How Journalism is Changing Before Our Eyes

The world is changing right before our eyes. All around us, politics, business, lifestyles are experiencing radical shifts. We are living through what social historians call ‘a paradigm shift’. A specific moment in history where the foundation of a society is changed, be it for good and ill. Not only is our world changing, but also our way of perceiving the world, journalism specifically.

I draw your attention to the social media phenomenon. There are many who are disillusioned with major media networks and are turning to alternative news channels on the internet. FaceBook, TikTok, YouTube, Rumble, Truth Social and now X is becoming major hubs for independent journalists.

It’s hard to overstate the importance of what we are witnessing. For decades it was possible to control the overall narrative of a major event. Take the shooting of JFK for example, despite the fact there were glaring holes in the official narrative presented, you wouldn’t find anyone pointing them out in the national media. Why? Because the narrative was being controlled. Even though people were asking questions, no one voiced it on the airwaves, giving the illusion that everything was just fine. This reminds me of an infamous headline from a British newspaper in WW2, ‘All Quiet on The Western Front’. (FYI, the Western Front was one of the bloodiest battles)

Now with social media its become harder to create and maintain an official narrative of anything. This has good and bad consequences. On the good side is harder to purvey obvious lies. Politicians try to lie to the American people about a border crisis taking place, when people can clearly see videos of people moving en masse right through the border. On the flip side, ridiculous claims are treated with legitimacy. Really stupid ideas can be bandied about. I’ve heard it all, everything from people turning into ‘lizard men’ to wild eyed fanatics claiming to know the date of the end of the world. (My favorite doomsday prophet released a hardcover book in 2015 claiming the end of the world that year, while accepting  pre-orders for the paperback in 2016) There’s always drawbacks.

In the 2016 election social media played a large factor in Donald Trumps election. President Trump can holler all he wants about the unfairness of social media, but the fact is, without social media he never would’ve sat in the White House. When national media preferred to spend more time on more establishment candidates, the MAGA movement grew on the internet, forming groups, websites and interacting through social media. Sharing videos and messages, ultimately leading to the most astonishing political victory ever. I believe that we will witness a similar effect in 2024. This time Pres. Trump has Truth Social, a massive platform to air his message. Same for the Democratic Party. Currently President Biden is doing a very poor job of getting his message circulated. Democratic candidate Robert Kennedy is the one who has used social media to grow his base. Without social media Kennedy wouldn’t have gotten beyond 5% of the vote, right now he is polling in the double digits (and growing) whereas President Biden support remains stagnant. See what I mean?