Independence.
The Case for Independent Journalism.
This post was originally published 7/8/2024 in the Aemula Letter Archive, accessible via aemula.com
The independence of the press is vital to our ability to make informed decisions through the use of quality information. Without freedom of speech, journalists are unable to accurately report facts to hold those in power accountable. Once the societal narrative is controlled by the few, we are unable to optimize the decisions made on behalf of the population.
Over recent weeks, we have heard increasing accounts of journalists facing opposition to publishing pieces that would have exposed necessary and new information to millions of people. However, stories about censorship often fail to garner any significant attention since they lack headline scandals. Censorship in today’s media rarely takes the form of an egregious abuse of power. Instead, it takes place through subtle pressures within the cultures of major publications, algorithmic suppression of article reach, lack of resources for independent writers, and many other excuses that explain away how a news story breaks.
Without apparent malicious intent, there is nowhere to point the finger. At the end of the day, even the largest publications are just made up of people with the same human flaws as you and me. The problems in our news distribution systems are merely symptoms of organizations serving their own best interests — which is to be expected. You cannot blame the people that make up these organizations when the business models they operate in create incentives for these errors to persist.
Bias will always exist wherever real people are sharing their true thoughts. Any attempt at eliminating these biases will always be in vain. Instead, the answer is to welcome all perspectives and allow everyone to freely expand their own understanding of alternate points of view. As long as incentives are aligned towards promoting quality, factual content, the community will inevitably discover a consensus view. There is not a short-term solution. It takes time to allow for shifts in perspective.
To weather the long term, we must create a stable environment in which everyone can operate independently. Through a transparent and robust protocol for sharing and moderating information, we can ensure that all participants can trust the credibility of their news sources and the algorithms that serve them.
The only solution to these problems is to create decentralized systems that are controlled, governed, and moderated by individuals acting independently. From this structure, we can recreate the resources and support of the current centralized newsrooms, while empowering independent writers to take full ownership of their reputation and reporting. The ultimate benefit is to the readers who are then able to consume high-quality, factual content from diverse sources without spending hours of their own time self-selecting the information that they read.
This is an optimistic vision. The community and resources necessary to compete in today’s media landscape will not come easily. However, we can push forward with confidence knowing that demand for a solution is growing, creating an attractive opportunity to not only disrupt the $30b U.S. Newspaper Publishing industry, but expand it.
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