I know I am biased, but sometimes – and now seems to be one of those times – the primacy of authorised, trusted news sources needs to be restated, and the intrinsic value of a product where complex arguments are not constrained to 280 characters. Musk’s purchase of Twitter has refocused minds on how we learn about the world, and whether his idea that Twitter can become an unimpeachably reliable means of getting information actually holds any water.
It does seem implausible, and runs contrary to Musk’s other ambition, to make his platform an uncurated free-for-all, giving the cranks, conspiracy-theorists and rabble-rousers the same air time as presidents and prime ministers. This may be, but it’s much more in the interest of the originator rather than the consumer.
It’s all well and good for Musk to give every citizen of the world an equal chance with the klaxon, but spare a thought for those on the receiving end. The burden of discrimination between the crackpot and the credible is handed to the reader. Now, I’m not saying that you can believe every word you read in a newspaper, but at least there is a base line of trust, authority and history that offers the reader a degree of comfort.
Mine, of course, is the jaundiced evidence of someone with a vested interest. So I will call as my witness the pop star Katy Perry who, in a recent tweet to her 108 million followers, added another counterpoint to Musk’s bid for the global domination of news. She talked about “the sound of a crisp new newspaper being read over breakfast for an hour or so”. I don’t know who’s got that amount of time for breakfast, but I love her passion for the printed word.
So there it is. Form and function. It’s the basic principle on which all great objects are designed, and something to bear in mind the next time Musk gets on his virtual soapbox.
Simon_Kelner ipaperviews Hmm… worth noting that the previous US President was a crank, conspiracy theorist and rabble-rouser… 🤔
Simon_Kelner ipaperviews Newspapers are afraid of losing their power. They’ll do any hit piece on Elon and Twitter.
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