Pew does FD

Pew continues to amaze. Uniquely among big organizations, their writing passes the Fairness Doctrine test every time.

It’s NOT HARD to write objectively. You have to know which words and phrases are dog whistles for R or cat whistles for D; and then simply avoid those words and phrases.

Example from their announcement of a new series about the destruction of old journalism:

= = = = = START PEW:

The rise of alternative news sources: Emerging digital sources are occupying more and more space in the news ecosystem. Our studies on digital news consumption show that independent news creators are gaining ground on platforms like YouTube and through podcasts, as well as on alternative social media sites like Rumble, Truth Social and Gab. And the people who visit these platforms are finding diverse content, communities to connect with, and news they trust. For example, a vast majority of podcast listeners who get news from podcasts (87%) expect the news there to be mostly accurate. In fact, 55% trust the news they hear on podcasts just as much as other sources, and 31% trust it even more.

= = = = = END QUOTE.

Just the facts. Rumble, Truth Social and Gab are listed WITHOUT any of the relentless and drably predictable nastiness. Pew observes that people expect accuracy and trust their own media, and again skips the temptation to call the trust bad or to call the sources mis/dis/malinformation.

Objectivity requires both knowledge of the whistles and rigorous self-censorship to avoid the whistles. It’s not mysterious, you just need discipline, and NOBODY ELSE seems willing to exercise the discipline.

The underlying principle is equally non-mysterious. A business that wants to succeed should avoid losing potential customers. Big journalism pretends to be running a business that sells “news”, but in fact their SOLE BUSINESS is demonizing half of their customers and cultifying the other half. They’re a weird religious sect, not a business, and should be treated as such.

And in fact the customers ARE treating big journalism as a cult, and are leaving steadily. Most of the cult media are failing fast. Many have collapsed entirely. Others have fired half of their employees over the last 10 years. When you fire half of your customers, you should EXPECT to fire half of your employees. Basic arithmetic.

Pew also finds that the cult employees are HAPPY with their destructive work. Again this is religious behavior, not business behavior. Ascetic fanatics who want to purify the world by killing most of the world are always happy with their mission.