WE LIVE IN STRANGE AND STUPID TIMES
We live in
strange and stupid times. The current uproar about ‘fake’ news and how to
protect ourselves from it really leaves one wondering about mental capacities.
First of all,
how does anyone come to the conclusion that ‘news’ is an objective and/ or sacred
thing? Does C. Wright Mills’ ‘The Power Elite’ (1956) ring any bells? What
about the debates over the last fifty years on the increasing concentration of
media ownership here in Australia? What passports does Rupert Murdoch currently
hold and is his home in the New World or the Old Dart?
To assume that
news ‘providers’ connect with indisputable truths is insane. The media has
jettisoned its role as the fourth estate and it hasn’t taken the social media
platforms to highlight this development. That role was dead long ago.
Secondly, if
facebook is going to flag potential fake stories on its newsfeeds, the obvious
place to start is on the punters’ status updates. I’ve never seen as many
‘happy’ people as those that exist here on facebook. They ‘love’ their
families, they hate cancer, they’re role models, they take pictures of
themselves, they visit exotic places, they piss champagne and they adore
dolphins covered in soothing aloe. I guess that if you regard ‘happiness’ as a
commodity, you sure as hell better get some and spruik it here.
Activate the scanners, I say. But don’t ever think
that any of this is news.
Posted on f/b on 20 December 2016.
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