I apologize for being away the last couple of weeks. It has been an extraordinarily busy time professionally and personally. Fortunately, it has been as rewarding as it has been busy.
I read a comment the other day – I think on Twitter – that we are returning to the days of pamphlet journalism. Whomever wrote that may very well be correct.
Much of the journalism of the early days, particularly the 17th and 18th centuries, was in the form of pamphlets. These were often arguments for or against a particular government, law, or right. Not at all what we think of as journalism today.
For example, I have heard the pamphlet Common Sense by Thomas Paine, referred to as an early piece of American journalism, and that may well be the case. However, it is clearly a piece of writing that makes an argument that the Americas should be free of British rule. One thing it is not is impartial. It presents a strong argument, more like an extended editorial than a piece of independent “news reporting.”
Today, are we witnessing the same thing with social media? Are people reporting and presenting news and information from a particular point of view and with the purpose of convincing people of a particular idea?
OK. Memes probably aren’t the pamphlets of our time. However, there is no doubting the ability of social media to inform large groups of people and sway opinion. And it can be done from a deliberately specific perspective or with deliberate intention, much like the pamphlets of old.
Are memes or Facebook posts or tweets the pamphlets of our time? Are they the product of citizen-journalism; people trying to sway opinion?
I don’t know. While I have some concerns with the way news is presented on social media, it is a powerful communication tool, just like the ability to print and sell 100,000 copies of Common Sense was in 1776.
