Insider Journalism
While elite people and institutions typically practice strong internal meritocracy, they often push less prestigious rivals toward more egalitarian inclusion. For example, elite universities push for inclusive community colleges, elite policy think tanks push for easy-access elections and participatory civic processes, and cultural elites push more participatory arts and culture. Pushing rivals toward egalitarianism undermines them, to the advantage of their elite competitors.
Elite journalists have long pushed their lesser competitors to have more “citizen journalism”. And recently journalists have complained loudly about their newly risen competitor of prediction markets. They complain that such markets are in poor taste, sensational, unethical, induce manipulation and sabotage efforts, undermine respect for proper authorities, and tempt people to waste their time and energy. All of which are of course also issues with journalism.
But their loudest complaints, at least lately, have been about inequality. “Insider trading”, by people who know more than others, is said to be blatantly unfair, discourages participation by know-nothings, and tempts people to reveal secrets they have promised to keep. All of which are of course also problems with journalism. But with the usual hypocrisy, they propose forbidding government officials from trading in markets, but not from talking to journalists. And banning markets, but not journalist reports, on important world events.
Elites usually admire and celebrate elite journalists, who have elite insight, connections, and go to elite events. As they can get the story first, and understand it better. But elite traders who know more than others, that’s shameful!
I had not thought about it like this: that all the kum-by-yah, everyone wins nonsense that has pervaded so much of the culture is a great way to defend elites from disruption by normies.
I have been thinking a lot lately about art in the midwest, a place that I have recently returned to. There used to be good artists in the midwest, peopel with skill. You can’t find it anymore except from the occasional rare talent whose gift just can’t be stop (I know one of those).
But no one is cultivating skill among regular kids any longer. Going to arts events out here is depressing.
It hadn’t occurred to me that this is all part of an elite strategy to undermine competition by non-coasties. Good point.
I've not seen evidence of elite journalists pushing for more citizen journalism.
I'm a citizen journalist covering my small town that would otherwise be a news desert. I've been working hard on a how-to, to inspire and enable other people to do what I've been doing, at a level of effort that one can do as a hobby. I recently tried to pitch this how-to at my local TEDx as a talk. Despite the chairman complimenting my pitch as an example of one that was very well prepared, one of the judges torpedoed the idea on the grounds that it's bad to encourage non-credentialed people to publish, and that involvement by the non-credentialed is a major problem in journalism right now.
Meanwhile, I've searched far and wide for examples of citizen journalists doing what I do. There are not many examples, and a lot of what seems to be small-town citizen journalism is from professional journalists who lost their jobs and created their own gigs.