I recently finished the first season of the HBO hit series Succession. For those who haven’t seen it, I highly recommend you do so and know that this post doesn’t spoil any of the show. One of the main characters, Logan Roy, is the founder of a major media company. Waystar is thought to have so much influence on its following that it is seen as responsible for increased levels of conservative opinions. In many ways Logan is similar to Rupert Murdoch, the Australian businessman who founded Fox News and Sky among other news outlets around the world. The influence he has over his large media portfolio puts a great deal of power into the hands of one person. This is the power to influence opinion.
Watching the show got me thinking. To whom does a media company and those in charge of it report to? At face value, I would say to its ownership. Those that control the company can decide the agenda that company follows. But if there isn’t an audience, then for whom is the content made? If no one consumes a company’s content, then they are no longer in business. So, what came first, a media company’s political agenda or people who subscribe to a specific political agenda?
I’m not sure. I would argue that Fox News is responsible for pushing content that validates the opinions held by their following. When given the choice, people would rather have their beliefs confirmed instead of challenged. So, while there is a wide variety of content available coming from multiple viewpoints, most people fail to venture out of their ‘information comfort zone.’ We have freedom of choice when it comes to the information we consume, we fail to use it as a way to consume alternative opinions. While companies like Facebook are blamed for creating media echo chambers, I believe content consumers are just as responsible for allowing such environments to persist.
I've also thought about the fact that media outlets are corporations subject to monetary influence. You bring up a great point that as consumers, we can't change this fact, but use it to our advantage. To some degree, the way we consume media is a reflection of our own biases. However, it's important to remember that these companies will ultimately produce content that sells.
I have also thought about who the responsibility should be on for the echo chamber audiences present on our media, and although it is true that without ordinary people using a service it would have no power, there is a system of indoctrination present which makes people dependent on this media I believe. Especially the younger generation, who will have grown up with social media and will not know anything different. I think the responsibility is twofold here, and I've ever seen Succession, but I'll have to watch it soon.
You posed really great and relevant questions to the media-induced political polarization that is currently existing in the US. I think reporting to and catering to the opinions of your audience is real and valid, especially in the US where everything we see is very consumer-driven. However, I think the most sustainable media channels actually achieve a balanced level of challenging the beliefs of their audiences without belittling or confusing the opinions they have formed. This is where Fox News and other media sources are especially powerful, because these small, consistent changes/challenges to the audience's viewpoint are what truly set the tone for and integrally impact how society thinks and operates.
I completely agree that content consumers are often also to blame for allowing media echo chambers to exist however I think also an important thing to understand is that ordinary citizens (individually) do not have the power to change in many aspects of the world we know today. That is to say, that even with media, or on a bigger scale, politics, the powerful are those who have money and/or some form of political clout. They are able to create massive support for X, Y, Z issue by using their platform or their assets, however the ordinary citizen, while they can vote and do their part in participating in democracy, is unable to use their voice at the same level…
Interesting points you made in this post. I really like the point you made about how people fail to venture out of their "information comfort zone". I definitely want to watch Succession!