There’s a certain perception of what “respectable journalism” looks like, and this perception is what causes the New York Times and CNN to not immediately rush down the slope to tabloid journalism in pursuit of short-term clicks.
I think this “respectable journalism” image affects newspapers’ behavior because the public has this concept in mind, and many people will consume news less if it seems too far from respectable journalism. Separately, this image also affects newspapers’ behavior because the journalists care about “respectable journalism” to some degree. Monetary incentives are a thing, but “how much do my peers respect me?” is also a thing, and the micro-hedonics of “how much do I respect myself?” are a thing as well.
So what I really want to do is change journalists’ and newspaper-buyers’ conception of what “respectable journalism” is, to have higher standards that are more robust to weird failure modes. That wince of pain people feel when they stray from what feels virtuous (whether for reputational or internal reasons) is exactly the thing society uses to not have everything fall to Moloch as soon as it possibly could.
(Note that I don’t think I’ve provided a satisfactory battle plan here, and I think a good battle plan could well involve finding ways to better align journalists’ economic interests with what’s virtuous, rather than just trying to market virtue to them.)
There’s a certain perception of what “respectable journalism” looks like, and this perception is what causes the New York Times and CNN to not immediately rush down the slope to tabloid journalism in pursuit of short-term clicks.
I think this “respectable journalism” image affects newspapers’ behavior because the public has this concept in mind, and many people will consume news less if it seems too far from respectable journalism. Separately, this image also affects newspapers’ behavior because the journalists care about “respectable journalism” to some degree. Monetary incentives are a thing, but “how much do my peers respect me?” is also a thing, and the micro-hedonics of “how much do I respect myself?” are a thing as well.
So what I really want to do is change journalists’ and newspaper-buyers’ conception of what “respectable journalism” is, to have higher standards that are more robust to weird failure modes. That wince of pain people feel when they stray from what feels virtuous (whether for reputational or internal reasons) is exactly the thing society uses to not have everything fall to Moloch as soon as it possibly could.
(Note that I don’t think I’ve provided a satisfactory battle plan here, and I think a good battle plan could well involve finding ways to better align journalists’ economic interests with what’s virtuous, rather than just trying to market virtue to them.)