Future of journalism – click numbers and saliva threads

The media, the free press, brave journalism: what and where would we be without them? We would live in muddy, stinking holes in the ground and, staring into space with glassy eyes, rub our genitals while a thread of saliva hangs from our lip. In short: We would be dull barbarians without any sense, ignorant of civilization and culture, eternally condemned to become ever stupider. »Soon you’ll be singing at the top of your voice: / Regression, I’m coming.« (Wiglaf Droste)

What was it that protected us from becoming like this in the past? What taught us to think thanks to the incredible miracle of language? What provided us with new, original thoughts, allowed our minds to blossom and our imagination to awaken by telling stories of and about ourselves, and gave us support and orientation in times of stupidity? That’s right: the press. The fourth estate! The independent, incorruptible, non-partisan newspaper, the assault gun of democracy, going hand in hand with the scientific and cultural development of modernity! It once made people smarter, more critical and more resilient to the threats of populism and propaganda. It enabled the reading population to take part in democratic decision-making and to make well-considered judgments.

The great left-wing German poets and thinkers published in it: Heine, Börne, Tucholsky, Kästner, Elsner and Schernikau, who were denigrated during their lifetime as journeymen without a fatherland. The newspaper printed what had to be said but was sometimes not allowed to be said, mercilessly criticized questionable conditions, brought what was hidden to light, organized social progress and served the ideal of the Enlightenment. Ossietzky’s “World Stage”! The “Spiegel” affair! “We have an abortion!” (“Stern”, June 6, 1971), Woodward and Bernstein!

»Come out, O man, and free yourself from your self-inflicted immaturity! Read the newspaper and understand that it is she who carries the torch of truth through the seemingly endless valley of lies! This is what people once called out to the reader when the finished newspaper, still warm and exuding the invigorating smell of fresh printer’s ink, was sent out on… Kiosk was located.

The good column

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Thomas Blum fundamentally disagrees with the prevailing so-called reality. He won’t be able to change her for the time being, but he can reprimand her, admonish her or, if necessary, give her a beating. So that the bad begins to retreat. We stand in solidarity with his fight against reality. Therefore, from now on, “The Good Column” will appear here on Mondays. Only the best quality for the best readers! The collected texts can be found at: dasnd.de/diegute

Oh well. At least that’s the myth that rumbled through the past two or three centuries relatively unscathed.

Now let’s talk briefly about reality and the present.

A few days ago, a journalist colleague told me the following little anecdote from his editorial team (it is the editorial office of a well-known middle-class daily newspaper based in Berlin): A filmmaker and photographer who had been working for the paper as a freelance journalist for years In selected regions of South America, the latest changes caused by climate change were documented both photographically and expertly described in short essays. A new order was given by the deputy editor-in-chief from one day to the next. Or rather: a new, very specifically formulated directive had been issued to him.

According to the deputy editor-in-chief, the “scientific thing” and the “whole shebang,” “including the word-heavyness,” have all recently proven to be “too complex” and “not fit for the future.” The needs of the reader, especially the online consumer “overwhelmed by too much text ballast,” must be served “differently” and “in a much more modern, contemporary way,” which is why the “content required in the future will be tailored more precisely to user behavior.” must.

So whether he, the experienced photographer and filmmaker, could in the future concentrate on paying attention to “small, draining liquids” in the environment in which he is currently moving and, when the time comes, simply do so as quickly as possible hold the camera on it. Recent surveys have clearly shown that readers liked to watch short videos of “colorful liquids forming foam and flowing in spirals” accompanied by soothing music. These would have an extremely relaxing effect on the readers, who would then not be challenged too much. We need something like that, it is “the future of journalism.” This generates “numbers of clicks that make the place shake.” This is “practically content in its most advanced form”.

I’m not sure whether, in a better future, things other than click numbers and marketing idiots shouldn’t dictate journalism. If you want to relax, you have a variety of options other than reading the newspaper.

In any case, one thing is certain: the colleague mentioned above who told me this story is no longer working in the editorial team of the newspaper mentioned. He resigned shortly after announcing the offensive for more reader-friendly “content” outlined above.