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PaperclipPerfector  6mo ago (text post)   23887 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of June 10, 2024

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I'm making the point that different outlets are serving different markets. Vox.com is not running stories about castration fetishists influencing medical standards for the same reason BTS isn't putting out death metal songs: that's not the market they're serving. Someone else does that.

There's plenty of clicks to be had running stories about how the perversion of the left is leading to the downfall of society. That's why the Daily Wire exists.

And why are you framing it as a left vs. right thing? Are left wingers inherently protective of Epstein's prostitution ring?

Because there's a market for left-wing stories and there's a market for right wing stories and these are clear and distinct markets.

If you're asking why left wing outlets don't run stories about Epstein stuff, well, they do.

I'm asking why no one except for conspiracy theorists covered him until about 2018, IIRC. You're the one that's making it about left vs. right, and it's not making any sense. Like, you're literally saying they didn't cover it because that's somehow a right wing story, even as you're telling me left wing outlets are actually covering it.

I think you're misreading me. I'm saying "journalists" (if they even deserve that title) write stories to get clicks. That doesn't mean every outlet will cover every story, there's subgenres and market segments. But if there's clicks to be had, someone will write the story.

If the question is why did no one except conspiracy theorists cover Epstein until 2018, I respond by asking how much traffic those conspiracy theories did. I rather suspect the answer is that it only attracted interest from a niche audience.

I also note that my model says nothing about which stories are true. Indeed, precisely because the truth is often uninteresting and the media optimises for attention, it's not very far wrong to say that the media optimises for deception. But that's an outgrowth of market incentives rather than a scheme to control the public mind.

I think you're misreading me. I'm saying "journalists" (if they even deserve that title) write stories to get clicks. That doesn't mean every outlet will cover every story, there's subgenres and market segments.

The subgenre theory makes no sense though, they did end up covering the story, did they suddenly change genres?

But if there's clicks to be had, someone will write the story.

And I'm saying this is false. We can look at several counterexamples, but in response you seem to retreat to making the theory unfalsifiable.

I rather suspect the answer is that it only attracted interest from a niche audience.

Yes, if a spicy click-attracting story gets buried, it won't generate clicks, thus contradicting your theory.

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