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PaperclipPerfector  2mo ago (text post)   38655 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of July 15, 2024

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  • I agree that she is generally reliable in the sense that “the media rarely lies.” That is, if she reports something, it would probably be corroborated by following the links.
  • I think she is much less powerful than the academic consensus. I think the same about entities like Social Text which, despite taking part in that ecosystem, have little to no ability to steer it.
  • I disagree that her service is particularly valuable. What it provides is almost entirely toxoplasma, entertainment via righteous anger. This isn’t remotely unique; I’d say the same about a large swath of social media as well as the modal media hit-piece.

The bailey I observed after Trace’s piece goes like this: LoTT is performing a valuable service. Therefore, it is right and proper that she be awarded with money, prestige, weird political appointments, et cetera. Prominent in this bailey are claims that she is very definitely an a “media/news company”, “probably the top journalist in the country”.

When faced with criticism—such as a dumb hoax—supporters retreat to the motte. She has less money/prestige/power than the NYT, so she cannot be expected to keep up with their standards.

The other thing about journalists is that they like to at least maintain some sort of pretense of 'professional ethics' -- I would expect a credentialed journalist to have taken multiple courses on this, and be aware of pitfalls and procedures. No such course exists for Twitter users at any level, up to and including the owner of the place.

Hoaxing the NYT would be notable for the same reasons The Rape On Campus story out of Rolling Stone was notable. There are supposed to be fact checkers, multiple sources, teams of lawyers, etc vetting a story. There is supposed to be a rigorous institution in play here… Convincing a twitter anon, even a popular one, of a hoax is Kiwifarms material. It's giving your uncle a facebook chain letter.

You can see the excluded middle. Professional standards would be unreasonable, so the standard evaporates entirely. At the same time, supporters don’t want to give up on the legitimacy of having a serious journalist fighting the good fight. Swapping real news stories at the water cooler is normal; quoting Twitter randos is cringe.

It looks like Social Text is still chugging along. Yet the only time I’ve ever heard about it has been in the context of a twenty-year-old hoax. Anyone who tries to convince an outsider that it’s prestigious is going to have a hard time. I think that’s a correct judgment.

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