Media Have a Sacred Responsibility for the Avoidance of Pandering

quotWhat have we wroughtThe commodification of human attentivenessWe have been striving to measure and act on attentiveness Facebook Google and others by maxing algorithms that push virality which according to the whistleblower and others is strongest when negativeFood for discussion on responsibility of the commercial side of this business What is the buy side doing about itamp160Supporting the right vehicles etcquotI sent him back the definition of the word quotpanderingquot quotTo gratify or indulge an immoral or distasteful desire need or habit or a person with such a desire etcquot An exampleamp160quotNewspapers are pandering to people39s baser instinctsquotThe deep thinker Joel Tucciarone taught me that a person happy with a brand will tell six people but a person unhappy with a brand will tell 13 peopleWhat does that tell usamp160It is empirical evidence of a bias toward negativity rather than away from it which one might assume to be the case since rationally it is one39s own selfinterest to be positive But as we all know we are not at the current time a rational species My theory of Acceleritis attempts to explain this modern trance into which we have fallenThe FCC has a sacred right to protect the public39s airwaves from material harmful to our hearts and minds However the FCC never expanded that remit over all the media Hollywood and the Comic Book Code for years selfregulated themselves to avoid pandering to people39s basest obsessions and made sure the good guys always won Xi Jinping carries this protection to an extreme that is alien to the American tenor If we shall soon be adding new regulations that are intended to restrict negative media it shall have to be done with the utmost specificity so as to not overreachI confess to having a utopian view of what the world could be like if the media were more consciously positive without becoming 10000 versions of the estimable Hallmark ChannelThe word quotpositivequot does not mean without drama created by negative characters but the best dramatic art according to some is that art which shows the positive evolution of the character driven by the action which was caused by the character The Joseph Campbell archetypal story arcMy writings of the prior century may be summed up as predicting the digital media and that they would cause a positive upswing in people discovering their own passion workamp160and in participatory democracy HahJoke39s on me 180 degrees away from the devastating outcome all around us We have become our own worst selves caricatures of who we were before the first and offensive wave of social media The second wave is already coming in and Snap is a great example of taking responsibility for bringing out people39s creativity in positive ways So is the altruistic Weare8 now launched in the UK and heading our wayThe good thing is that the scenario I imagined is never far out of reach The powerhouses are the advertisers It is their money really everyone in the cycle39s money The advertisers call the shots If they want better media as David Smith points out above they can have it The kids will come out of the zombie state and get down to business with life Everything will get better even passionate people will become willing to talk with civility againManufacturing viral negativity might be a crime someday Advertisers can solve it with simple media allocation shifts that will probably also increase ROI and brand equityTurns out I39m not the first one who had the thought that advertisers could change our media for the better I39ll end this column with a Goodreads quote from visionary iconic TV journalist Edward R MurrowquotI began by saying that our history will be what we make it If we go on as we are then history will take its revenge and retribution will not limp in catching up with usWe are to a large extent an imitative society If one or two or three corporations would undertake to devote just a small fraction of their advertising appropriation along the lines that I have suggested the procedure would grow by contagion the economic burden would be bearable and there might ensue a most exciting adventure exposure to ideas and the bringing of reality into the homes of the nationTo those who say people wouldn39t look they wouldn39t be interested they39re too complacent indifferent and insulated I can only reply There is in one reporter39s opinion considerable evidence against that contention But even if they are right what have they got to lose Because if they are right and this instrument is good for nothing but to entertain amuse and insulate then the tube is flickering now and we will soon see that the whole struggle is lostThis instrument can teach it can illuminate yes and it can even inspire But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box There is a great and perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance intolerance and indifferencequotClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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Media Have a Sacred Responsibility for the Avoidance of Pandering

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Bill Harvey

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Media Have a Sacred Responsibility for the Avoidance of Pandering

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