I'm thinking of a friend who taught me how to say "watermelon" in Cantonese, except she actually taught me a grotesque insult instead as a joke. When I came up to my mom and grandmother with that word, I was beaten to shreds, ha! My friend knew that she was misleading me. When it comes to societal issues, people may be spreading misleading or one-sided information without even realizing they are.
I'm also immediately thinking of the Sunflower Revolution in Taiwan, where online platforms were created to measure division, and construct consensus. Despite the chaos of the last few post-covid years, we're also seeing a total explosion of alt media sites and indy journalists. I hope we can continue building on this movement in more sophisticated and creative ways, instead of trying to reform corporate media systems.
I was also thinking about a whole collective/cooperative of journalists and media activists who create an updated code of ethics for journalism and media. News platforms can be certified and vetted to see if they align and uphold these code of ethics, with some space for nuance and dialogue. Staff members/leaders of news platforms can collaborate with this collective, and engage and openly discuss with the public their biases and values somehow. Hmmm... too idealistic?
And there's sometimes a difference between valuable content and true content.What a line! I couldn't help but pause, and just take this statement in for a moment. I like that discernment.
The consensus building platform in Taiwan is a great example.
I'd love to see a broad conversation about journalistic ethics take place, and maybe something more structured could come out of that.