Truth on the Run

NOTE: Watch Joe Biden’s farewell address, in which he warns against the rise of a “tech-industrul complex” and an oligarchy of billionaires that threatens our democracy. It’s about 17 minutes in length.

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Three years ago, on the occasion of its 15th anniversary, Politico published the opinions of various experts on the question, “Is the Media Doomed?”

None of them came up with a definitive answer but perhaps that’s because they were asked the wrong question. For one thing, which forms of media are we talking about anyway?

It’s a fair assumption that human societies will always have some sort of media if only because we have always had them. The earliest forms probably involved cave drawings and fireside story-telling sessions.

The ways news travels in a pre-literate society — by word of mouth — persists even in the most highly techno-societies. Think about it — when you hear some news from a friend it often has more veracity than from a venerated news source, right?

And in today’s environment, “media” encompasses a far broader swath of sources than the ones like Politico) that I aggregate daily, because these are primarily traditional journalism outlets that normally adhere to the professional standards that we journalists hold dear.

But information circulating via Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, SnapChat and other social media now reaches more people than these traditional outlets. Disinformation spread by Trump and his allies, Musk. QAnon, and other extremist sources attract a huge audience as well.

Inside this cacophony, what exactly is “media” anymore?

Maybe that is another operative question.

The most common query I get from readers and friends is whether they can trust this or that source of information. Skepticism even with the New York Times seems to be at an all-time high, and not just on the right.

Maybe it is our ability to trust that we need to be worried about. With so many competing points of view, optimists profess that the truth will win out. But whose truth exactly are we talking about?

Whether a story is strictly true or not is of major interest to us journalists, but I’m not so sure that is always the case for our audiences. A good story — as long as it is mostly true — may be more satisfying to many than that which can strictly be proved to be so. Speculative pieces often prove to be exceptionally popular.

Maybe the question Politico should have posed is not so much about media but a much larger matter.

Is the truth doomed?

(I first published this three years ago in January 2022.)

HEADLINES:

• Joe Biden warns ‘oligarchy is taking shape in America’ in farewell address — President sounds alarm about growing power of ultra-wealthy before handing presidency back to Trump (Guardian)

• President Biden's full farewell address (CNN)

• Israel, Hamas agree to ceasefire deal (WP)

• How the Biden and Trump teams worked together to get the Gaza ceasefire and hostages deal done (CNN)

• Trump says he'll use Gaza deal momentum to expand Israel's regional ties (Reuters)

• Pam Bondi Grilled During Confirmation Hearing: Five Key Moments (WSJ)

• Bondi says she won’t play politics as attorney general, doesn’t rule out probes of Trump adversaries (AP)

• Trump’s election interference case may be closed, but it still matters for America’s future (The Conversation)

• Core CPI rises less than forecast as inflation pressures ease slightly in December (Yahoo)

• Core inflation rate slows to 3.2% in December, less than expected (CNBC)

• The conflicting inflation report (Axios)

• Trump considers executive order hoping to ‘save TikTok’ from ban in U.S. law (WP)

• Banning TikTok is Unconstitutional. The Supreme Court Must Step (ACLU)

• What to know about RedNote, the Chinese app that American TikTokkers are flooding (NPR)

• What Happened When an Extremely Offline Person Tried TikTok (New Yorker)

• FDA bans red dye No. 3 from foods (AP)

• Live L.A. fires updates: Crews make progress against blazes amid ‘particularly dangerous’ red flag warning (LAT)

• Washington Post Employees Plead for a Summit With Jeff Bezos — In a letter, more than 400 employees asked Mr. Bezos, the company’s owner, to meet, saying they were “deeply alarmed” by recent decisions at the paper. (NYT)

• Global experts propose new plan for diagnosing obesity outside of BMI (AP)

• Remembering Matilda, the last survivor of the transatlantic slave trade (Al Jazeera)

• Women-centered Celtic society unearthed in 2,000-year-old cemetery (WP)

• ‘I’m literally Joan Baez right now’: gen Z women relate to Bob Dylan’s toxic situationship (Guardian)

• R.E.M. taught Gen X it’s better to fade away than to burn out (WP)

• As Gen Z job applicants balloon, companies are turning to AI agent recruiters (TechCrunch)

• Nearly all Americans use AI, though most dislike it, poll shows (Axios)

• Walgreens To Begin Keeping Most Valuable Employees Behind Glass (The Onion)

TODAY’s VIDEO:

The Real Bob Dylan: An Intimate Look with Louie Kemp

(Thanks to John Jameson for today’s video.)