Initial Post on Media Populism

INTERNET POINTILLISM

Read what's on the Internet -- blogs, personal websites, etc. -- and you see that the average person out there has already come pretty close to matching the expertise of the media experts, in many cases. And in some cases, the bloggers know more than the experts. Access to the pages of big-name newspapers and magazines is guarded by gatekeepers who close ranks around their friends, relatives, like-minded people who share their viewpoints, and people who devote more time to style than to substance. Sports radio callers can tell you about middle relief pitchers' tendencies, and commentators on discussion forums can question football play-calling -- save for the jackasses who curse out the opposing team's players, the collective intelligence of the populus vastly exceeds that of the experts. While John Madden was telling a Super Bowl audience that the New England Patriots should sit on the ball at the end of regulation, against the Rams, plenty of members of the viewing audience (including many who have never played organized football) knew better. Most of the audience knew that it was better to try to win the game, then to play for overtime, against a team, the Rams, whose offense was heating up, at that stage in the game -- it was better to try and control the game's outcome then to play for a coin toss (to decide who gets the ball first in sudden death overtime). But Madden's error came as no surprise: the big-name media voices are always trying to convince you to avoid risk and embrace the establishment. And that is because they are part of the establishment, and the establishment is part of them.

Most of us know better, and we have more to say than the big-name media sources. The only problem now is most of us lack an audience. Everyone has a blog. But are people reading others' writings? Or have we reached the point where everyone is a potato farmer with surplus -- where everyone has too many potatoes to eat, and then tries to sell potatoes to a neighbor who also has a potato surplus? What if there is an oversupply of writers -- because writing is fun and expressive -- and an undersupply of readers? Does a tree make a noise, if its fall is documented on a blog that no one reads?

Free trade is predicated on specialization. The farmer with the potato surplus lives near someone with a tomato surplus, and so they exchange their goods with each other and with someone down the block who has a surplus of grapes. This depends on people making the effort not only to publish their own thoughts but also to seek out other individual voices, instead of relying on the major media outlets. And people are doing this -- because the major media outlets are too biased, in favor of their own interests. These outlets are all centrally owned by a few conglomerates that have vested interests on almost all matters of public interest. The major outlets are homogenized -- reflecting stale, predictable viewpoints. They try to play on the audience's emotions and prejudices, without even mixing in objectivity or self-awareness. The mainstream sources don't reflect segments of the population who have other primary careers outside of journalism, even though other primary careers provide invaluable perspective. The mainstream sources don't represent people with viewpoints that are less conventional but more interesting and innovative than that in the tryannical majority. Yet technology is a great equalizer. Computer hackers are taken by the government and brought in-house. And now movies can be made with videocameras and editing software. The smartest people among the major media outlets will take part in the great proliferation of voices -- they will find their next hit singers from obscure music websites. The smartest executives will listen to their audiences instead of trying to exploit them. They will ride the new wave of information, and recognize that they can't control it. The era of expert dominance in media is over. But don't take my word for it. Ask your neighbor.