#244 Is Journalism Dead? (with Batya Ungar-Sargon)

#244 Is Journalism Dead? (with Batya Ungar-Sargon)

Released Saturday, 25th June 2022
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#244 Is Journalism Dead? (with Batya Ungar-Sargon)

#244 Is Journalism Dead? (with Batya Ungar-Sargon)

#244 Is Journalism Dead? (with Batya Ungar-Sargon)

#244 Is Journalism Dead? (with Batya Ungar-Sargon)

Saturday, 25th June 2022
Good episode? Give it some love!
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Episode Transcript

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0:00

hello and welcome to under the skin

0:01

from luminary this week, i spoke with

0:03

bachi ungar-sargon, deputy opinion

0:06

editor of newsweek she's written for the washington

0:08

post, the new york times and the

0:10

daily beast by chase the 45

0:12

news how woke media is undermining

0:15

democracy if you listen to under

0:17

the skin, an apple podcast, please leave us a

0:19

review that really help us find us, judy

0:21

says terrific five stars teacher, taylor

0:23

always enjoy hearing

0:26

russell's take on life in this

0:28

part of the the interview with b yeah we talk

0:30

about how media outlets are trying to

0:32

appeal to a one limited demographic

0:34

and ignoring all of a

0:36

demographics which crisis of an illusionary

0:38

spice you know they're not talking to all

0:40

of us they're ignoring a significant percentage of

0:43

the population not talking about what might lead to

0:45

a solution to the type of problems we're facing

0:47

and the law batches amazing and eloquent

0:49

and brilliant in this conversation you'll love it trying

0:52

to any the quality with the annihilation

0:55

of calgary and

0:59

right an era where turns

1:01

out and we were never

1:04

beneath surface of and with

1:06

my of the ideas of the financial

1:08

him

1:11

i'm two run homer i'm not

1:15

here i think you talk you talk

1:18

about how i'm the

1:20

all news media outlets are trying

1:22

to appeal to the same limited demographic

1:24

could tell us about that place

1:25

yeah definitely so

1:28

you know the golden age of american journalism

1:30

let's say like you know the eighteenth century nineteenth

1:32

century and twenties and early twentieth century if

1:35

you have media was

1:38

totally partisan services thing

1:40

that i think people people to complain that are

1:42

media's partisan actually that it's becoming like the

1:44

uk where every publication has a kind of

1:46

political bent and everybody knows what that isn't you

1:48

get paper that appeals you split

1:50

in the golden age of american media

1:53

and the media was very very partisan

1:55

it was just parties and on behalf of the masses

1:57

so you would have situation like nineteen

2:00

when you new york where they were

2:02

so many communist newspapers

2:04

that you would be a communist and have five

2:06

communist newspapers that you would never dream

2:08

of opening because were the wrong kind

2:10

of communist swalec our the situation

2:12

there were so many working class americans

2:15

and it's such a plethora of choices

2:18

and be journalists the speech i'm so

2:20

used to like this very working class trade

2:22

you know like kind person became

2:24

journalist with like actually probably someone like

2:26

you the guy sitting in the back of the classroom

2:29

to can't stop cracking wise

2:31

who has like real way with words and

2:33

hates authorities and like teachers

2:35

constantly kicking him out and like but

2:37

he's so great everybody laugh

2:39

and he like it like yeah that's why

2:41

of put in classroom to give teacher hard time

2:43

because ah kam who gave him power

2:46

over me rights and he was so anti authoritarian

2:48

eighty a terrible parents that he couldn't

2:50

go work in factory because he couldn't

2:53

listen to direction he would been dangerous

2:55

everybody around him since they're going the factory

2:58

like everybody else in a class he'll he'll become

3:00

a journalist rates and when he went to be

3:02

a journal to be introduced politicians and he

3:04

would be exactly the same way he was my classroom

3:06

you would think it was his job to defy

3:08

that authority in demand justice on behalf

3:10

of the little guy that she lived with a he's still

3:12

lived in those communities that was like most

3:14

of american journalism and but

3:16

that seems sigma happy most this

3:18

last fifty years where democrats started

3:21

you know they abandon the working class they started to rise

3:23

economically with that type of

3:25

that economy they built that's really good

3:27

for people knowledge into she tops journalist

3:29

started to become more and more highly educated

3:31

he starts make more and more money and now

3:33

they're really in top ten preview really has to

3:35

come from money to even become journalist

3:37

you're actually the uk even worth but the top

3:40

two percent or something but you have

3:42

to go to these really fancy schools you have to take

3:44

all these unpaid internship so you're working

3:46

your way through college you can forget about at the

3:48

new york times npr washington post

3:50

was you journal these people take their interns from the top

3:52

one percent of universities and

3:55

there's no more local news it it's sort

3:57

of disappeared right so the class

3:59

of journal became like

4:01

a it was a status revolution they

4:03

went from being the little by demanding

4:05

justice from the powerful to part of the powerful

4:08

they go to school with the part people who end up

4:10

being politicians that they cover they live in the same

4:12

neighborhoods and all the such and at the same

4:14

time the digital media and

4:16

the way that digital media works is

4:19

am your your the way you measure success

4:21

i mean you notice from your show by is in

4:23

terms of engagement right how many people were

4:25

engaged and you know it's something

4:27

probably also have noticed as like the most

4:29

engaged people are always the most

4:32

extreme so if you're the new york

4:34

times you suddenly have this

4:36

like over educated elite

4:38

class of journalists but you

4:40

wanna be catering to the kids they

4:42

went to to school with who are now living in in the

4:44

same expensive cities because their data

4:46

is is the data that you do matters that they

4:48

they can sell that it, they they can can make a profit off off of luckily

4:51

for them, they know exactly how to to appeal to them

4:53

and how how to appeal to to their their motions because their newsroom

4:55

is made up up of of that exact same class and

4:58

so so, when you you used to to have the situation where

5:00

like you know a a newspaper, let's let's you'd

5:02

have have town that that had was like, 50% democrats

5:04

directors right? and

5:07

then that you you had you know a newspaper

5:09

in this town right so, so this soda

5:11

newspaper right let's say in the seventies right before

5:13

the big sorting the guy who one that

5:15

paper can make a choice i could let my

5:17

journalists report the news in last

5:20

few version right and and get

5:22

all of democrats but then i lose fifty percent

5:24

of townsfolk if i report the new straight

5:26

and having a balanced editorial page and get the whole

5:29

town to read my paper today digital

5:31

media is the exact opposite they don't

5:33

want any of those other readers

5:35

and viewers they only want the

5:37

six percent of americans who are progressive

5:39

more affluent to her living in these coastal

5:41

cities like the it's very targeted and

5:43

because digital media allows you to see

5:46

who everybody is who's reading you

5:48

and your journalists know how to get them

5:50

how to get their emotions going because they know

5:52

what makes them emotional like it was like

5:55

this sort of marriage between a

5:57

new profit motive and then a journalistic

5:59

class that the like uniquely situated

6:01

to talk to

6:02

well that's fascinating thank you also

6:05

know that i'm the i can as

6:07

you described that battier it became

6:10

clear that men that when you

6:12

get to the day a catch up part

6:14

of that that is it again

6:17

how the economic imperatives

6:19

bias the report in of

6:22

news that and also very

6:24

how his lead to an

6:27

, understanding

6:29

of american that say

6:31

cultural life because if

6:33

you read the newspapers if

6:35

you watch the tv shows you

6:37

might feel that this is the

6:39

cultural temperature temperature

6:42

actually it's very small

6:44

subset so in l i suppose

6:46

that the in this war

6:48

that suggests to me is that there is a as

6:51

when you talk about lay and power but

6:53

there are that this late in power our malays

6:56

in power and spiritual phenomena

6:58

that you're dealing with the energy of individuals

7:01

the attention of individuals their

7:03

potential ability of individuals

7:05

galvanized and motivated by

7:08

a relevant ideology to

7:10

transition out of one set of social

7:13

ideals and into a new staff social

7:15

ideals it seems that there's been a

7:17

sort of i'm in a sense b referring

7:19

to the earlier part of our conversation to sort of i

7:21

i cultural coup

7:24

in terms of the kind a linguistic

7:26

alteration and cultural paraphernalia

7:29

that fanatically represents cultural set of ideals

7:32

we have in this of like you know movement progressive

7:34

he's in my again to reiterate when comes actual

7:36

racial gender or call

7:38

eighty to ideas of i'm i'm of course supportive

7:40

of i've always been so cynical about

7:43

that the per the appointment of these

7:45

ideas in corporate and media spices

7:47

and same way though don't think that unique

7:49

leave a particularly care about

7:51

green issues and climate change

7:54

ba that they will utilize these ideas

7:56

were convenient when it comes

7:58

to reboot in

8:00

rig our awakening i dormant

8:03

class that previously had as you say

8:05

five communist newspapers to

8:07

choose from on a silver someone

8:09

robust social democratic

8:11

political movement and may have even

8:13

media class at it now

8:15

we're a situation with our eye on

8:17

, a ignored ,

8:21

at best what kind

8:23

of political movement the

8:25

you think is required to reawaken

8:27

them given that most recent examples appear

8:29

to be of ethno nationalist movements

8:32

or least have been rendered as such

8:34

such as in a trump

8:36

some for an obvious example brakes it's

8:38

in our country and even in countries like india

8:41

with modi aware that dude code

8:43

you know lots of when so that like these retroactive

8:46

kind of nationalists ideas of reawakened

8:49

because precisely because they probably

8:51

have us have nostalgic plug that

8:53

the progressivism by it's nature

8:56

cannot incorporates what

8:58

do think will be a more legit

9:00

, month sell a legitimate

9:02

manifest that will will be pieces of

9:04

legitimate manifesto them every

9:06

of i can this film class

9:09

i was so we're very lucky in america because

9:12

this country was founded on an idea

9:14

rather than and ethnicity of

9:17

, it was racist for long time

9:19

they took all it took many many

9:21

hundreds of she has to some separate

9:24

out that idea from

9:26

the races and structural racism the systemic

9:28

racism in obviously starting with slavery jim crow

9:31

and even today with with

9:33

of the way that policing is done

9:35

still working on aspect me

9:37

know when you listen to someone like

9:39

steve bannon who's not someone i agree

9:41

with about i agree of things but you

9:44

know the stop the steel thing obviously

9:46

are sort of not on that train but

9:48

he he says repeatedly

9:50

that the nationalism were discussing

9:53

here is multiracial multiethnic

9:55

and he was the number one backer of i'm

9:57

cathy barnett and pennsylvania who has

9:59

a black candidate who was an

10:01

the child of rape actually her mother

10:03

was raped when she was eleven years old by

10:05

her father who was twenty one at the time

10:08

and so she was just sort deeply

10:10

deeply conservative

10:13

candidate and she saw herself as the true

10:15

inheritor of the mag a movement and steve

10:17

bannon was one who sort of pushed her up there and

10:19

said this is the real trump candidate even though trumpet

10:21

endorse doctor oz so i

10:23

i i see no reason not to believe

10:26

that the nationalism in that movements

10:28

to algae eaters racists everywhere but

10:30

the nationalism in that movement to me having

10:32

spoken to many many many people who are

10:34

in the mega cab the it is not

10:36

racial at all it's multiracial

10:39

that they have a problem with bringing in immigrants

10:41

to replace them at work ill and

10:44

the last how

10:46

bout racist they called that as though nationalist

10:50

burrito black americans

10:52

it or the biggest group in the democratic

10:55

coalition of the eighty five percent

10:57

them want more rigorous restrictions

10:59

at the border it to call those people

11:01

racist to me as at the site put me

11:03

in that yeah i'm that camp like whatever eighty

11:05

five percent black americans saying i'm that camp

11:08

and and to more so why why did

11:10

the democrats demonize this

11:12

sort of opposition to open borders as

11:14

as racists the gun like

11:17

it like i don't think they did that like cynically

11:19

the same time they are the number

11:21

one consumers of shows

11:24

and pay underpaid you

11:26

know illegal immigrant labor

11:28

whether it's domestic servants am fifty

11:30

percent of illegal immigrants are employed

11:33

as domestic servants and that's not you

11:35

know not doing that in middle america right

11:37

they're doing that blue city folks again it's

11:39

like one of these situations that i see genuinely

11:41

believe this a racial justice issue to

11:43

bring in poor of other countries but

11:46

at same time are lining their pockets with this

11:48

ideology and mandate to hide

11:50

that unconsciously perhaps

11:52

the demonized people were saying these people

11:54

there are you cannot have wage for you

11:56

have an open border like that's just totally obvious

11:59

rates yup or they'll say oh gdp

12:01

rose you know with with mass

12:03

immigration it's like okay gdp

12:05

for who though

12:06

if you're enjoying this join me over a luminary on

12:08

apple podcasts for the rest of discussion of

12:10

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