Two important stories today about the media and their experts.
One quick note: How much of what these experts are saying is really that important? Restricted to sound-bites, it's not clear that they are providing more information than an average person could muster with a few hours of study.
The media relies more on celebrity than on expertise; expertise is construed, so that celebrity can be granted. Whether or not they are experts, they can't present themselves as such. So the media gives them a name: expert. Now we'll listen.
But compare these experts to those on programs like Bill Moyer's Journal. Nothing challenging, no gotchas; but give anyone 20 minutes and you don't have to be an expert to know whether someone else is. To control the media: rather than what an expert knows, they must control who an expert is.
One quick note: How much of what these experts are saying is really that important? Restricted to sound-bites, it's not clear that they are providing more information than an average person could muster with a few hours of study.
The media relies more on celebrity than on expertise; expertise is construed, so that celebrity can be granted. Whether or not they are experts, they can't present themselves as such. So the media gives them a name: expert. Now we'll listen.
But compare these experts to those on programs like Bill Moyer's Journal. Nothing challenging, no gotchas; but give anyone 20 minutes and you don't have to be an expert to know whether someone else is. To control the media: rather than what an expert knows, they must control who an expert is.
No comments:
Post a Comment