We’re actually cooked as a nation. We have like an entire half of the population that live in a completely different reality and because there’s only two sides they get to pretend like their opinions are equally valid. It’s actually insane.
It is helpful to continually remind yourself that the people who voted for Trump, who respond to polls, who you see in outrage media are not actually "an entire half of the population" - they are, at most, roughly one third of voters. That is still bad, but convincing yourself that it's actually "half" leads to giving up which doesn't help anything. They're not half. They're barely even 30% at their largest, most generous. That is pretty consistent with...History. There will always be a portion of a populace who will simply never change their beliefs because they do not care about truth, about facts, or about other people. The good news is that we are not obligated to cater to them, and the more people who realize these people really are a social minority, and not "half", and realize that these people are ignorant, hateful, and spiteful by choice and not by trick...The more will realize these folks can be morally marginalized to contain the harms they cause.
@@franjkav+ Unfortunately, our stupidity as a country can influence other countries in the worst ways possible. Our collapse is imminent, but I hope others will realize our dire mistakes and make the right choices. For us citizens stuck here, I just hope whatever happens, happens quick. I don't wish to have my suffering needlessly dragged out.
@@Jesayou+ I really hope so, I’m just not optimistic because I’m disabled and having to possibly face a future where I may have to flee my home to an unfamiliar place to avoid death. Climate change is another beast entirely but it’s not as imminent as the threat I may be facing in another 1-5 years. Going to vote blue to buy time, but ultimately I hope people realize what’s happening and implement positive change before it’s too late.
Friendly reminder for whenever Michael Cohen comes up - after he became one of the hundreds of people who left Trump’s administration/personal team and publicly denounced him, he decided to write a book about Trump. The DOJ tried to make him sign a new gag order that specifically prevented him for publishing or promoting his book, and when he questioned it, the Feds literally showed up at his door, arrested him, and threw him in prison. It was such an egregious 1st amendment violation that a federal judge literally ordered his immediate release by writ of Habeas Corpus, something almost unheard of on the federal level. Just remember that any time a Trump supporter talks about “free speech” and how “the left” wants to get rid of the 1A or whatever. It is LITERALLY a matter of court record that Trump committed the most egregious 1st amendment violation to an individual citizen in presidential history, and it’s not close. The only reason Cohen couldn’t sue Trump afterwards and garnered much bigger headlines, is that the court ruled that his immediate release from federal prison was enough compensation. It’s not that Trump wouldn’t have been liable, he absolutely would’ve, that’s not even disputed by the judge.
Hey, free speech is NOT a right wing talking point, after all the censors were ALWAYS mostly on the right, now it’s bipartisan. There needs to be bipartisan support for free speech.
@@jordancanter1958 How is it now bipartisan? How is the left attacking free speech? It seems like some people just default to "both sides" when it becomes undeniable that certain behavior is coming from the right.
@@jordancanter1958true, but the right loves to pretend that they advocate for free speech - because they want to be allowed to say hateful and gross things without anyone thinking less of them for it.
The way the concepts of 'media literacy', 'critical thinking', and 'nuance' are now starting to be misused to describe any conclusion anyone else gets to that is different from the accuser's has been so incredibly frustrating to witness. Somehow going towards "common sense" territory lol.
Yeah, right? Whenever these buzz-words fly around recently, I immediately start building up pre-rage because I've come to expect yet another low-level attempt at manipulating the narrative towards [insert tribal group]'s favor, disingenuous at best if not maliciously motivated entirely with the occasional helping of fear mongering and/or rage bait on top, for good measure. On that note, I preemptively translate: - 'media literacy' into "don't interrupt this today's sermon, I'm telling you which media to consume in good faith, the likes you are to avoid and what to make of it, for you troglodyte couldn't possibly know anything about it, and don't resist, you are being rescued!" - 'critical thinking' into "I am going to shit talk and bash aggressively anyone believing otherwise six days till Sunday but cry for the lawmakers if I personally get so much as doubted in anything I state, as this should be illegal for obviously violating my rights with abusive hate speech." - 'nuance' into "I don't care what I said yesterday, let alone last week, and trying to pin down any statement that doesn't support my current head canon is taken out of context entirely and was never meant to be taken literally (until it was) but is a matter of perspective still, as long as I can weasel out of anything that doesn't fit the current version of the Gospel that I am entitled to declare from the moral high ground." That goes equally for both your average content creator and journalists alike (read: glorified blogger).
Not quite the same but related, especially in this specific time frame: it's very important to get out and and vote, it's your duty, but if you don't vote for my personal slate of candidates you're "wasting" your vote.
@@ancogaming Maybe just another sign of modernity coming to an end. A political system breaking apart. Elite overproduction like Turchin has talked about. A competency crisis. Self-serving sophists everywhere etc.
Uhhhgggg I hate the phrase ‘common sense’ because it completely ignores the different cultural and socioeconomic playing field we all live on. Like the video argues, it’s focusing on the content rather than the context at which it exists in. Whenever I hear someone say something “that’s just common sense” I always think “yeah… but common sense for who?” Assuming that every person has the same ‘common’ experiences that result in the same ‘sensical’ approach to something will never result in understanding. You must always start at ground level. assume nothing, learn everything.
@@dycedargselderbrother5353you only waste your vote if you vote for someone you know can’t win. So if you vote independent as even if you’re a democrat because you don’t like the democratic candidate, you didn’t really vote for the independent, you voted for the republican. This is why Russia and other foreign adversaries fund independent candidates. They know democrats are not united the same way Republicans are. No Republican is going to vote independent. But democrats might. So if there’s an election and a foreign adversary favors an isolationist Republican, America first kind of person because it would benefit them, then it makes sense to fund independent campaigns and take away votes for a democratic candidate. That’s the frustration. But hey, if you want a Republican candidate, which normally is perfectly reasonable, then no, your vote isn’t wasted. You’re voting for someone who has a chance at winning. I don’t like the two party system, but it’s reality and pretending independents can win is a waste of a vote. Until we have a different voting system, this is how it’s going to be.
Media literacy only works if people prioritize their desire to learn above their desire to belong to a group within a group vs group paradigm. So when you attempt to teach media literacy, you are up against all the forces in media that seek to divide people into groups. Nearly all people have the capacity to think critically enough to develop media literacy, and people often display that critical thinking capacity daily in other walks of life outside socioeconomic and sociopolitical media. The tough part is getting people to prioritize that critical thinking capacity above the economic or political tribe they identify with. Identity is a key factor here. People identify with ideas and groups. If someone feels attached to a group, the criticism of that group or their ideology is perceived as an attack on the person too. A lack of media literacy is fundamentally an issue of ego, and that's difficult to uproot because ego exists for a reason. Defense of ego is a fear response, so you have to make people less fearful. The best way I know to reduce fear in a conversation is to avoid criticism and refuse to take a side. The moment you present yourself as the opposition, fear closes down the malleability of the mind. A desire to learn and reduce fear in a conversation presents itself as the Socratic Method. A desire to win a conversation presents itself as debate, which can even lead to anger and ad hominems because people are attacking each other's identity.
Just a personal anecdote. Having a long-abiding quest to be and remain media-literate, I have inadvertently isolated myself from so many of my friends in some ways, because (i think) of the subconscious response to “other” people who don’t go along with the tide, in the way that you speak of. It’s quite depressing, finding that even people you have known and loved (of all different beliefs) suddenly think less of you because you think for yourself, and question even the things that are supposed to be “on our side.” I probably didn’t explain myself well here, but I hope my meaning can be discerned.
@@creatrixZBD Same. I've had to stop being friends with people because they couldn't be bothered to listen to someone that actually knew what they were talking about. I've had to ditch friends who claimed they were paying attention to politics, and yet they didn't know who to vote for. I realize my bar for "paying attention" is a little high, but come the hell on. 😮💨
@@creatrixZBD As the fence-sitting empathy advocate that I am, there are always similarities to be found, as well as deeper common denominators causing the disagreements between belief systems. For example, in the abortion debate, pro-lifers support the bodily autonomy of the fetus and pro-choicers support the bodily autonomy of the mother. Beyond that, it's also worth asking why we are getting abortions in the first place, and there are relevant economic factors that play into it. Those economic factors effect people on both sides of the debate well beyond realms of abortion. But if we prioritize our identity with abortion ideologies, we surrender organizational capacity in the economy. When you understand the perspectives of all sides and the nuance that lies in between two opposing belief systems, this positions you to be a mediator between groups. The best way I've found to play that role is to highlight similarities in the fear-driven thought patterns that dominate both perspectives. In other words, almost without exception, opposing groups are attempting to diminish their fears. They just disagree on how to do it. If you can create consensus around the desired emotional outcome that everyone is seeking, then you can create mutually empathy. It's a lot easier to find compromise when you're in an empathetic state of mind. If you're not mediating and you're only conversing with one group or individual (perhaps a friend who thinks less of you than they used to), then the best strategy might be to avoid giving credit to the extreme opposition. Instead, just meet people where they're at, and then challenge the _margins_ of people's beliefs. Don't try to force individuals to feel the full spectrum of empathy for their opposition at one time. This can be tricky. You could play devil's advocate, except you don't necessarily want to advocate for the most radical devil you can think of. My priority isn't to tell people what they want to hear just to maintain a friendship, nor do I believe in telling people exclusively what they don't want to hear to try to force a new mindset on them (perhaps at the cost of a friendship). I prefer to be playful with people, and I hope they return the playfulness as well. Compliment the way they think, then challenge something else, then compliment again, then change the topic. Changing the topic is a key step in this process. They may even change the topic themselves. Do not overestimate the energy people have for heavy discussions. Some people have more mental fortitude than others. You wouldn't force someone to run a marathon if they've never ran a 5k, right? I believe this is how we best learn. When we spend too much effort trying to please or change people, we get more resistant to change. If you've lost a friend or it seems like you're in the process of losing one, don't give up on them. Call or message them on a weekly basis and make it clear the you have no intention of holding a grudge. If they hold that grudge, that's their choice. I choose not to hold grudges or to be burdened by the grudges others hold against me, because I've learned through my experience that it will inevitably turn into a grudge against myself. That's a recipe for self-destruction, but then again, we may all need a taste of self-destruction to learn the lesson. "And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us."
@@limitisillusion7 Have you gotten a chance to read through some of Project 2025 yet? Used to be like you. I wanted to believe that everybody had a point, even if I didn't personally agree. Now, though? Some policies simply lead to more harm than others. I think supporting policies that provably lead to more harm is wrong. I do not respect people who won't even hear about how damaging the policies they support are.
I think the reason people turn to media literacy as the problem is because it’s the only one that holds the individual responsible. It’s easier to blame other people when you’re constantly being pitted against each other instead of the millions of problems in every system in this country. Systems that refuse to be fixed by the only ones benefiting from them.
Also it's cope for intellectuals who want to think that by knowing enough, being an intellectual hygienist, you will become immune to propaganda. They almost want to refuse the power of emotions and get to a point of rationality over everything.
no, its the complete opposite. They want to blame a systemic lack of education rather than a very purposeful ignorance of reality to get otherwise abhorrent things done. It always circles back to the misunderstanding that huge portions of the country are simply ignorant instead of actively malicious. Hanlon's razor was always a load of shit designed to prevent good people from enacting justice.
"Fixed" as it is not working as intended? It's 2025 and we are still thinking that system as a whole is not at fault here? Come on, that's not even funny
It's like mushroom picking. Doesn't matter if you can ID all the bad types of shrooms that'll end you if there's nothing but bad shrooms growing. Need to make sure the good shrooms exist. Need to feed the good sources of news, not just the ones you agree with, nor the ones that only cover the topics you care about, the ones that are generally factual and less click-baity.
Funny you said that right after I looked at my mushroom trucker hat I bought at a mushroom festival haha. I enjoy the mushrooms of language and I enjoy listening to people discussing language and media.
The mushrooms are the storm of the capital of the human brain man like mushrooms dude are the citizen Kane of the brain bruh, I just looked at my ceiling and the little spikes looked like a mushroom woah it's like synchronicity of our souls, peace brothers, we're all one, on this earth my friends
The thing about that story with Larry is... you can't CONVINCE someone to trust what they distrust. It's impossible, straight up. If one is rooted in their beliefs, NOTHING short of a sudden epiphany will get them out of the mire they found themselves in. When truth becomes something you aren't able to assess correctly due to your fear of being misled, nothing will save you. The true death of intelligence is when you can't accept the knowledge other provide to you, even if they present you with compelling proof. One can't learn what they think they already know.
I completely agree. We can’t know everything. That’s why we have society. We specialize in a certain trade or field of knowledge and then we trust each other to cover the rest. People don’t trust institutions anymore. It’s this amalgamation of total confusion about independent thinking and rationality and bias and whatever else. All of these are real phenomena that all of us are told to be aware of. But we run into this issue where people don’t apply this to themselves, only to external sources. This is why psychology can be so frustrating. People go into psychology and they learn about it and then they use it to dismiss or patronize the people in their lives instead of using it to improve themselves. They can see the bias or the parent issues or the lack of empathy in their family members and they criticize them constantly for it, but they can’t use that knowledge to better themselves which was the entire point. Everyone does this including me so I’m not special or anything. But it becomes a massive problem in a democracy because believe it or not, we have the power to vote. It’s good to think critically. It’s good to be an independent thinker, but most people are trash at this. That’s why we have institutions and norms and rules. Even experts are bad at this even when they’re talking about their speciality. The mistake people make is that they realize that even institutions suffer from bias like group think or confirmation bias or capture, but they refuse to see how much worse their own personal biases are in comparison especially because there are no rules or norms or consequences for believing the wrong thing and that’s before you take into account that they aren’t experts.
Ask yourself *why* people choose to deny the facts. You assume it's due to the "death of intelligence," but that ignores a host of other factors (poverty, income inequality, the bigotry of the educated class). I understand. I felt the same way until I read Thomas Frank's work. Check out "The People, No." The problem ain't the stupids. It's the Democratic party selling out to corporations and broligarchs.
@@scottkidder9046 The thing is experts can also be wrong. So you get to square 1 when that happens and it happened many times with severe consequences. Not to mention media lied or pushed agendas such as "Video games cause violence" and "Punks are satanists and they should be isolated". Experts aren't immune to corruption either in some cases so questioning becomes the norm because someone wanted to be greedy or chosen what public is allowed to know without their knowledge. No wonder it falls you can't build a system with secrets because then distrust become inevitable. The distrust becomes a weakness.
youll never progress if you think those people are worth teaching. You have no idea how their distrust is ultimately purposeful. Stop pretending that people are just stupid when in reality they just want abhorrent things and cant justify them with modern morality. The stupidity falls out from the contradiction, but they know that already.
I'm a media scholar and I like this essay. It gives a good background on two areas in media studies using language geared toward overly online people. I might share with my students. Subscribed!
Love to hear it! Thanks for your support and encouragement. Tried to balance my time spent studying this stuff in university with terminology used in the popular culture
I've recently read Manufacturing Consent in another language and the translator's note stated that the book is not a significant work in the field which I didn't want to believe. The content of the book seemed relevant and I heard it mentioned again and again in video essays, podcasts, lectures. It might not have been a very prominent work when it was translated 20 years (or so) ago but boy, is it prominent now!
Sorry, it was VERY prominent in the field 20-30 years ago when I was at uni! That note may say a lot about the translator's political views abd concerns.
The issue is language. "Significant" is so vague it requires they provide their own definition. It's certainly not influenced journalism itself. But it's a key text for media criticism. When something is as fundamentally broken as "journalism", Media criticism is Media Literacy. The only responsible position is "this doesn't work", followed by some framework that includes profits, consolidation, commercialization, and corporateization. *It's never been adequate and now it's broken completely*.
I've constantly been bombarded with people I know taking the stance that "Everything is made up, nothing is true, therefore the media I prefer to believe is correct is the true one because it's no more or less provable than anyone else's." Leading to this kind of... vibes-based reporting. "Yeah, [XYZ Group] totally did that, because of course they would, that sounds like a thing that would happen." When the values of those groups are, themselves, strawmen imagined in that person's head. I hate it so much.
You literally described the Russian misinformation campaign. It's the same exact tactic Putin uses to dominate Russia and Trump was more than eager to take on the tactic. Remember 'alternative facts'?
it's made me realize that the isolationist moonshiners truly the happier life sit in a shack in the woods and make moonshine. don't have to deal with nobody or they're bullshit none of that dramatic groupthink
I think this is an important topic. I feel like the media literacy line is a very "bootstrap" approach to the issue ignoring any chance of regulatory or structural reform
There should be reform but media literacy needs a huge up too. People need to be responsible just as much as the systems that govern them. Same idea as with kids and parenting. There need to be systematic regulations to protect those children but so to do the parents need to raise their children correctly else none of it works.
@@isaac6077 I don’t think misinformation is an ideological issue if I’m understanding you properly. If your consuming information made by bad actors to mislead you, your not being ideological, your being duped. Sorry to tell you the truth is the truth and ideology may paint a slightly different picture with the facts but… facts still facts
Good point. Its just like recycling. We have way too much trash because of cheap single use packaging, so they gaslight people into believing they're the problem. I know, Yada Yada we've all heard about it before. But it is very true
@@iago9711 It's kind of true though. I've seen people throwing shit everywhere until government came in and punished those who do that. Country like Poland did this and it's way more cleaner. It's not immune to corruption but it is noticeably cleaner. And here is a question. How do you think such country became so clean? By: A) Punishing the trashers that throw shit everywhere. B) By punishing the companies that trash the water. C) Both.
I think a voluntary ethics code for content creators and independent media is an awesome idea. Look at how powerful the creative commons was at shaping the conversation around copyright. You should reach out to Doctorow and see if he's interested
OK I’m pretty irony poisoned. Is this sincere? I love CC and use it, but I struggle to see how it’s like… been effective. Especially against the tide of terrible we face. Love Doctorow though
@@paradigmshift7758 totally sincere. I think the CC has been hugely effective in shaping the conversation around copyright and fair use in a way that everyone can access. It's not a complete solution, but it's accessible in a way that's critical for mass adoption. Would an independent ethics code fix fox news? Not even a little. But it would get people on the same page in expecting certain basic standards of accuracy or accountability, without the quagmire of comprehensive legislation
@@AbeFroman-s7k I’m a cynical, broken old man (I’m in my 30s, hahaha) but I’m onboard! I’d love to see/read more about the impact of CC, if you have any.
@AbeFroman-s7k I have to wonder if a Voluntary " ethics code would be effective. It seems that if content creators are willing to and are currently putting out garbage, with no regard for whether it's morally or ethically acceptable, the promise that they'll suddenly follow any code would be suspect.
I remember an incident when I was a child where I bought these toy dragons that came in eggs, but the dragon came apart at their limbs right and the eggs only fit the disassembled dragons. The Ads made me think that the fully assembled dragon fit in the egg and I was so distraught, crying and making a scene, when I couldn't fit the assembled dragons in the eggs. The idea that people would just lie to me or misrepresent themselves to me was so upsetting that I still remember it almost twenty years later. Idk if that's was the initial trigger or not, but as an adult I'm really quite hostile towards ads, propaganda, misrepresentations, and all other acts against Truth. Interestingly, this hostility and suspicion towards obvious mistruths doesn't fully protect me because, well, if you know it's probably bs of-course you're not going to believe it.
My analog will be going to McDonald's with my grandpa and seeing the bigmac on a billboard on the way, so i naturally wanted one. When i opened it, my disappointment was immeasurable, but he simply told me to not expect people to be truthful, when they're selling me something.
@@HesTheDummyNotMe I get that's when Lippman wrote his piece about slander/libel and newspapers lying, but is there a specific consequence you're referring to in that time period?
@@dairebulson7122 If I had to guess, Weimarer Republik, weak government, crippling debt, inflation aaaand enter the Austrian hobby painter from Braunau am Inn... that maybe.
“Eating the cats and dogs” was disinformation, not misinformation. I learned how to tell the difference between the two in a college media literacy class.
I'm wondering if health literacy can be a useful analogy here in the sense that there are lots of public health materials, media and campaigns to help people develop health literacy and make decisions, but there are also enforced legal limits on the health claims that can be made in media. Your experience with Larry and his retrenchment when being confronted with facts reminded me of a story told by a journalist in a recent episode of Brian Reed's new podcast Question Everything 'The Journalist and the Firefighter' which ended with the journalist leaving the profession.
I actually did my college capstone in Health Communication Campaigns. I think there’s ENORMOUS overlap but it’s not the field I work in or preoccupy myself with anymore! Also - love Brian Reed
health literacy in a culture thats deemed 99% of the human species subhuman is kind of ironic.... i have yet to meet a well off person who can even say the words "no labor is worth killing the laborer"
Whenever somebody talks about an undisclosed "They're trying to control you" or "They're keeping this from you" and constantly never explain who the "They" are, and never can meaningfully show how this "They" benefits other than by just claiming that "They're power hungry" for Power's Sake, and no actual Material Benefits beyond that. The "They" are always plausibly blamed for everything, but without showing any connection to the things "They" are being blamed for. Conspiracism thrives on nonspecific assertions peppered with hyper specific details, scapegoats are often washed in this nonsense.
"They" often means Jewish people, despite there being no evidence to prove it. Antisemitism and the fear of a cabal of demons runs deep in the fascist mindframe.
Always a worthy watch/listen. Wishing you steady growth. "Funny" how individual responsibility is so often touted as the answer these days (use less polluting packaging, use less carbon-emitting fuels ... but not using plastic packaging means spending time you don't have to shop & cook, etc responsibly, & walking & cycling are not a safe way to travel in many cities). But, as you mentioned, systemic fixes can be hijacked by bad actors no matter our intentions in setting them up. Change is definitely needed. How do we achieve it when the current ecology has been created by so much power & money? I'm glad more & more people are talking about all the ways our current systems are failing us. A definitive answer still seems out of reach.
after working as a groundskeeper for half a year and picking up trash over the majority of a 2 square mile amount of land, i learned that there's most likely over 1 million tons of trash thrown on the ground just within eurocentric countries each and every day... all of these problems are systemic and are eurocentric induced problems. nothing can be done until we recognize and adjust who is able to tell others what to do. right now europe controls the fate of everyone outside of china. europe is the place that reaps most of the reward from the atrocities committed against the human species. but most well off people cant get over their emotional attachment to eurocentric culture enough to even begin to admit this..
The solution is criminal negligence. Conspiracies to undermine public health or elections aren't victimless. There is no specific right to lie, defraud, mislead when the perpetrator knows the outcome and knows they are lying.
I really liked to connection you drew between data harvesting and the dangers it brings. I once told my friends I was concerned about online privacy and big tech companies keeping so much information on every user, but their mind only went to right-wing radicalization. Because of this and other experiences, I feel like protecting your data is a sore point in left-leaning folks, so thank you for making it clear that it should concern us all!
it's also been very much including anti-religion you simply cannot talk the most basic of theology with an atheist (antitheist) only the secular agnostic will respect a "oh so you worship the same God. That's amazing brother." The atheist claims "if sky daddy real why bad thing happen" but the agnostic says "I understand why people do this and I respect it. I just do not know my path"
Secular Agnosticism is the only true way to actually experience logic and reason within debate atheists simply can't. their dogma of "there is no God he does not exist" is inherently a polarizing opinion one that does not have an opinion of God is able to form a neutral opinion of Theology and Thought. the atheist can't.
@@nxtvim2521If you are not convinced by the evidences that are presented to you about God, you are an atheist. Anything beyond that differs people to people. You are strawmanning atheists
39:53 That's literally what public service broadcasting is, which is actually an important part of the media landscape in most countries other than the US...
I teach a college course titled "Living in An Internet World" that is in many ways an introduction to media ecology. As has been said below this video is a really good, accessible introduction and I will be sharing it with my students this semester. I didn't see any books by Neil Postman (considered by some to the father of media ecology) in your stack. For anyone interested Postman's _Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business_ , is still worth a reading as an introduction thinking about media as ecology.
Hey! I actually did read Amusing Ourselves to Death for this video, but I didn’t end up using any direct citations. GREAT recommendation for folks that find this in the comments along with Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, and The Bias of Communication
No, no! ITS NOT ABOUT ATTACK ON TITAN. This video is very serious and about news. I’ve never watched anime. I totally didn’t use two of the manga as props in this video. I’m not a nerd
@@HesTheDummyNotMe uh, I mean, yeah! What’s an “Attack on Titan?” I am a man who drinks beer and watches football! I don’t concern myself with such silly things!
Oh no, I've found yet another youtuber that my brain is trying to convince me is just as good for me as reading. Really like the breakdown of how cookies relate to this new landscape of information.
everything consequential that i need to know about a person can be answered with a single simple question.. "do you believe in tolerating my murder through labor induced starvation?" its the same as asking if someone believes the minimum wage should be less than what it costs to keep a human barely alive. especially in a system / culture that looks to heap copious reward on anyone willing to cause harm to poor / working people. you can determine if a person has the capacity to even humanize anyone who's life is in immediate danger or if their priorities are always going to be with furthering monarchist takeover of american culture. basically, you are treasonous if you dehumanize the majority of the american populace, at least according to unbiased analysis. everyone knows the only bias that matters is whats with the people who have power over our ability to remain alive.
It's wild to be that the value of public media is considered naive in the 21st century. Maybe I'm just old (I'm 33), but it's been incredibly clear since I was old enough to think for myself the obvious issue with privately funded media with private (i.e. inevitably corporate) interests. Conspiracy theorists who wail on about 1984 but won't support publicly funded news sources are unbelievable in their thought process.
i was learning about parse trees in my logic & computability course and the name ‘noam chomsky’ came up and i was wracking my brain to remember where i had learned the name before- this video reminded me that i had heard the name when read a chapter of manufacturing consent for the political epistemology course i was auditing so,, thanks for that
Good to catch another video! I agree Media Literacy is important but isn't the silver bullet. Systemic change is needed to help reforge the common narrative. Currently we have a system where sensationalism and "rage-baiting" tactics are heavily rewarded. It's an area where I have struggled a bit with. I go into these thoughts sort of like a chicken and egg scenario. Is it cultural and psychological behavior that is rewarding this system or is it this system which has trained the behavior? Why would we choose to watch a reality show vs. an documentary? I personally don't know. Lol - There was a bit there in the video in the video where my TH-cam addled brain kept thinking "When is the Ground News sponsorship going to drop?" Not implying you would do that but it made me laugh when I had the thought.
Always good to hear from you! You’re one of very few people who’s been here since the literal beginning lol Really hard questions to answer in the first part of your comment. If it makes you feel better, I think about them a lot too. And omg it would be such weird 4D chess to have a ground news ad here. I don’t love what they do all that much nor do I have enough clout for a sponsorship like that but that would be so funny
@@HesTheDummyNotMewhat’s wrong with what they do? yeah they use AI but it’s not the kind that steals from artists and all the articles the AI uses as info are available right under the AI headline. I’ve only ever noticed a few times where the AI headline misunderstood the articles, but that’s why you actually have to read into things. Often real headlines contain lies and misunderstandings aswell.
Walter Lippmann wasn't really criticizing censorship. His belief was that media should be used to control the opinion of the population ("bewildered herd") because they're a bunch of dummies. It's just that he thought it should be done by good (liked by him) people for good reasons not bad (disliked by him) people for bad reasons. He was really one of the key architects of today's media landscape.
Yeah the reason I bring him into this discussion isn’t because he’s a saint, it’s because he recognized that a media ecosystem is composed of constitutive political decisions. I think it’s a stretch to say he is a key architect of today’s system, given some of the key shifts since ~1980, but I agree he was very influential in this respect
As a parent, I have never been shy about telling my kids that advertisers want their money, and that certain TH-cam channels are trash because they only care about views and revenue. Anytime I told my kids that what they were watching was bad content and why, they would eventually stop watching it. I am always, always encouraging them to consider the bigger picture when imbibing any media they are watching. That message is a good message ostensibly, but what does the confines of the story assert about the world in which it was told and how does that apply to us and how do our values play into the message. They watch tons of educational channels now that they use to create their own art and science projects. They have won cosplay contests, robotics competitions, and made all kinds of drawings, digital art, video games, and crafts because of it.
The premise of this video seems questionable. I haven't seen people claiming that media literacy is the solution to this problem. It's a tool which can help.
To me, media literacy must include the ability (and propensity) to think about the informaton presented. If a graph is shown, does the scaling make sense, especially if 2 graphs are used to show similar data? "Gee, CEO's earnings haven't risen that much faster than those of everyone else. Wait - why is the salary rise for most people shown in 1% increments but the scale for CEOs is shown in 10% increments? "Since Biden took office, we've been getting a million illegal immigrants a month!" Let's think this through. The US has about 350 million people. If we've gotten 1 million illegal immigrants per month, that's 12 million per year, so 48 million illegal immigrants while Biden has been in office. How could the US increase it's size by 20% in just 4 years without massive strain on current infrastructure? The US has a huge problem with anti-intellectualism. "My opinions are just as valid as your facts." "I don't need education; I just know what's right." "Your 20 years of education and professional experience is nothing compared to my 20 minutes of TH-cam videos." Too many people believe in magical thinking, that if they think something hard enough it will become true. Until we can break people of this "I want this to be true therefore it is true" mentality, we won't get very far with media literacy.
searching after truth cannot be an individual responsibility .. it has to be collective, disciined, and supported by society, and institutions with deserved authority. Mass distribution of lies, especially dangerous ones, has to be something that society and the government should suppress and regulate.
Nice video, man. I often find issues with much of the media environment we have, at least in the US. I hardly, though, think of shifting the main focus from literacy to ecology like you said. That definitely gave me a new way of approaching the matter. Also, good message at the end. I agree that we can ultimately change the media sphere if we want. Glad I found your channel, looks like you do some cool videos!
100% agree. The internet, like the POST, should always have a government run public option: as an access provider and an set of online public services such as a "public townsquare." Corporations are free to provide alternatives; but they now must compete with the public-option which sets the floor level of service in every sector, but especially critical sectors like communication.
To be fair, the government has an incredible incentive to skew the truth. Which mine does. Constantly. For instance, I doubt government news would portray the situation regarding Israel in a factual manner.
@@DreamersOfReality you are conflating subjects. The "POST" is a carrier. The content they carry is _YOUR_ content. In the U.S.; there is a "Government Run" postal carrier service. For the most important and essential products and services, there should always be a at-cost no-frills government provided option. No one is forced to take this option; and private businesses are free to compete with this basic option. But the government should set the floor for each industry and sector... basically saying "if you can't beat our mediocrity you have no business in this business."
Media literacy is merely the very FIRST step - The second steps, equally important, include knowing truth when it's encountered, and then casting a vote for candidates who actually reflect that known truth, and will ENACT it -
I’ve been thinking a ton about the “epistemic crisis” lately. Appreciate the work you’ve done here. (My work is in political theology and… there’s a ton of media literacy required there. And media is understudied in theology) I also love your historical approach. I hope we can learn some stuff from the past.
loved the occasional shots of tucker interviewing _literal putin_ covered up by the stack of books. just a nice acknowledgement of how badly broken the previously anti-russian, post cold war american conservative has become in this age of ridiculous misinformation, wherein they actually _like_ putin 😂
The Putin defenders astound me. Dude is an ex-KGB tyrant who was aided by an oil oligarch to get his position. That should terrify the fuck out of them since those idiots are still stuck in the red scare and call everything communism, yet somehow it doesn’t.
No one is blinder than someone who will not see. I see this is as not the source, but rather an effect, of a national epidemic of copium addiction. All misinformation always has one common denominator: It tells you that you're special and that's why they're out to get you.
In case of people with Autism is true. Example? Nerds vs football players gimmick from the 90's. So it's pretty understandable, people would be wary of people who don't share empathy or see them as a meat to get out their anger at.
Brilliant -- thank you. Do you remember when articles about Critical Thinking were flooding media sites & YT? Suddenly, _everyone_ was talking about it, including people who clearly weren't practising what the preached. It was frustrating and funny in a dark sort of way. Also: you know, the printing press, which we could not do without, caused all hell to break loose, too. It's strange to derive comfort from that. Hopefully the upheaval that followed won't repeat itself (Timothy Snyder, a great & grim historian, has said: history doesn't repeat itself, it rhymes).
Bro America is so fucked, the biggest podcasters in the world deny reality and create dumb talking points that can’t be easily countered. Feels like the Whole worlds going to shit
One of the things I get from all this: ~40 years later, Neil Postman is still right. Dude was far from perfect in his opinions imo, but he's got a pretty stellar track record overall.
Two big-ish thoughts: First, it's interesting how in the same way a TH-camr is negotiating a balance between their audience, the algorithm, and sponsors, the Cable News channels are negotiating a balance between their viewers, the network providers that carry their channels, and their advertisers but at a much larger level, which could cause the lens through which they may provide their perspective. The second big thought is that as an Elder Millennial (TM), I would love to see the return of Carmen Sandiego as a modern PBS game show for an adult audience, with a focus on current political events, but weaving a very obvious satirical storyline of Carmen trying to manipulate world leaders and governments so she can take control of the world. It helps an audience that doesn't keep up on world news as well as they should, and by using conspiracy theory styled storylines, it will help the viewer to better identify similar conspiracy theories in their media consumption (hopefully).
35:20 it's not about money it's about power; the whole mass surveillance system in the west needs to go but those in power have no incentive to regulate it and corporations know that and benefit from it. Occasionally, it feels like we all have collectively forgotten what Snowden revealed - this kind of surveillance system enabling all you are talking about doesn't go away with this type of regulation because the system is designed in such a way that the regulators can only treat some of the symptoms rather than the disease itself. The same way you talk about realizing the ecology of the media landscape, the same is true for the ecology of the surveillance landscape. Both are connected in many ways and influence our collective resilience to disinformation.
I often think about what I see on social media. They make you think that you create your feed, but in reality they’re 100 steps ahead of you and the more time you spend on the app the better they get at predicting your behaviour. Now imagine how much impact they have on you, hobbies, perspectives, etc. I feel like I don’t own anything I see, TH-cam knew eventually I’d watch this video based on every video and short I’ve seen before. This isn’t even considering my google searches and what they hear on my microphone
I know to never take Tucker Carlson seriously based off of a few interviews I've seen on TH-cam where he acts like guests who are such outlandish things as trans-racial seriously. He's basically the new Jerry Springer except that we audience members are the ones he's causing to fight.
TC is significantly worse than JS. TC, and Fox News, are ideologically committed to what they are doing. They have clear agendas. This is currently demonstrated by the Murdoch court case, where Robert Murdoch is fighting to only pass on control of Fox to one of his children-the one that aligns with his ideology the most. Furthermore, we already know as a society what happens when media (particularly news media) manipulates and lies like TC and Fox.
Well done. I love the point about education not being enough to combat misinformation. I think it's a problem that needs to be solved, but the intersection of misinformation and free speech is something a lot of people are unwilling to cross. I remember seeing Joe Rogan saying you can combat bad speech with better speech, but I think a lot of the evidence presented here disproves that idea. There's too much misinformation and the playing field is designed for it.
“The medium is the message” has _always_ bothered me more than I can rationally explain. Your essay got me to soften on that stance quite a bit. I still don’t think it *IS* the message, but I can agree that it is an important, (usually) inextricable part of the message.
I honestly feel like a lot of people view their own selves as kind of a black box that takes input and produces output, and they assume that output is appropriate. They don't really know themselves, nor do they know to try to know themselves, and thus aren't really capable of being honest with themselves, and in turn can't hold an honest conversation even if they want to. Granted, I have no basis in beleiving this, other than my own feelings. The idea comes from my assumption that people are honest and sincere with me even when their statements are nonsensical.
I’ve just discovered your channel and wow. Your videos are so well researched, I did a double take at the subscriber and view count. I can’t wait to see your channel grow further!
Based on some of what you're saying I'd say media hygiene is as important as media literacy. If I can permanently mar someone's media environment by searching a single term on their browser then that's a problem. I wonder if these people ever get on a fresh browser install and briefly experience some kind of existential dissociation from the absence of an onslaught of people yelling about the woke.
31:48 My comments typically get ignored on this website, but I really felt the need to add to this topic. Does the divisive nature of advertisement really matter to a kid who just wants a toy? Even though this perspective on media is useful to a degree, it also introduces the true nature of media, which is something that we are all surrounded by at an alarming rate; we can't really escape it either. I wouldn't want to make my kid aware of any of that when they're at that stage where toys still matter to them. It's way too much.
My holy grail solution is a revolution considering the profit incentive but I enjoyed this video a lot, it was nice to know I been on the right track, and learn some extra things to help me as both a person and creator/educator. I really didn't think about search recommendations being altered to a person, and now I'm reconsidering how much I thought I didn't care about data collection. Bad enough I see video recommendations related to what I talk about on Discord.
I feel like most people should study meta-linguistics so to speak (philosophies of language e.g meta ethics, religious language, perspectives on bias and verification etc)
hi. in that study about media literacy and conspiracy theories did you happen to check what conspiracy theories they tested? Also, how likely were these supposedly media literate people to believe actual conspiracies that US agencies have actually admitted to publicly? i don't think these studies are measuring what you and they think they are measuring.
Hey, pretty nice content you've got here! Would be a shame if someone were to critically analyze only its content without considering the ecology in which it exists...
In the 90s I determined that the statement of facts in my newspaper amounted to 3 pages of space. The other 57 pages were opinion and supposition. I quit reading the paper.
I love the analysis and discussion of art. I'm always trying to figure out what the message is or what the filmmakers drew inspiration from. It is great to live in a world where people want to appreciate art.
Medium is the message but what about how the medium is advancing overnight and with no pressure to explain how… ai systems read my comment and how long I watched your video and push more content that’s the same. Been doing a ton of Marshall McLuhan study and you used key words throughout the video that directly pushed it to me. New medium, new message. But here we are discussing how we don’t even have focus and organized action on the current mediums. Shits moving at record pace and we have an elder generation that struggles with e-mail. Idk man… seems like we gatta hit some serious catastrophe to have change and then when I think about the intro topic of this video, with Larry and all… I think it may have already happened and we are speaking in the form of the “rear view mirror.”But I love the vid anyways and will be sharing with friends.
The most effective media literacy lesson for me was asking my parents to get me a fushigi when I was like 10. I don’t think I’ve ever been more disappointed, but at least I learned to never trust ads lol
To use another commenters metaphor: Finding the bad mushrooms may not matter too much in a forest full of bad shrooms, but without that knowledge, you’re only eating bad shrooms. Media literacy is absolutely necessary as it allows discernment of not only traditional media, but social media-in fact- all content. My largest concern is that, ala Neil Postman in Amusing Ourselves to Death, the medium itself is the metaphor. The way we engage with the medium defines how it changes our thinking. Media literacy, at least true media literacy that goes beyond “picking only the good mushrooms,” must content with the manipulation of attention via the stakes of the medium. The axis upon which social media spins is itself a system that we carry on our backs. We choose to be on these devices. Rather than being fed propaganda, many of us subscribe to it or pay for it via cable. If we don’t acknowledge the shortcomings of tech and the boundless individualism baked into social media as a whole, we’re only feeding algorithms and data farms. Truly, media literacy is absolutely necessary as a first step and bringing oneself outside, both figuratively and literally. It is part of any systemic outlook. I am understanding of the fact that media literacy, on its face, may seem to only target the individual. That’s not entirely true. School curriculums have been evolving for years to include broad critique of media systems. I am well aware of how that can fall short in a system where I am asked to be “impartial” (I was a teacher). However I’ve seen wisdom and genuine good thinking bring young people to critical consciousness, and no, not just for grades. Mind you, my experience is in highly social justice-focused magnet schools, so I concede it’s limited. I am digressing though: TL/Dr: that work has value.
There's an argument to be made about video essays, especially concerning history or politics about information back stepping in favour of entertainment. A good example is Johnny Harris who even though is somewhat informed about the topic, the actual history taught is often surface level in the name of creating the "narrative" of the video.
Media Literacy is useful because individual people come to their own conclusions, and they talk to each other. When people talk to each other, they exchange information, and their ideas converge slightly. So another approach to solving the issue with media literacy is to get people out of their houses and talking to each other in communities, rather than sitting at home and watching a TV news channel as the only thing that informs their opinion of the outside world.
@@larvesquareandfriends6940 It wouldn't. The extremists existed before that, however what would help is to stop media from being overtaken by the rich with ill intentions. If people didn't have TV then explain how extremes existed in nations despite TV not existing before?
When I was younger and more of a pain in the ass I would visit my parents house while they were watching television. Anytime a car ad would come on I'd shout "Buy A Car!" I knew the exercise had run its course when my folks startes getting mad at me for doing it instead of being irritated at the commercials. Still in the middle of it my mom commented "yeah I'd never realized how many there were." Fnord.
The medium analysis portion of this video highlights an argument I've been making... If all the media platforms are largely funded or owned by billionaires, then it is very important to analyze where the paycheck of the content creators comes from. Some media platforms are practically synonymous with the content creators, but there are some special cases, like TH-cam for example. TH-cam loves to promote mainstream media to new TH-cam accounts, but it also promotes channels like yours to me because it's the type of content I might watch. Still though, if I search for news, I will never get independent media recommendations. I've seen more than a couple political analyst TH-cam channels get really large, only to become servants of the more mainstream talking points, _because_ TH-cam will reward them for it. So unfortunately, money changes people sometimes. In essence, if a user caters their algorithm to reject mainstream media, TH-cam will take still take what ad revenue they can get from independent news channels. But they still have a heavy bias toward mainstream sources, both left and right. If you put Trump/Biden/Kamala in a TH-cam title, TH-cam will reward you for it. If you talk about third-parties, good luck being successful. But the lesson to learn from this is that if you want to make a difference against the media powers that be, you can't expect to be paid handsomely for it. I'm fine with that. Are you?
31:31 On this topic, I just want to bring up that I know a handful of people who seem completely oblivious of the difference between 'what they want' and 'what they are told that they want'. Its almost like an advertisement indoctrination that they seem entranced by, I really don't know why some people are so deeply affected by external influences like this, but it is very disturbing to see someone literally jonsing for every single advertisement they see as if they were a toddler in a candy shop without any degree of self reflection.
Incredible that between the two of us, we've saved media literacy 😌
I’m so proud of this community
So proud of you both
Back to brunch.
Oh ehm gee
i learned how to read from this video:)
We’re actually cooked as a nation. We have like an entire half of the population that live in a completely different reality and because there’s only two sides they get to pretend like their opinions are equally valid. It’s actually insane.
It’s not just a US problem unfortunately
It is helpful to continually remind yourself that the people who voted for Trump, who respond to polls, who you see in outrage media are not actually "an entire half of the population" - they are, at most, roughly one third of voters. That is still bad, but convincing yourself that it's actually "half" leads to giving up which doesn't help anything.
They're not half. They're barely even 30% at their largest, most generous. That is pretty consistent with...History. There will always be a portion of a populace who will simply never change their beliefs because they do not care about truth, about facts, or about other people. The good news is that we are not obligated to cater to them, and the more people who realize these people really are a social minority, and not "half", and realize that these people are ignorant, hateful, and spiteful by choice and not by trick...The more will realize these folks can be morally marginalized to contain the harms they cause.
@@franjkav+
Unfortunately, our stupidity as a country can influence other countries in the worst ways possible. Our collapse is imminent, but I hope others will realize our dire mistakes and make the right choices. For us citizens stuck here, I just hope whatever happens, happens quick. I don't wish to have my suffering needlessly dragged out.
*always has been space man meme
@@Jesayou+
I really hope so, I’m just not optimistic because I’m disabled and having to possibly face a future where I may have to flee my home to an unfamiliar place to avoid death. Climate change is another beast entirely but it’s not as imminent as the threat I may be facing in another 1-5 years. Going to vote blue to buy time, but ultimately I hope people realize what’s happening and implement positive change before it’s too late.
Friendly reminder for whenever Michael Cohen comes up - after he became one of the hundreds of people who left Trump’s administration/personal team and publicly denounced him, he decided to write a book about Trump. The DOJ tried to make him sign a new gag order that specifically prevented him for publishing or promoting his book, and when he questioned it, the Feds literally showed up at his door, arrested him, and threw him in prison. It was such an egregious 1st amendment violation that a federal judge literally ordered his immediate release by writ of Habeas Corpus, something almost unheard of on the federal level.
Just remember that any time a Trump supporter talks about “free speech” and how “the left” wants to get rid of the 1A or whatever. It is LITERALLY a matter of court record that Trump committed the most egregious 1st amendment violation to an individual citizen in presidential history, and it’s not close. The only reason Cohen couldn’t sue Trump afterwards and garnered much bigger headlines, is that the court ruled that his immediate release from federal prison was enough compensation. It’s not that Trump wouldn’t have been liable, he absolutely would’ve, that’s not even disputed by the judge.
Hey, free speech is NOT a right wing talking point, after all the censors were ALWAYS mostly on the right, now it’s bipartisan. There needs to be bipartisan support for free speech.
Yep 💯👏👏
@@jordancanter1958 How is it now bipartisan? How is the left attacking free speech?
It seems like some people just default to "both sides" when it becomes undeniable that certain behavior is coming from the right.
@@jordancanter1958true, but the right loves to pretend that they advocate for free speech - because they want to be allowed to say hateful and gross things without anyone thinking less of them for it.
@@jordancanter1958 Very few on the left support the 1st. Amendment.
When people say “we can’t legally take Tucker Carlson seriously,” this is what we mean.
who's 'we'?
@summersky77 obviously not you, maga, and russia
@@summersky77 The part of the country that doesn’t believe in things like Jewish space lasers
@@theaccountant5846 "Russian collusion" was a hoax.
@@summersky77human beings numb nuts
The way the concepts of 'media literacy', 'critical thinking', and 'nuance' are now starting to be misused to describe any conclusion anyone else gets to that is different from the accuser's has been so incredibly frustrating to witness.
Somehow going towards "common sense" territory lol.
Yeah, right?
Whenever these buzz-words fly around recently, I immediately start building up pre-rage because I've come to expect yet another low-level attempt at manipulating the narrative towards [insert tribal group]'s favor, disingenuous at best if not maliciously motivated entirely with the occasional helping of fear mongering and/or rage bait on top, for good measure.
On that note, I preemptively translate:
- 'media literacy' into "don't interrupt this today's sermon, I'm telling you which media to consume in good faith, the likes you are to avoid and what to make of it, for you troglodyte couldn't possibly know anything about it, and don't resist, you are being rescued!"
- 'critical thinking' into "I am going to shit talk and bash aggressively anyone believing otherwise six days till Sunday but cry for the lawmakers if I personally get so much as doubted in anything I state, as this should be illegal for obviously violating my rights with abusive hate speech."
- 'nuance' into "I don't care what I said yesterday, let alone last week, and trying to pin down any statement that doesn't support my current head canon is taken out of context entirely and was never meant to be taken literally (until it was) but is a matter of perspective still, as long as I can weasel out of anything that doesn't fit the current version of the Gospel that I am entitled to declare from the moral high ground."
That goes equally for both your average content creator and journalists alike (read: glorified blogger).
Not quite the same but related, especially in this specific time frame: it's very important to get out and and vote, it's your duty, but if you don't vote for my personal slate of candidates you're "wasting" your vote.
@@ancogaming Maybe just another sign of modernity coming to an end. A political system breaking apart. Elite overproduction like Turchin has talked about. A competency crisis. Self-serving sophists everywhere etc.
Uhhhgggg I hate the phrase ‘common sense’ because it completely ignores the different cultural and socioeconomic playing field we all live on. Like the video argues, it’s focusing on the content rather than the context at which it exists in. Whenever I hear someone say something “that’s just common sense” I always think “yeah… but common sense for who?”
Assuming that every person has the same ‘common’ experiences that result in the same ‘sensical’ approach to something will never result in understanding. You must always start at ground level. assume nothing, learn everything.
@@dycedargselderbrother5353you only waste your vote if you vote for someone you know can’t win. So if you vote independent as even if you’re a democrat because you don’t like the democratic candidate, you didn’t really vote for the independent, you voted for the republican. This is why Russia and other foreign adversaries fund independent candidates. They know democrats are not united the same way Republicans are. No Republican is going to vote independent. But democrats might. So if there’s an election and a foreign adversary favors an isolationist Republican, America first kind of person because it would benefit them, then it makes sense to fund independent campaigns and take away votes for a democratic candidate. That’s the frustration.
But hey, if you want a Republican candidate, which normally is perfectly reasonable, then no, your vote isn’t wasted. You’re voting for someone who has a chance at winning.
I don’t like the two party system, but it’s reality and pretending independents can win is a waste of a vote. Until we have a different voting system, this is how it’s going to be.
Media literacy only works if people prioritize their desire to learn above their desire to belong to a group within a group vs group paradigm. So when you attempt to teach media literacy, you are up against all the forces in media that seek to divide people into groups. Nearly all people have the capacity to think critically enough to develop media literacy, and people often display that critical thinking capacity daily in other walks of life outside socioeconomic and sociopolitical media. The tough part is getting people to prioritize that critical thinking capacity above the economic or political tribe they identify with. Identity is a key factor here. People identify with ideas and groups. If someone feels attached to a group, the criticism of that group or their ideology is perceived as an attack on the person too. A lack of media literacy is fundamentally an issue of ego, and that's difficult to uproot because ego exists for a reason. Defense of ego is a fear response, so you have to make people less fearful. The best way I know to reduce fear in a conversation is to avoid criticism and refuse to take a side. The moment you present yourself as the opposition, fear closes down the malleability of the mind. A desire to learn and reduce fear in a conversation presents itself as the Socratic Method. A desire to win a conversation presents itself as debate, which can even lead to anger and ad hominems because people are attacking each other's identity.
Just a personal anecdote. Having a long-abiding quest to be and remain media-literate, I have inadvertently isolated myself from so many of my friends in some ways, because (i think) of the subconscious response to “other” people who don’t go along with the tide, in the way that you speak of. It’s quite depressing, finding that even people you have known and loved (of all different beliefs) suddenly think less of you because you think for yourself, and question even the things that are supposed to be “on our side.”
I probably didn’t explain myself well here, but I hope my meaning can be discerned.
@@creatrixZBD Same. I've had to stop being friends with people because they couldn't be bothered to listen to someone that actually knew what they were talking about. I've had to ditch friends who claimed they were paying attention to politics, and yet they didn't know who to vote for. I realize my bar for "paying attention" is a little high, but come the hell on. 😮💨
@@creatrixZBD As the fence-sitting empathy advocate that I am, there are always similarities to be found, as well as deeper common denominators causing the disagreements between belief systems. For example, in the abortion debate, pro-lifers support the bodily autonomy of the fetus and pro-choicers support the bodily autonomy of the mother. Beyond that, it's also worth asking why we are getting abortions in the first place, and there are relevant economic factors that play into it. Those economic factors effect people on both sides of the debate well beyond realms of abortion. But if we prioritize our identity with abortion ideologies, we surrender organizational capacity in the economy.
When you understand the perspectives of all sides and the nuance that lies in between two opposing belief systems, this positions you to be a mediator between groups. The best way I've found to play that role is to highlight similarities in the fear-driven thought patterns that dominate both perspectives. In other words, almost without exception, opposing groups are attempting to diminish their fears. They just disagree on how to do it. If you can create consensus around the desired emotional outcome that everyone is seeking, then you can create mutually empathy. It's a lot easier to find compromise when you're in an empathetic state of mind.
If you're not mediating and you're only conversing with one group or individual (perhaps a friend who thinks less of you than they used to), then the best strategy might be to avoid giving credit to the extreme opposition. Instead, just meet people where they're at, and then challenge the _margins_ of people's beliefs. Don't try to force individuals to feel the full spectrum of empathy for their opposition at one time. This can be tricky. You could play devil's advocate, except you don't necessarily want to advocate for the most radical devil you can think of.
My priority isn't to tell people what they want to hear just to maintain a friendship, nor do I believe in telling people exclusively what they don't want to hear to try to force a new mindset on them (perhaps at the cost of a friendship). I prefer to be playful with people, and I hope they return the playfulness as well. Compliment the way they think, then challenge something else, then compliment again, then change the topic. Changing the topic is a key step in this process. They may even change the topic themselves. Do not overestimate the energy people have for heavy discussions. Some people have more mental fortitude than others. You wouldn't force someone to run a marathon if they've never ran a 5k, right? I believe this is how we best learn. When we spend too much effort trying to please or change people, we get more resistant to change. If you've lost a friend or it seems like you're in the process of losing one, don't give up on them. Call or message them on a weekly basis and make it clear the you have no intention of holding a grudge. If they hold that grudge, that's their choice. I choose not to hold grudges or to be burdened by the grudges others hold against me, because I've learned through my experience that it will inevitably turn into a grudge against myself. That's a recipe for self-destruction, but then again, we may all need a taste of self-destruction to learn the lesson. "And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us."
Exactly, it always comes out if you talk to them for long enough "this is just what I want to believe, I don't care what's true"
@@limitisillusion7 Have you gotten a chance to read through some of Project 2025 yet? Used to be like you. I wanted to believe that everybody had a point, even if I didn't personally agree. Now, though? Some policies simply lead to more harm than others. I think supporting policies that provably lead to more harm is wrong. I do not respect people who won't even hear about how damaging the policies they support are.
I think the reason people turn to media literacy as the problem is because it’s the only one that holds the individual responsible. It’s easier to blame other people when you’re constantly being pitted against each other instead of the millions of problems in every system in this country. Systems that refuse to be fixed by the only ones benefiting from them.
Also it's cope for intellectuals who want to think that by knowing enough, being an intellectual hygienist, you will become immune to propaganda. They almost want to refuse the power of emotions and get to a point of rationality over everything.
💯
no, its the complete opposite. They want to blame a systemic lack of education rather than a very purposeful ignorance of reality to get otherwise abhorrent things done. It always circles back to the misunderstanding that huge portions of the country are simply ignorant instead of actively malicious. Hanlon's razor was always a load of shit designed to prevent good people from enacting justice.
"Fixed" as it is not working as intended? It's 2025 and we are still thinking that system as a whole is not at fault here? Come on, that's not even funny
It's like mushroom picking. Doesn't matter if you can ID all the bad types of shrooms that'll end you if there's nothing but bad shrooms growing.
Need to make sure the good shrooms exist. Need to feed the good sources of news, not just the ones you agree with, nor the ones that only cover the topics you care about, the ones that are generally factual and less click-baity.
Funny you said that right after I looked at my mushroom trucker hat I bought at a mushroom festival haha. I enjoy the mushrooms of language and I enjoy listening to people discussing language and media.
The mushrooms are the storm of the capital of the human brain man like mushrooms dude are the citizen Kane of the brain bruh, I just looked at my ceiling and the little spikes looked like a mushroom woah it's like synchronicity of our souls, peace brothers, we're all one, on this earth my friends
The thing about that story with Larry is... you can't CONVINCE someone to trust what they distrust. It's impossible, straight up. If one is rooted in their beliefs, NOTHING short of a sudden epiphany will get them out of the mire they found themselves in. When truth becomes something you aren't able to assess correctly due to your fear of being misled, nothing will save you.
The true death of intelligence is when you can't accept the knowledge other provide to you, even if they present you with compelling proof. One can't learn what they think they already know.
I completely agree. We can’t know everything. That’s why we have society. We specialize in a certain trade or field of knowledge and then we trust each other to cover the rest. People don’t trust institutions anymore. It’s this amalgamation of total confusion about independent thinking and rationality and bias and whatever else. All of these are real phenomena that all of us are told to be aware of. But we run into this issue where people don’t apply this to themselves, only to external sources.
This is why psychology can be so frustrating. People go into psychology and they learn about it and then they use it to dismiss or patronize the people in their lives instead of using it to improve themselves. They can see the bias or the parent issues or the lack of empathy in their family members and they criticize them constantly for it, but they can’t use that knowledge to better themselves which was the entire point.
Everyone does this including me so I’m not special or anything. But it becomes a massive problem in a democracy because believe it or not, we have the power to vote.
It’s good to think critically. It’s good to be an independent thinker, but most people are trash at this. That’s why we have institutions and norms and rules. Even experts are bad at this even when they’re talking about their speciality. The mistake people make is that they realize that even institutions suffer from bias like group think or confirmation bias or capture, but they refuse to see how much worse their own personal biases are in comparison especially because there are no rules or norms or consequences for believing the wrong thing and that’s before you take into account that they aren’t experts.
Ask yourself *why* people choose to deny the facts. You assume it's due to the "death of intelligence," but that ignores a host of other factors (poverty, income inequality, the bigotry of the educated class). I understand. I felt the same way until I read Thomas Frank's work. Check out "The People, No." The problem ain't the stupids. It's the Democratic party selling out to corporations and broligarchs.
@@scottkidder9046 The thing is experts can also be wrong.
So you get to square 1 when that happens and it happened many times with severe consequences.
Not to mention media lied or pushed agendas such as "Video games cause violence" and "Punks are satanists and they should be isolated".
Experts aren't immune to corruption either in some cases so questioning becomes the norm because someone wanted to be greedy or chosen what public is allowed to know without their knowledge.
No wonder it falls you can't build a system with secrets because then distrust become inevitable.
The distrust becomes a weakness.
@@scottkidder9046religion, rewriting of history and propaganda leave us all bewildered.
youll never progress if you think those people are worth teaching. You have no idea how their distrust is ultimately purposeful. Stop pretending that people are just stupid when in reality they just want abhorrent things and cant justify them with modern morality. The stupidity falls out from the contradiction, but they know that already.
I'm a media scholar and I like this essay. It gives a good background on two areas in media studies using language geared toward overly online people. I might share with my students. Subscribed!
Love to hear it! Thanks for your support and encouragement. Tried to balance my time spent studying this stuff in university with terminology used in the popular culture
I've recently read Manufacturing Consent in another language and the translator's note stated that the book is not a significant work in the field which I didn't want to believe. The content of the book seemed relevant and I heard it mentioned again and again in video essays, podcasts, lectures.
It might not have been a very prominent work when it was translated 20 years (or so) ago but boy, is it prominent now!
It’s SUPER prominent… do you mind me asking the language of the translation and the edition?
Sorry, it was VERY prominent in the field 20-30 years ago when I was at uni! That note may say a lot about the translator's political views abd concerns.
It's an extremely significant and influential work on the field! What language was this?
The issue is language. "Significant" is so vague it requires they provide their own definition. It's certainly not influenced journalism itself. But it's a key text for media criticism. When something is as fundamentally broken as "journalism", Media criticism is Media Literacy. The only responsible position is "this doesn't work", followed by some framework that includes profits, consolidation, commercialization, and corporateization. *It's never been adequate and now it's broken completely*.
I've constantly been bombarded with people I know taking the stance that "Everything is made up, nothing is true, therefore the media I prefer to believe is correct is the true one because it's no more or less provable than anyone else's." Leading to this kind of... vibes-based reporting. "Yeah, [XYZ Group] totally did that, because of course they would, that sounds like a thing that would happen." When the values of those groups are, themselves, strawmen imagined in that person's head.
I hate it so much.
This is exactly how the “LGBT are child predators” thing came about
Confirmation bias
You literally described the Russian misinformation campaign. It's the same exact tactic Putin uses to dominate Russia and Trump was more than eager to take on the tactic. Remember 'alternative facts'?
it's made me realize that the isolationist moonshiners truly the happier life
sit in a shack in the woods and make moonshine. don't have to deal with nobody or they're bullshit
none of that dramatic groupthink
It's a required state for Authoritarianism. Hannah Arendt explained this 7 decades ago.
Jordan Peterson: everything is climate
Zoe Bee: everything is media
To be fair, JL Austin kind of got here first. A century ago. Performativity! Now we’re all media
me - none of them would be alive if placed within the expectations they believe others can thrive through.
Comment for the algorithm and blood for the blood God
Thanks! For the record they’re the same person
Skulls for the “killed by google” throne
@@HesTheDummyNotMe I always thought that the yt algorithm would be Tzeentch the 40k chaos god of trickery
No! The algorithm would never betray me like that!
Khorn smiles at your comment upon his throne of skulls.
I think this is an important topic. I feel like the media literacy line is a very "bootstrap" approach to the issue ignoring any chance of regulatory or structural reform
There should be reform but media literacy needs a huge up too. People need to be responsible just as much as the systems that govern them. Same idea as with kids and parenting. There need to be systematic regulations to protect those children but so to do the parents need to raise their children correctly else none of it works.
@@isaac6077 I don’t think misinformation is an ideological issue if I’m understanding you properly. If your consuming information made by bad actors to mislead you, your not being ideological, your being duped. Sorry to tell you the truth is the truth and ideology may paint a slightly different picture with the facts but… facts still facts
Good point. Its just like recycling. We have way too much trash because of cheap single use packaging, so they gaslight people into believing they're the problem. I know, Yada Yada we've all heard about it before. But it is very true
@@iago9711I feel like it’s the core of neoliberal sleight of hand. Keep saying it until people get it 😂
@@iago9711 It's kind of true though.
I've seen people throwing shit everywhere until government came in and punished those who do that.
Country like Poland did this and it's way more cleaner.
It's not immune to corruption but it is noticeably cleaner.
And here is a question.
How do you think such country became so clean?
By:
A) Punishing the trashers that throw shit everywhere.
B) By punishing the companies that trash the water.
C) Both.
Media studies professor and first time watcher. Subbed at the 15:00 minute mark. This is great!
Very flattered! Glad you enjoyed!
I think a voluntary ethics code for content creators and independent media is an awesome idea. Look at how powerful the creative commons was at shaping the conversation around copyright. You should reach out to Doctorow and see if he's interested
That is very encouraging and kind of you to suggest but also so deeply intimidating (because of my respect for him)
OK I’m pretty irony poisoned. Is this sincere?
I love CC and use it, but I struggle to see how it’s like… been effective. Especially against the tide of terrible we face.
Love Doctorow though
@@paradigmshift7758 totally sincere. I think the CC has been hugely effective in shaping the conversation around copyright and fair use in a way that everyone can access. It's not a complete solution, but it's accessible in a way that's critical for mass adoption. Would an independent ethics code fix fox news? Not even a little. But it would get people on the same page in expecting certain basic standards of accuracy or accountability, without the quagmire of comprehensive legislation
@@AbeFroman-s7k I’m a cynical, broken old man (I’m in my 30s, hahaha) but I’m onboard! I’d love to see/read more about the impact of CC, if you have any.
@AbeFroman-s7k I have to wonder if a Voluntary " ethics code would be effective. It seems that if content creators are willing to and are currently putting out garbage, with no regard for whether it's morally or ethically acceptable, the promise that they'll suddenly follow any code would be suspect.
I remember an incident when I was a child where I bought these toy dragons that came in eggs, but the dragon came apart at their limbs right and the eggs only fit the disassembled dragons. The Ads made me think that the fully assembled dragon fit in the egg and I was so distraught, crying and making a scene, when I couldn't fit the assembled dragons in the eggs. The idea that people would just lie to me or misrepresent themselves to me was so upsetting that I still remember it almost twenty years later.
Idk if that's was the initial trigger or not, but as an adult I'm really quite hostile towards ads, propaganda, misrepresentations, and all other acts against Truth. Interestingly, this hostility and suspicion towards obvious mistruths doesn't fully protect me because, well, if you know it's probably bs of-course you're not going to believe it.
I screenshotted this to reference later, thanks for sharing a great example
My analog will be going to McDonald's with my grandpa and seeing the bigmac on a billboard on the way, so i naturally wanted one. When i opened it, my disappointment was immeasurable, but he simply told me to not expect people to be truthful, when they're selling me something.
"has any of this ever happened before?"
"in 1922..."
me: oh shit...
Damn right
There are at least a handful of parallels of the early 1900s we are currently experiencing or heading towards…
@@HesTheDummyNotMe I get that's when Lippman wrote his piece about slander/libel and newspapers lying, but is there a specific consequence you're referring to in that time period?
pandemic, the 1% holding most of the wealth, heading towards a world War, rise in propaganda and misinformation, fighting for women's rights, ect...
@@dairebulson7122 If I had to guess, Weimarer Republik, weak government, crippling debt, inflation aaaand enter the Austrian hobby painter from Braunau am Inn... that maybe.
“Eating the cats and dogs” was disinformation, not misinformation. I learned how to tell the difference between the two in a college media literacy class.
One is planted, the other spread.
Weird, I learned to tell the difference between cats and dogs in like pre-school.
@@KnowPiracy-zu7ilunderrated comment lol
@@KnowPiracy-zu7il This shouldn't be this funny
I'm wondering if health literacy can be a useful analogy here in the sense that there are lots of public health materials, media and campaigns to help people develop health literacy and make decisions, but there are also enforced legal limits on the health claims that can be made in media. Your experience with Larry and his retrenchment when being confronted with facts reminded me of a story told by a journalist in a recent episode of Brian Reed's new podcast Question Everything 'The Journalist and the Firefighter' which ended with the journalist leaving the profession.
I actually did my college capstone in Health Communication Campaigns. I think there’s ENORMOUS overlap but it’s not the field I work in or preoccupy myself with anymore! Also - love Brian Reed
health literacy in a culture thats deemed 99% of the human species subhuman is kind of ironic.... i have yet to meet a well off person who can even say the words "no labor is worth killing the laborer"
yup another example of how rich people can get away with anything, another banger by my boy
🫡 thanks
Marx discovering historical materialism:
OSAKER
i always knew osaka was a socially aware icon 🙏🏽
Whenever somebody talks about an undisclosed "They're trying to control you" or "They're keeping this from you" and constantly never explain who the "They" are, and never can meaningfully show how this "They" benefits other than by just claiming that "They're power hungry" for Power's Sake, and no actual Material Benefits beyond that. The "They" are always plausibly blamed for everything, but without showing any connection to the things "They" are being blamed for. Conspiracism thrives on nonspecific assertions peppered with hyper specific details, scapegoats are often washed in this nonsense.
"They" often means Jewish people, despite there being no evidence to prove it. Antisemitism and the fear of a cabal of demons runs deep in the fascist mindframe.
@kungfuvinny4031 If open discussion on the subject was allowed, people wouldn't have to say "they".
@@fredgarvinMPLet me guess: the jews stole your lollipop?
That's because the "they" in this case is almost always Jewish people, as a lot of these conspiracies have antisemitic logical end conclusions.
@fredgarvinMP and it's usually because you're targeting a minority and not the uber wealthy.
Always a worthy watch/listen. Wishing you steady growth.
"Funny" how individual responsibility is so often touted as the answer these days (use less polluting packaging, use less carbon-emitting fuels ... but not using plastic packaging means spending time you don't have to shop & cook, etc responsibly, & walking & cycling are not a safe way to travel in many cities). But, as you mentioned, systemic fixes can be hijacked by bad actors no matter our intentions in setting them up. Change is definitely needed. How do we achieve it when the current ecology has been created by so much power & money? I'm glad more & more people are talking about all the ways our current systems are failing us. A definitive answer still seems out of reach.
Thanks for the well-wishes! Glad you enjoyed the questions posed in the video
after working as a groundskeeper for half a year and picking up trash over the majority of a 2 square mile amount of land, i learned that there's most likely over 1 million tons of trash thrown on the ground just within eurocentric countries each and every day... all of these problems are systemic and are eurocentric induced problems. nothing can be done until we recognize and adjust who is able to tell others what to do. right now europe controls the fate of everyone outside of china. europe is the place that reaps most of the reward from the atrocities committed against the human species. but most well off people cant get over their emotional attachment to eurocentric culture enough to even begin to admit this..
The solution is criminal negligence. Conspiracies to undermine public health or elections aren't victimless. There is no specific right to lie, defraud, mislead when the perpetrator knows the outcome and knows they are lying.
All this stuff would be illegal in my country. America is pretty bad at making and enforcing laws.
This would only turn people into martyrs...
I really liked to connection you drew between data harvesting and the dangers it brings. I once told my friends I was concerned about online privacy and big tech companies keeping so much information on every user, but their mind only went to right-wing radicalization. Because of this and other experiences, I feel like protecting your data is a sore point in left-leaning folks, so thank you for making it clear that it should concern us all!
The misinfo is many people's religion. You can't convince people to drop or change their religion using logic and reason.
it's also been very much including anti-religion
you simply cannot talk the most basic of theology with an atheist (antitheist)
only the secular agnostic will respect a "oh so you worship the same God. That's amazing brother."
The atheist claims "if sky daddy real why bad thing happen"
but the agnostic says "I understand why people do this and I respect it. I just do not know my path"
Secular Agnosticism is the only true way to actually experience logic and reason within debate
atheists simply can't. their dogma of "there is no God he does not exist" is inherently a polarizing opinion
one that does not have an opinion of God is able to form a neutral opinion of Theology and Thought.
the atheist can't.
@@nxtvim2521If you are not convinced by the evidences that are presented to you about God, you are an atheist. Anything beyond that differs people to people. You are strawmanning atheists
💯💯💯
39:53 That's literally what public service broadcasting is, which is actually an important part of the media landscape in most countries other than the US...
Strange how the US doesn't have a national television, but it's in order with the privatisation of most services over there.
I teach a college course titled "Living in An Internet World" that is in many ways an introduction to media ecology. As has been said below this video is a really good, accessible introduction and I will be sharing it with my students this semester. I didn't see any books by Neil Postman (considered by some to the father of media ecology) in your stack. For anyone interested Postman's _Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business_ , is still worth a reading as an introduction thinking about media as ecology.
Hey! I actually did read Amusing Ourselves to Death for this video, but I didn’t end up using any direct citations. GREAT recommendation for folks that find this in the comments along with Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, and The Bias of Communication
Attack on Titan reference, I am now mentally engaged
No, no! ITS NOT ABOUT ATTACK ON TITAN. This video is very serious and about news. I’ve never watched anime. I totally didn’t use two of the manga as props in this video. I’m not a nerd
@@HesTheDummyNotMe uh, I mean, yeah! What’s an “Attack on Titan?” I am a man who drinks beer and watches football! I don’t concern myself with such silly things!
Oh no, I've found yet another youtuber that my brain is trying to convince me is just as good for me as reading. Really like the breakdown of how cookies relate to this new landscape of information.
you finally put words to a feeling i didn’t know how to express for a long time
We can’t reason with them because they are not reasonable
it's okay to say things like that so long as you're talking about your fellow white people, I guess. Sounds like bigotry to me, though.
@@bobnolin9155 ur the one making it about race
everything consequential that i need to know about a person can be answered with a single simple question.. "do you believe in tolerating my murder through labor induced starvation?" its the same as asking if someone believes the minimum wage should be less than what it costs to keep a human barely alive. especially in a system / culture that looks to heap copious reward on anyone willing to cause harm to poor / working people. you can determine if a person has the capacity to even humanize anyone who's life is in immediate danger or if their priorities are always going to be with furthering monarchist takeover of american culture. basically, you are treasonous if you dehumanize the majority of the american populace, at least according to unbiased analysis. everyone knows the only bias that matters is whats with the people who have power over our ability to remain alive.
That’s not a simple question, lol.
It's wild to be that the value of public media is considered naive in the 21st century. Maybe I'm just old (I'm 33), but it's been incredibly clear since I was old enough to think for myself the obvious issue with privately funded media with private (i.e. inevitably corporate) interests. Conspiracy theorists who wail on about 1984 but won't support publicly funded news sources are unbelievable in their thought process.
This was a nice video! Definitely gonna check out the rest of your stuff! :D
Thanks!
i was learning about parse trees in my logic & computability course and the name ‘noam chomsky’ came up and i was wracking my brain to remember where i had learned the name before- this video reminded me that i had heard the name when read a chapter of manufacturing consent for the political epistemology course i was auditing so,, thanks for that
A friend that comes recommended from Zoe Bee is a friend of mine! Loved the video, subbed for more!
Education won't stop poverty either.
Your work is quite high level. Thank your for your effort.
Good to catch another video! I agree Media Literacy is important but isn't the silver bullet. Systemic change is needed to help reforge the common narrative. Currently we have a system where sensationalism and "rage-baiting" tactics are heavily rewarded. It's an area where I have struggled a bit with. I go into these thoughts sort of like a chicken and egg scenario. Is it cultural and psychological behavior that is rewarding this system or is it this system which has trained the behavior? Why would we choose to watch a reality show vs. an documentary?
I personally don't know.
Lol - There was a bit there in the video in the video where my TH-cam addled brain kept thinking "When is the Ground News sponsorship going to drop?" Not implying you would do that but it made me laugh when I had the thought.
Always good to hear from you! You’re one of very few people who’s been here since the literal beginning lol
Really hard questions to answer in the first part of your comment. If it makes you feel better, I think about them a lot too.
And omg it would be such weird 4D chess to have a ground news ad here. I don’t love what they do all that much nor do I have enough clout for a sponsorship like that but that would be so funny
@@HesTheDummyNotMewhat’s wrong with what they do? yeah they use AI but it’s not the kind that steals from artists and all the articles the AI uses as info are available right under the AI headline. I’ve only ever noticed a few times where the AI headline misunderstood the articles, but that’s why you actually have to read into things. Often real headlines contain lies and misunderstandings aswell.
We go down to the library and we are told “Wikipedia is bad, actually” is so accurate, and now I use Wikipedia to find primary sources😂
Walter Lippmann wasn't really criticizing censorship. His belief was that media should be used to control the opinion of the population ("bewildered herd") because they're a bunch of dummies. It's just that he thought it should be done by good (liked by him) people for good reasons not bad (disliked by him) people for bad reasons. He was really one of the key architects of today's media landscape.
Yeah the reason I bring him into this discussion isn’t because he’s a saint, it’s because he recognized that a media ecosystem is composed of constitutive political decisions. I think it’s a stretch to say he is a key architect of today’s system, given some of the key shifts since ~1980, but I agree he was very influential in this respect
As a parent, I have never been shy about telling my kids that advertisers want their money, and that certain TH-cam channels are trash because they only care about views and revenue. Anytime I told my kids that what they were watching was bad content and why, they would eventually stop watching it. I am always, always encouraging them to consider the bigger picture when imbibing any media they are watching. That message is a good message ostensibly, but what does the confines of the story assert about the world in which it was told and how does that apply to us and how do our values play into the message. They watch tons of educational channels now that they use to create their own art and science projects. They have won cosplay contests, robotics competitions, and made all kinds of drawings, digital art, video games, and crafts because of it.
Dude. Home run. Subbed up. Media Lit is important, but not enough.
The premise of this video seems questionable. I haven't seen people claiming that media literacy is the solution to this problem. It's a tool which can help.
To me, media literacy must include the ability (and propensity) to think about the informaton presented. If a graph is shown, does the scaling make sense, especially if 2 graphs are used to show similar data? "Gee, CEO's earnings haven't risen that much faster than those of everyone else. Wait - why is the salary rise for most people shown in 1% increments but the scale for CEOs is shown in 10% increments? "Since Biden took office, we've been getting a million illegal immigrants a month!" Let's think this through. The US has about 350 million people. If we've gotten 1 million illegal immigrants per month, that's 12 million per year, so 48 million illegal immigrants while Biden has been in office. How could the US increase it's size by 20% in just 4 years without massive strain on current infrastructure?
The US has a huge problem with anti-intellectualism. "My opinions are just as valid as your facts." "I don't need education; I just know what's right." "Your 20 years of education and professional experience is nothing compared to my 20 minutes of TH-cam videos." Too many people believe in magical thinking, that if they think something hard enough it will become true. Until we can break people of this "I want this to be true therefore it is true" mentality, we won't get very far with media literacy.
Great video! Watched the whole thing and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Great work!
Do you protect your kids from the tv torrent, socially crippling them? Or do you let them marinate in it and be welcomed into a sick society?
I think about this too, like there's no win
The quality if this video is amazing. The algorith blessings has been great. You gained a subscriber!
searching after truth cannot be an individual responsibility .. it has to be collective, disciined, and supported by society, and institutions with deserved authority.
Mass distribution of lies, especially dangerous ones, has to be something that society and the government should suppress and regulate.
Yikes.
Anti-human comment.
Nice video, man. I often find issues with much of the media environment we have, at least in the US. I hardly, though, think of shifting the main focus from literacy to ecology like you said. That definitely gave me a new way of approaching the matter. Also, good message at the end. I agree that we can ultimately change the media sphere if we want. Glad I found your channel, looks like you do some cool videos!
100% agree. The internet, like the POST, should always have a government run public option: as an access provider and an set of online public services such as a "public townsquare." Corporations are free to provide alternatives; but they now must compete with the public-option which sets the floor level of service in every sector, but especially critical sectors like communication.
After watching Newsweek puff piece on Kamala the bias they allow in public broadcasting is as bad as mainstream media
Yea but kim jong will attest that a narrative doesnt take to the public if people are allowed to disagree with the "official" propaganda.
To be fair, the government has an incredible incentive to skew the truth.
Which mine does. Constantly.
For instance, I doubt government news would portray the situation regarding Israel in a factual manner.
@@DreamersOfReality you are conflating subjects.
The "POST" is a carrier. The content they carry is _YOUR_ content. In the U.S.; there is a "Government Run" postal carrier service.
For the most important and essential products and services, there should always be a at-cost no-frills government provided option. No one is forced to take this option; and private businesses are free to compete with this basic option.
But the government should set the floor for each industry and sector... basically saying "if you can't beat our mediocrity you have no business in this business."
Media literacy is merely the very FIRST step -
The second steps, equally important, include knowing truth when it's encountered, and then casting a vote for candidates who actually reflect that known truth, and will ENACT it -
I’ve been thinking a ton about the “epistemic crisis” lately. Appreciate the work you’ve done here. (My work is in political theology and… there’s a ton of media literacy required there. And media is understudied in theology)
I also love your historical approach. I hope we can learn some stuff from the past.
It's nice seeing that the friend shout out has given this traction :)
loved the occasional shots of tucker interviewing _literal putin_ covered up by the stack of books. just a nice acknowledgement of how badly broken the previously anti-russian, post cold war american conservative has become in this age of ridiculous misinformation, wherein they actually _like_ putin 😂
The Putin defenders astound me. Dude is an ex-KGB tyrant who was aided by an oil oligarch to get his position. That should terrify the fuck out of them since those idiots are still stuck in the red scare and call everything communism, yet somehow it doesn’t.
The left is constantly being called communists, as the right simps for the literal ex-head of the KGB.
Make it make sense.
No one is blinder than someone who will not see. I see this is as not the source, but rather an effect, of a national epidemic of copium addiction. All misinformation always has one common denominator: It tells you that you're special and that's why they're out to get you.
In case of people with Autism is true.
Example?
Nerds vs football players gimmick from the 90's.
So it's pretty understandable, people would be wary of people who don't share empathy or see them as a meat to get out their anger at.
Brilliant -- thank you. Do you remember when articles about Critical Thinking were flooding media sites & YT? Suddenly, _everyone_ was talking about it, including people who clearly weren't practising what the preached. It was frustrating and funny in a dark sort of way.
Also: you know, the printing press, which we could not do without, caused all hell to break loose, too. It's strange to derive comfort from that. Hopefully the upheaval that followed won't repeat itself (Timothy Snyder, a great & grim historian, has said: history doesn't repeat itself, it rhymes).
Bro America is so fucked, the biggest podcasters in the world deny reality and create dumb talking points that can’t be easily countered. Feels like the Whole worlds going to shit
It could save one invaded country though
One of the things I get from all this:
~40 years later, Neil Postman is still right. Dude was far from perfect in his opinions imo, but he's got a pretty stellar track record overall.
Two big-ish thoughts: First, it's interesting how in the same way a TH-camr is negotiating a balance between their audience, the algorithm, and sponsors, the Cable News channels are negotiating a balance between their viewers, the network providers that carry their channels, and their advertisers but at a much larger level, which could cause the lens through which they may provide their perspective.
The second big thought is that as an Elder Millennial (TM), I would love to see the return of Carmen Sandiego as a modern PBS game show for an adult audience, with a focus on current political events, but weaving a very obvious satirical storyline of Carmen trying to manipulate world leaders and governments so she can take control of the world. It helps an audience that doesn't keep up on world news as well as they should, and by using conspiracy theory styled storylines, it will help the viewer to better identify similar conspiracy theories in their media consumption (hopefully).
35:20 it's not about money it's about power; the whole mass surveillance system in the west needs to go but those in power have no incentive to regulate it and corporations know that and benefit from it.
Occasionally, it feels like we all have collectively forgotten what Snowden revealed - this kind of surveillance system enabling all you are talking about doesn't go away with this type of regulation because the system is designed in such a way that the regulators can only treat some of the symptoms rather than the disease itself.
The same way you talk about realizing the ecology of the media landscape, the same is true for the ecology of the surveillance landscape. Both are connected in many ways and influence our collective resilience to disinformation.
I often think about what I see on social media. They make you think that you create your feed, but in reality they’re 100 steps ahead of you and the more time you spend on the app the better they get at predicting your behaviour. Now imagine how much impact they have on you, hobbies, perspectives, etc. I feel like I don’t own anything I see, TH-cam knew eventually I’d watch this video based on every video and short I’ve seen before. This isn’t even considering my google searches and what they hear on my microphone
I know to never take Tucker Carlson seriously based off of a few interviews I've seen on TH-cam where he acts like guests who are such outlandish things as trans-racial seriously. He's basically the new Jerry Springer except that we audience members are the ones he's causing to fight.
TC is significantly worse than JS. TC, and Fox News, are ideologically committed to what they are doing. They have clear agendas. This is currently demonstrated by the Murdoch court case, where Robert Murdoch is fighting to only pass on control of Fox to one of his children-the one that aligns with his ideology the most. Furthermore, we already know as a society what happens when media (particularly news media) manipulates and lies like TC and Fox.
Well done. I love the point about education not being enough to combat misinformation. I think it's a problem that needs to be solved, but the intersection of misinformation and free speech is something a lot of people are unwilling to cross. I remember seeing Joe Rogan saying you can combat bad speech with better speech, but I think a lot of the evidence presented here disproves that idea. There's too much misinformation and the playing field is designed for it.
“The medium is the message” has _always_ bothered me more than I can rationally explain. Your essay got me to soften on that stance quite a bit. I still don’t think it *IS* the message, but I can agree that it is an important, (usually) inextricable part of the message.
I honestly feel like a lot of people view their own selves as kind of a black box that takes input and produces output, and they assume that output is appropriate. They don't really know themselves, nor do they know to try to know themselves, and thus aren't really capable of being honest with themselves, and in turn can't hold an honest conversation even if they want to.
Granted, I have no basis in beleiving this, other than my own feelings. The idea comes from my assumption that people are honest and sincere with me even when their statements are nonsensical.
There are some bangers in that lit stack. Well done man, top notch analysis. Hope the algo blasts you 🚀
I’ve just discovered your channel and wow. Your videos are so well researched, I did a double take at the subscriber and view count. I can’t wait to see your channel grow further!
Based on some of what you're saying I'd say media hygiene is as important as media literacy. If I can permanently mar someone's media environment by searching a single term on their browser then that's a problem. I wonder if these people ever get on a fresh browser install and briefly experience some kind of existential dissociation from the absence of an onslaught of people yelling about the woke.
31:48 My comments typically get ignored on this website, but I really felt the need to add to this topic. Does the divisive nature of advertisement really matter to a kid who just wants a toy? Even though this perspective on media is useful to a degree, it also introduces the true nature of media, which is something that we are all surrounded by at an alarming rate; we can't really escape it either. I wouldn't want to make my kid aware of any of that when they're at that stage where toys still matter to them. It's way too much.
My holy grail solution is a revolution considering the profit incentive but I enjoyed this video a lot, it was nice to know I been on the right track, and learn some extra things to help me as both a person and creator/educator. I really didn't think about search recommendations being altered to a person, and now I'm reconsidering how much I thought I didn't care about data collection. Bad enough I see video recommendations related to what I talk about on Discord.
I feel like most people should study meta-linguistics so to speak (philosophies of language e.g meta ethics, religious language, perspectives on bias and verification etc)
Thing here is that not everyone has the time nor the capacity to study. Best we fight misinformation with misinformation
Why am I reminded of that one twist in MGS2 everytime misinformation is mentioned?
Allowing hate speech to be spoken is the problem.
Not allowing it is the solution.
Censorship?
hi. in that study about media literacy and conspiracy theories did you happen to check what conspiracy theories they tested?
Also, how likely were these supposedly media literate people to believe actual conspiracies that US agencies have actually admitted to publicly?
i don't think these studies are measuring what you and they think they are measuring.
Hey, pretty nice content you've got here!
Would be a shame if someone were to critically analyze only its content without considering the ecology in which it exists...
Glad I found your channel through zoe bee! Fantastic video topic and presentation!
In the 90s I determined that the statement of facts in my newspaper amounted to 3 pages of space. The other 57 pages were opinion and supposition. I quit reading the paper.
I love the analysis and discussion of art. I'm always trying to figure out what the message is or what the filmmakers drew inspiration from.
It is great to live in a world where people want to appreciate art.
Medium is the message but what about how the medium is advancing overnight and with no pressure to explain how… ai systems read my comment and how long I watched your video and push more content that’s the same. Been doing a ton of Marshall McLuhan study and you used key words throughout the video that directly pushed it to me. New medium, new message. But here we are discussing how we don’t even have focus and organized action on the current mediums. Shits moving at record pace and we have an elder generation that struggles with e-mail. Idk man… seems like we gatta hit some serious catastrophe to have change and then when I think about the intro topic of this video, with Larry and all… I think it may have already happened and we are speaking in the form of the “rear view mirror.”But I love the vid anyways and will be sharing with friends.
The most effective media literacy lesson for me was asking my parents to get me a fushigi when I was like 10. I don’t think I’ve ever been more disappointed, but at least I learned to never trust ads lol
To use another commenters metaphor: Finding the bad mushrooms may not matter too much in a forest full of bad shrooms, but without that knowledge, you’re only eating bad shrooms. Media literacy is absolutely necessary as it allows discernment of not only traditional media, but social media-in fact- all content. My largest concern is that, ala Neil Postman in Amusing Ourselves to Death, the medium itself is the metaphor. The way we engage with the medium defines how it changes our thinking. Media literacy, at least true media literacy that goes beyond “picking only the good mushrooms,” must content with the manipulation of attention via the stakes of the medium. The axis upon which social media spins is itself a system that we carry on our backs. We choose to be on these devices. Rather than being fed propaganda, many of us subscribe to it or pay for it via cable. If we don’t acknowledge the shortcomings of tech and the boundless individualism baked into social media as a whole, we’re only feeding algorithms and data farms. Truly, media literacy is absolutely necessary as a first step and bringing oneself outside, both figuratively and literally.
It is part of any systemic outlook.
I am understanding of the fact that media literacy, on its face, may seem to only target the individual. That’s not entirely true. School curriculums have been evolving for years to include broad critique of media systems. I am well aware of how that can fall short in a system where I am asked to be “impartial” (I was a teacher). However I’ve seen wisdom and genuine good thinking bring young people to critical consciousness, and no, not just for grades. Mind you, my experience is in highly social justice-focused magnet schools, so I concede it’s limited. I am digressing though: TL/Dr: that work has value.
There's an argument to be made about video essays, especially concerning history or politics about information back stepping in favour of entertainment. A good example is Johnny Harris who even though is somewhat informed about the topic, the actual history taught is often surface level in the name of creating the "narrative" of the video.
Media Literacy is useful because individual people come to their own conclusions, and they talk to each other. When people talk to each other, they exchange information, and their ideas converge slightly.
So another approach to solving the issue with media literacy is to get people out of their houses and talking to each other in communities, rather than sitting at home and watching a TV news channel as the only thing that informs their opinion of the outside world.
Yes, we need more gathering spaces. It would reduce the amount of extremism so much.
@@larvesquareandfriends6940 It wouldn't.
The extremists existed before that, however what would help is to stop media from being overtaken by the rich with ill intentions.
If people didn't have TV then explain how extremes existed in nations despite TV not existing before?
When I was younger and more of a pain in the ass I would visit my parents house while they were watching television. Anytime a car ad would come on I'd shout "Buy A Car!" I knew the exercise had run its course when my folks startes getting mad at me for doing it instead of being irritated at the commercials.
Still in the middle of it my mom commented "yeah I'd never realized how many there were."
Fnord.
Thought this was from a million subscriber channel. Quality is insane, subbed.
Very glad I found this channel, enjoyed the presentation of information.
We are ants watching king kong vs godzilla except both king kong and godzilla have ant mind control powers
Michael Parenti - Inventing Reality - READ IT
Free Palestine 🇵🇸
Amazing research and video. Great work!
Just read Marshall McLuhan
Based
Watch my video about the Telegraph he’s a main source
Well done!! Thank you!
omg the zoe bee collab when i’ve been bingeing all her vids after discovering her felt like the icarly victorious crossover
texted this to her, I think I’m Victorious
@ omg so honored! pls let her know her (and your) videos match perfectly with working in a storage unit for 4 hours (only way to not get bored)
excellent, and really interesting video. Subscribed!
The medium analysis portion of this video highlights an argument I've been making... If all the media platforms are largely funded or owned by billionaires, then it is very important to analyze where the paycheck of the content creators comes from. Some media platforms are practically synonymous with the content creators, but there are some special cases, like TH-cam for example. TH-cam loves to promote mainstream media to new TH-cam accounts, but it also promotes channels like yours to me because it's the type of content I might watch. Still though, if I search for news, I will never get independent media recommendations. I've seen more than a couple political analyst TH-cam channels get really large, only to become servants of the more mainstream talking points, _because_ TH-cam will reward them for it. So unfortunately, money changes people sometimes. In essence, if a user caters their algorithm to reject mainstream media, TH-cam will take still take what ad revenue they can get from independent news channels. But they still have a heavy bias toward mainstream sources, both left and right. If you put Trump/Biden/Kamala in a TH-cam title, TH-cam will reward you for it. If you talk about third-parties, good luck being successful. But the lesson to learn from this is that if you want to make a difference against the media powers that be, you can't expect to be paid handsomely for it. I'm fine with that. Are you?
31:31 On this topic, I just want to bring up that I know a handful of people who seem completely oblivious of the difference between 'what they want' and 'what they are told that they want'. Its almost like an advertisement indoctrination that they seem entranced by, I really don't know why some people are so deeply affected by external influences like this, but it is very disturbing to see someone literally jonsing for every single advertisement they see as if they were a toddler in a candy shop without any degree of self reflection.