(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
"The medium is the message" is the main thesis of a book published in 1964 with the title Understanding Media: The Extensions of ManThe book made the Canadian communication theorist Marshall McLuhan famous. He prophesied that the most important message will be the medium itself, whether it concerns Shakespeare, shampoo, or schizophrenia.
Swiss Roger de Weck confirms McLuhan's relevance in the book The principle of nevertheless ("The principle after all"). He speaks with authority, as a publicist, moderator, former CEO of the Swiss radio and television company SRG and former editor-in-chief of the German weekly newspaper Die ZEIT. His basic idea: "Journalism influences the conditions for democracy – the political culture, the objectivity of the debate and the quality of opinion formation, the citizens' desire to learn, their more or less pronounced community spirit and motivation for unity.
« Journalism affects the prerequisites for democracy – the political culture, the objectivity of the debate and the quality of opinion formation, the citizens' desire to learn, their more or less pronounced community spirit and motivation for unity.
The formulation defines a journalistic ideal in which reporters seek information, verify, analysisprioritizes, sorts, explains and actualizes – in contrast to where they per digitalboulevardisering erodes and flattens the media landscape. A sprawling battle for attention, Weck maintains, ultimately threatens not only quality journalismone, but the very democratic foundation. This cultural pessimismNow he writes with all the elegance and expertise a skilled writer has acquired throughout his life. And with quotes. Elon Musk wrote an X-post on March 31, 2023 that was read by 122,4 million people: "If you don't like reality, just ignore it."
Populism and disinformation
De Weck lists the status quo: Authoritarian populism abounds, disinformation and fake news as well. The more “breaking news”, the less “breaking” it is. There are more media, but fewer and fewer funds for journalism. Publishers, newspaper editors and TV stations are trying to compensate for shrinking budgets with surface communication, clickbait og Life
coaching, besides exhausting mass-produced crime "soap operas". Thus, they give free points to populistone, which uses the same stylistic devices: scandalization, arousal and imitation – something that politicians exploit. According to a scientific media observatory in Pavia, post-fascist Georgia created Meloni 'a pluralistic system' in Italy to her own taste. Shortly after she took office, 70 percent of TV news was said to have been 'court reporting'.
Reporters Without Borders, which publishes annual rankings for press freedom, has placed Norway in first place since 2017.
The regional press is particularly struggling. In the United States, the declining economic base has led to 70 million residents living in so-called media deserts, after which their level of knowledge and democratic participation declines. In addition, there is an alarming talent flightJournalism is no longer one of the well-paid, attractive industries. As a result, young people with ambitions are looking for other industries.
'After all'
But we also see that the principle 'despite everything' can work. In Sweden, the conservative Svenska Dagbladet survived for a long time as the third largest opinion media in the Swedish social democracy, also thanks to a previously independent media council. Reporters Without Borders, which publishes annual rankings of press freedom, has placed Norway in first place since 2017. In German-speaking Europe, the highly respected publishing group Die ZEIT has strengthened its foundation and increased its readership. In addition, we have shining journalistic role models: Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the reporters from The Washington Post who uncovered the Watergate scandal and in 1973 was awarded the Pulitzer Prize – one of the highest honors for achievements in journalism, literature and music. More recently, the revelations surrounding the film producer Harvey Weinstein, which also resulted in a Pulitzer Prize for The New York Times journalists Jodi Kantor, Megan Twohey and Ronan Farrow – and which in 2018 inspired MeToomovement.
Source of investigation
Social media is a jungle telegraph, where lies reportedly spread six times faster than verified information. But, and de Weck also admits, the internet can be a source of investigation with startling results. Here the independent network Bellingcat in the top league. They use open source intelligence (Open Source) when analyzing information from public sources such as videos, photos, satellite images, social media, and official documents. They do downright detective work, such as when they exposed the poisoning of opposition politician Alexei #3Navalny by Russian intelligence.
Donald Trump threatened Mark Zuckerberg that he would "spend the rest of his life in prison if he did anything illegal around the election."
Regardless of what we think or want – the transition from tangible product to digital services is a paradigm shift that has changed the fundamental attitude towards journalism. Roger de Weck maintains the importance of journalists' self-discipline: press ethics, source criticism, thoroughness and transparency. Difficult enough, in the midst of media crossfire, haste and a weak economy. The regulation of social media should offer a medicine against the decline in public opinion formation. The EU is gaining approval with its Digital Services Act og The Digital Markets Act, with the aim of developing Social Media to a foundation in democracy. De Weck defines: “Alongside press As the fourth state power, these now form the fifth.
Less and less disinformation and hate mails is deleted.
In the meantime, this foundation has received another shot in the arm. After the major American media mogulThe fall of one knee to a rabid president with personal interests as his political guideline has made the hill even steeper. The European facts checkthe system and code of practice is hanging by an even thinner thread. Less and less disinformation and hate mails is deleted. In August, de Weck says, Donald Trump threatened Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg that he would “spend the rest of his life in prison if he did anything illegal around the election.” After Trump’s election victory, Zuckerberg declared that he would end his cooperation with fact-checkers, calling them “censors.”
'Digital tax' on online advertising
Roger de Weck laments the 'bleeding out' of professional journalists. They emigrate to PR agencies, press agencies, think tanks or foundations. He asks: "Is the press still an institution?" He has no explicit answer, but quotes the Briton Jonathan Foster, who is said to have admonished his journalism students at Sheffield University: "When one says it's raining and another says it's dry outside, it's not your job to quote both. Your fucking job is to look out the window and find out who is right.”
Media institutions with a social mission are necessarily dependent on state and municipal support. Similar to what is due to roads, schools and hospitals. This state obligation is logical and invariable. The mission is aimed at improving the quality of journalism, updating and revising state media institutions. It should contribute to supporting press freedom, international cooperation and cultural exchange. The funds, the author adds, can also be obtained from independent institutions – in addition to, for example, a 'digital tax' on online advertising.
By the way – not only journalists, but also us readers and 'clickers' can exercise self-discipline. As consumers of journalism, we can improve or worsen it. It is not only up to others to re-evaluate McLuhan's claim to rewrite it as "the message of the medium is content (again)".
