Event Horizon

The Elite Media Monoculture in a bubble

David Remnick wrings his hands and gnashes his teeth in this essay from the New Yorker in which he decries the tragedy which has befallen dinosaur media. That tragedy is, of course, that they are no longer able to maintain their old monopoly of information. They no longer are able to shape public opinion as they once were able. Now the ageing relics of a bygone age are only one among many available choices from which one can gain knowledge about the world. And the most grating facts to the David Remnicks' of the world is that an alternative view is being offered, and accepted by an American public that is quickly abandoning the sinking ship of old media.

The tall tales which they offer are of no interest to a public which now can listen to talk radio, watch Fox and read news and information from around the globe at the click of a mouse. The lies and distortions no longer fool the American people. Indeed, two thirds of the American public think that the recent stories from the New York Times, in which they disclosed vital national security information illegally and which have damaged our ability to defend ourselves from terrorist attacks in the future, are far over the line of what should be allowed. And is it any wonder? Americans with common sense know that leaks of these kinds, which compromise legal programs that are aimed at the terrorists, endanger all of us in the long run.

The David Remnicks' of the old media are, more and more, living in a black hole cut off from the rest of the American public and culture. Nothing reaches them, nothing changes them, nothing can save them from their invincible ignorance. Surrounded by their ever shrinking heard of fellow lemmings, they continue to rush headlong off of the cliff with no clue about their direction or how they ended up in their race to extinction. Keeping their eyes tightly shut and their ears covered, they can only race on towards the abyss.