In my Media Inquiry submission I attempt to isolate a problem that is emerging involving the fabrication of debate in the specific context of the complex media ecologiez of cross-platform media enterprises. One way to think about this is that journalists or media personalities operating as part of different platforms address each other in such a way as to produce a micro ‘echo chamber’. I describe this as an ‘apparatus of capture’ as it is a way to use niche or specialist media channels and correlative media platforms to assemble a ‘mass’ audience from the aggregated niche audiences.
This can happen ‘accidentally’ as a ‘real’ news story can emerge that is actual news and to some nonsense propaganda produced for the purposes of shifting, for example, political discourse. An example of this is the current furor over Kyle Sandilands’s comments about a News.com.au journalist. How is this an example?
Original story by Alison Stephenson published on News.com.au
Sandilands abusive on-air comments. Sandilands writes for News Ltd platforms.
Story broke by mUmbrella, a non-News Ltd online media enterprise servicing the advertising and media industries.
There were a number of tweets about the mUmbrella story last night. If I have time when I am not at a conference, then I’ll add links to these.
David Penberthy (@penbo) at the News Ltd publication, The Punch, launches a resolutely vitriolic attack at Sandilands and his on-air behaviour.
News.com.au editor Paul Cogan publishes a ‘breaking’ story at roughly 10am the day after that addresses Sandilands’s comments.
As more is published I shall return to this post and add more detail. It will be interesting to see which media outlets publish stories on this.
#Sandilands scandal & the manufacture of debate http://t.co/2SZZKcU4 Good example of what I discuss in my submission to the Media Inquiry