The nattering nabobs of Negativism
Thank Spiro Agnew for the title of today’s opus.
Mr. Agnew, much like Mr. Trump, had an acrimonious relationship with members of the media. His quote may have been misdirected, but it does manage to hit the bullseye in a fashion. Certainly in today’s world of online and instant criticism of just about everything, the world certainly has more than its fair share of “nattering nabobs of negativism” on just about any subject you may care to check into.
Any outlet you care to look at has all of these folks you can shake the proverbial stick at. Twitter, led by the occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, is a service built on instant gratifications. You can share you inner most thoughts on the latest and greatest with anyone willing to follow your feed. And while Pres 44 didn’t see the need to go online, even to the point of surrendering his Blackberry before taking office, I fear that going forward we will have some social media czar to oversee the word coming forth from the presidential keyboard. A bad habit to be sure, but one that too many followers have become addicted to, for better or worse.
It certainly doesn’t stop with Twitter. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube… Your dissemination channel of choice allows you to share what you did in the last 30 seconds with a wide and often well-targeted audience. From this corner of it all, it appears that we have gone from what used to be the standard of “get it right before you share it” to “get it before someone else does, even if you get it wrong”. Even more troubling is how getting a message crafted to influence an audience has become the most important thing.
Now, you have to excuse me. I grew up in an era when news and information was disseminated by trusted sources in newspapers, on radio and television, who in turn had to verify the subject with a reliable source. If you got something wrong, you had to retract that statement you made and offer an apology. Publicly! And if that happened more often than not, those trusted sources became not so trusted, often looking to explore other fields of endeavor.
Today, we just get cries of “fake news” and “alternative facts” if something turns out not to be as initially represented. And it’s on to the next news cycle before anyone has a chance to really set the record straight.
Sadly, this does not start or end with politics. You can see it played out in sports, entertainment (movies, tv, and theme parks), hospitality reviews and more on a daily basis. Take for example, Star Wars. There is a vocal group of fans who have used the online presence to spike response to anything they don’t care for in the Star Wars universe. You name it, if they don’t like it, they use the power of social media to share why they don’t like it. Actors, directors, writers, story points, cinematography… all have had their detractors and all of those willing to stand up and share in glorious 4K Technicolor with anyone who will listen just what it is (often in the most excruiating detail) they take issue with. And you can see just how the effect has been as box office takes have dropped with this latest trio of films. So much so, that the rumor mill is at work overtime on what the future holds for all parts of Disney’s Star Wars franchise.
You name it, we got folks willing to share. Especially if they can make a name for themselves in the process. And not just amateurs, either. The professionals at Fox News and other outlets around the greater media co-prosperity sphere of influence have taken the bit in their teeth and are in for the long haul. The 20 mule team has nothing on these folks. Information has become entertainment or infotainment, if you will. If it makes for a good sound byte or Tweet, that is all that matters.
“When the legend becomes the fact, print the legend.”