news media
When political power systematically turns to creators who do not claim a critical role — and are not held to one — the balance of power between government and the public shifts.
Peter Vandermeersch • When influencers replace journalists
Direct distribution through digital creators is faster, more effective, and more controllable. Journalists are increasingly viewed as an intermediary layer that can be bypassed.
Peter Vandermeersch • When influencers replace journalists
Crucially, Mamdani’s campaign did not present politics through slogans or traditional advertisements, but as culture: through humor, pop references, personal stories, and existing digital formats. Policy was explained in videos that looked like ordinary content rather than campaign messaging.
When influencers replace journalists
It is clear that content creators who can talk about news in engaging, short-form formats are the present and future of media.
I’m a Gen Z Journalist. My Generation Doesn’t Know What That Means.
The article isn’t dead. But how it lives on is in question.
Personalization is coming whether newsrooms build it or not. What's in question is where it lives, and who controls it. Built around surveillance and intermediaries, it erodes trust and weakens journalism’s public role. Built into reader-controlled tools on the open web, it can do the... See more
Personalization is coming whether newsrooms build it or not. What's in question is where it lives, and who controls it. Built around surveillance and intermediaries, it erodes trust and weakens journalism’s public role. Built into reader-controlled tools on the open web, it can do the... See more
Is the article dead?
Identity politics is a media effect. Over time, communication media have evolved from forms that largely ignored human differences to forms that now emphasize and spotlight them.
Andrey Mir • The Digital Reversal. Thread-saga of Media Evolution
Observing the rise of TV talk shows in the 1950s, psychologists invented the term “parasocial relationship” to describe the fantasy of intimacy and friendship that could develop between the audience at home and the host’s persona. This coinage was tinged with clinical concern: people were thought to be compensating for real loneliness with a
... See moreJohn Ganz • When the Clock Broke
If the past 20 years have taught us anything, platform reliance is perilous, the precious “link”, once the sustaining mechanic of digital media, is dying at the hands of AI and Google. Your content must be valuable / differentiated / urgent / comprehensive / niche / expert enough such that you can sustain your own distribution flywheel, convert... See more
Troy Young • Rome is Burning, But My Phone Looks Like Water
It would be impossible to imagine interstate commerce without the infrastructure of federal highways. Likewise, it’s impossible to imagine the free exchange of ideas and information that democracy requires without the press. This goes beyond news, which is only one component of communities’ informational needs. Consumer alerts, emergency weather... See more