Media Panic

Description

Frank Furedi:

"Kirsten Drotner has used the term media panic – that is a panic about the media -to highlight the recurrent tendency for change and innovation of the media to incite anxiety and fear[iii] . Such reactions were a response to the expansion of both publishing and the reading public in the 18th century. The expansion of the media and its commercialization created an environment where competing views and opinions helped foster a climate where the question of which sources could be trusted were raised time and again.

A new media – particularly when it assumes a mass form – represents an implicit challenge to the prevailing political and cultural establishment. Through providing a medium for communication it offers new opportunities for discussion, which in turn may raise questions about the legitimacy of the political order. This is precisely what has happened with ascendancy of the social media. Whereas the ruling elites found it relatively easy to control and regulate the legacy media they have found it difficult to impose their authority on the internet.

The social media has allowed millions of people to bypass the elite dominated sources of information. It has provided an opportunity for dissident voices to appeal directly to a new audience of voters. The success of populist parties during the past decade has been made possible to the access and support they have gained through their social media platforms. No doubt there is a lot of misinformation circulating on the Internet but what misinformation-alarmist are really worried about is the attraction of dissident populist sentiment to a wider public.

Concern about misinformation should be interpreted as an indirect expression of trust. In effect it is the loss of trust in the authority of the elites and their institutions that has led to their understandable concern about their ability to influence society. Their version of events no longer possesses a commanding influence which is why they wish to prevent alternative views from gaining influence and authority. Condemning views that they represent as false is their way attempting to undermine them.

Throughout the modern era the question of gaining authority over public opinion has represented a major challenge to society’s elites."

(https://frankfuredi.substack.com/p/insulating-the-public-from-dissident)