WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD

One of the things that does my head in is that discussion (in oral and written forms) seems to have become an endangered species in 2018. Points of view, opinions and even the humble exposition are notable for their failure to leave footprints in the comfortable turf that’s been laid around our ranches. I also reckon that it’s a relatively recent development that has brewed for only a decade or so but it is now a strong marker of our times.

 
What is also strange is that we live in an age where data generation is increasing at dramatic rates yet information which helps to order and explain such data is missing in action. It feels like the ‘understanding’ filters have been switched off and we carry on as if everything’s cool.

I believe that one of the reasons for this lies in the changing structures and roles of the media and by the media I mean both the traditional ‘mass media’ and the networked fourth estate. The transformations that have occurred in the way we receive information are immense but news journalism is definitely on the wane. Print media mastheads are disappearing and boutique journals and periodicals have sadly become a thing of the past. The opportunities for encountering anything slightly left or right of the dunderhead centre are, likewise, dwindling. 

Television has become a dystopia of reality abominations, magazine shows that promote the former abominations and, then, generous repeats of both on the same daily cycle. We’re served lashings of who’s going to kiss/ fuck who interspersed with infomercials on how to make your arse look bigger/ smaller in prep for those all-important warmer months. Based on my scant knowledge of idiot box programming, we punters can expect to have an outstanding knowledge of when to commence sentences with 'So..’, to feel in our bones when some twit is ‘going home’ if that fuckin’ cake doesn’t rise and to nod approvingly as a couple of privileged clothes horses ride in some ancient gun carriage around a castle. If current television is to be the touchstone for knowledge acquisition, then we’re in trouble. Just as importantly, there is no demilitarised zone between fact and fiction. You can’t confidently peg either on the box. I won’t even start on the virulent stereotyping.

Social media pose different challenges when searching for discourse. There was definite potential even just a few years ago when newsfeeds often included links to online media sources but, sadly, these have virtually disappeared. Places like Facebook are now more interested in profiling the user for advertising purposes. Zuckerberg Land is primed for tagging you as an arthritic big titty follower rather than as a punter searching for more information. Moreover, the Lazy Susan of everyday ‘experiences’ of users- along with their selfies- spins round and round so quickly that you wonder if you’re in May or November. There are only a certain amount of ‘Can’t believe it’s been…’ or ‘Can’t wait for…’ status updates that can be endured. Discourse is like a white rhino and both futures’ markets appear bleak.

Even in the political sphere, the Tweedledee and Tweedledum of left and right political parties has firmed. Here in Australia, our major adversarial parties loiter around the margins of policy making without addressing the challenges that confront the lucky country. At a time when gaps are widening in terms of income, health and education, both Coalition and ALP tribes seem intent on selecting a slightly different shade of beige when pissing around their stomping grounds to create the illusion of choice. Reasoned research and analysis are trumped by the imperative of capturing a moment in the news cycle. Neoliberalism is far from dead and political parties only reflect the need for us plebs to be uninformed. Worse still, they’re uninformed and increasingly ruled by focus groups and news polls.

Surprisingly, I don’t think that all is lost concerning some form of worthwhile discourse. It may be that it’s now just harder to find. A new brief for retirement might be beckoning.