potential buyers with sellers, and subscriptions, which include consumer subscriptions (like your $10/month news subscription) and enterprise subscriptions (like purchasing a Bloomberg Terminal).
If you look back at the last 15 years, the era of mass consumer publishing is over. Today, media is thriving at two ends of the spectrum.
For example, The New York Times is doing this. very niceWhat people probably don't realize is that The New York Times is really a product company, with 30-40% of its business coming from games and cooking, and a huge chunk coming from subscriptions.
The point is that, while the ideal purpose of journalism is to uncover and report the truth, the economic realities are the opposite.
Media companies need to engage their audiences and make money in various ways, so they cater to their audiences' desires, dealing with media bias is important in the digital age, as bias is becoming more apparent. Sometimes objective truth is sacrificed, sometimes actual journalistic work is sacrificed in favor of whatever brings in revenue.
This explains why media outlets tailor their content to their audience’s preferences.
Editorial decisions about which stories to highlight and how to present issues are driven by whether readers and viewers will be attracted not only to the story itself, but also to the multimedia ecosystem an outlet seeks to present to remain relevant and financially viable.
A Historical Perspective on Media Bias
Although these different revenue sources are new approaches to media, the biases themselves are not new.
During the American Civil War, newspapers openly supported specific political factions. (Google “Copperhead Democrats” To get an idea of which side three different media outlets take.)
Today's media works in much the same way, only with modern complexities.
Digital platforms and algorithms that tailor content based on user preferences have intensified echo chambers, where people mostly see information that supports their existing beliefs.
This echo chamber effect worsens media bias, as media outlets produce content that conforms to the views of their audience in order to keep them engaged.
For tech and bitcoin, this means negative stories will persist, making it harder to fight prejudices.
Bitcoin is not for everyone
In an article last year I wrote that Bitcoin is not for everyone, meaning that one has to focus on specific groups. Bitcoin and the wider tech industry need to understand this scenario and move forward in it.
Because it's okay to have a bias towards certain topics – that's part of the media. The problem is when this bias leads to writing things that aren't factual.
And that's why people don't like the mainstream media at all – not because it has bias, but because that bias often overrides factual reporting. This is a relatively new phenomenon.
And it looks like this trend may continue, or media organizations may realize that if they keep doing this, they will lose the trust of their audiences.
Or maybe the lesson is the reverse: if you go Very neutralYour audience may also react negatively, and try to cancel you or withdraw their contract.
Most media organisations, whether it is CNN, the New York Times or Fox News, know what their audience wants to hear. They face revolt only when they present a contrary narrative.
So consume your content carefully.
Because I know the world is scary right now, but it’s about to get even worse.
This is a guest post written by Fernando Nikolic. The opinions expressed are entirely his own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
