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The Economics Of The Media Aren't The Problem Today

Adam Ozimek

Things sure seem angry out there today. On social media, on television, even in person, people are angry about politics and perhaps just overall. Why is that? Russ Roberts has a post on Medium asking the question. I'll start with a few quotes from Russ that summarize where he sees the problems and what is causing them. First, he argues that the problem stems from the economics of media today:

What has changed is our ability to feed and indulge our tribalism, particularly with news and politics. This new-found ability is the result of the transformation of the news and information landscape. It began with cable news. The internet has taken it to a new level.

The competition among the media, in Russ's telling, spurs them to give readers content that is exactly the fit, comfort, and style they want:

I think that’s increasingly the way the internet lets people get their news. Fit, comfort, and style.

People want to consume news that that fits their preconceived notions.

People want to consume news that makes them comfortable.

People want to consume news or hold views that that their friends expect and respect.

Fit, comfort, style.

And this is leading reporters to be louder and angrier:

I see reporters at respected outlets making claims that don’t hold up. Reporters I follow on Twitter who work for top-tier media outlets are also competing for attention. They seem louder, angrier and more partisan than reporters were in the past.

There's a lot of wisdom in what Russ writes. And in 2015, I don't know I would have found anything to disagree with in this post. But in 2018 I think Russ is missing the forest for the trees, and he is not the first person I see doing this. That's the reason for this post. I believe that many conservatives and libertarians with calm, see-the-flaws-of-both-sides, anti-tribalist mentalities are missing the story today.

To be instinctively drawn to seeing the flaws of both sides, and to be turned off by the major left and right tribalism, is usually a healthy heuristic that on average leads you to see the world more clearly. And I'd say this mentality fairly describes myself. But as much as I truly don't like leftward lurch of Democrats I'm seeing, and as much as I think many liberals are allowing themselves to be driven into an unproductive fury, the story in 2018 is simply that Donald Trump is an outrageous president.

To take it back to Russ's post, he wonders why he is seeing more reporters be angry these days. The both-sides anti-tribalism mentality is drawn to explaining this with stories about the underlying economics of media, and how people seek comfort in tribalism. Instead, I think reporters are made at a President who gratuitously and gleefully shreds norms.

There are many kinds of both-sides-ists, including liberals, conservatives, and libertarians, but I think the conservatives and libertarians of this persuasion are farthest adrift today. I think their problem is this: when they see liberals get really really mad, they have a very hard time not being oppositional about that. I get that feeling, really I do. If you've been reading my articles for years, you know I can get worked up about the left on certain topics too. And Donald Trump has and will continue to cause a lot of overreactions, and it's important to critique these overreactions.

So what happens is the annoyance at the reaction from the left dulls the initial anger that many feel at stuff Trump does. He says something really truly awful, and both-sides-ists get mad and react. But then they are distracted by overreactions to it. And their initial outrage at the President fades and is replaced by the same comforting anti-tribalist instincts that normally serve them so well.

The problem is also especially acute among conservatives and libertarians because we hold closer the front of mind outrages of the other side even when we are instinctively anti-tribal. I think if a very liberal President was saying and doing the things Trump is saying and doing, Russ and other anti-tribalist conservatives and libertarians would not be missing the forest for the trees. If even Obama had said of a P.O.W. "I like people who weren't captured", this outrage would never be more than a second from their minds and posts about why reporters are angry wouldn't focus on the economics of the media.

But folks, you must not lose the forest for the trees. Tribalism may be in high gear at the moment, but only one side is being lead by Donald Trump. These are not normal times. Russ warns about comforting stories that fit well. I urge him and others who find comfort in anti-tribalism to not be lured into such stories themselves.


