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Bi-Weekly Discussion - Alternative Media & The Overton Window

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Brian B.
Bi-Weekly Discussion - Alternative Media & The Overton Window

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We're currently hosting our discussions at Café Walnut, not too far from our summer meeting spot in Washington Square Park. The cafe is near the corner of 7th & Walnut in Olde City. The cafe's entrance is below street level down some stairs, which can be confusing if it's your first time. Our group meets in the large room upstairs.

Since we're using the cafe's space, they ask that each person attending the meetup at least purchase a drink or snack. Please don't bring any food or drinks from outside. If you're hungry enough to eat a meal, they have more substantial fare such as salads, soups & sandwiches which are pretty good and their prices are reasonable.

The cafe is fairly easy to get to if you're using public transit. With SEPTA, take the Market-Frankford Line & get off at the 5th Street Station (corner of 5th & Market), and walk 2 blocks south on 5th and then turn right on Walnut Street and walk 2 blocks west. With PATCO, just get off at the 9th-10th & Locust stop and walk 3 blocks east & 1 block north. For those who are driving, parking in the neighborhood can be tough to find. If you can't find a spot on the street, I'd suggest parking in the Washington Square parking deck at 249 S 6th Street which is just a half block away.

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ALTERNATIVE MEDIA AND THE "OVERTON WINDOW":

INTRODUCTION:

In the past two meetups, we addressed the role of universities and the mainstream news media in shaping the "public sphere" - i.e. areas in social life where individuals can come together to freely discuss and identify societal problems, and through that discussion influence political action. This notion of the "public sphere" as an integral part of liberal democracy is related to Karl Popper's idea of the "open society". As a philosopher of science, Popper considered all truth to be provisional & subject to revision, and thus he favored an “open society” where each citizen has the right & duty to engage in critical thinking on matters of public concern. Popper contrasted the “open society” with the “closed societies” of feudalism, communism, and fascism where the authorities determine the official “Truth” and it is relatively fixed and can’t be easily revised even when it’s manifestly wrong. We compared the “open society” to John Rawls’ concept of “reflective equilibrium”, which is the idea that a society can arrive at widely agreed-upon moral principles through public discussion & reflection. If this process is short-circuited by an attempt to impose moral principles from the top-down, it creates a risk that not enough of the populace will “buy into” the official morality and the public sense of a morally binding “social contract” will break down.

This meetup will address the rise of a new facet of the public sphere in the form of "alternative news media". Since alternative media typically seeks to express views that are uncommon, taboo or even censored in the mainstream media, they are often said to be part of a "counter-public sphere". Of course, counter-public spheres are nothing new. Historically, heretics & rebels have always existed, but they were mostly dependent on word of mouth until the invention of the printing press made spreading heresy & sedition much easier. This helps explain why the Protestant Reformation occurred only a few decades after the invention of the movable type printing press.

From America's revolutionary period up through the 20th century, small newspapers, zines & newsletters offered a wide range of political views, albeit with a relatively small audience compared to the major publications & broadcasters based in the major cities. The FCC's Fairness Doctrine, introduced in 1949, prevented both radio & TV broadcasters from giving one-sided coverage of political issues by requiring that the holders of broadcast licenses present controversial issues of public importance in a manner that was—in the FCC's view—honest, equitable, and balanced.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FCC_fairness_doctrine

The rise of cable television in the 1980s circumvented this rule since it wasn't broadcast on public bandwidth, but concerns with attracting a broad audience kept cable news stations from straying too far from centrist political stances until Fox News launched in 1996. However, in 1987, the FCC repealed the Fairness Doctrine after repeated complaints by Republicans that it had a "chilling effect" on free speech, and this led to the rise of conservative talk radio in the 1990s. (NPR offers a center-left political slant on social issues that also draws huge audiences, but more radical left-wing views have never found success on talk radio.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-listened-to_radio_programs#Popular_radio_shows_in_the_United_States

The proliferation of alternative media has accelerated with the introduction of the internet & the transition to Web 2.0, which has allowed for the rise of interactive online media like political blogs, vlogs, and podcasts. The online versions of legacy media outlets still tend to rank among the most popular outlets for political coverage:
https://insights.aelieve.com/website-rankings/news-media/best-political-websites/
http://analytics.podtrac.com/industry-rankings/

However, the most popular bloggers & podcasters now have audiences in the millions, rivaling that of major TV networks & legacy newspapers like the NY Times. Our goal with this meetup will be to assess the way these forms of alternative media bypass the legacy media's gatekeepers & undermine institutional narratives, for better or for worse. We'll start our discussion by looking at the research on media effects and how they tie into theories of the public & counter-public spheres, such as the "Overton window" and "preference falsification". After that, we'll try to ascertain what effect the alternative narratives currently being promulgated on the political left, right & center may be having on public opinion & the political landscape.

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DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR OUR DISCUSSION:

The videos & articles you see linked below are intended to give you a basic overview of some of the major debates over the effects of alternative media on public opinion. As usual, I certainly don't expect you to read all the articles & watch all the videos prior to attending our discussion. The easiest way to prepare for our discussion is to just watch the numbered videos linked under each section - the videos come to about about an hour total. I know that's a lot, but just try to get through as much of it as you can. The articles marked with asterisks are just there to supply additional details. You can browse and look at whichever ones you want, but don't worry - we'll cover the stuff you missed in our discussion.

In terms of the discussion format, my general idea is that we'll address the topics in the order presented here. I figure we'll spend about 30 minutes on each section.

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I. MEDIA EFFECTS & THEORIES OF THE COUNTER-PUBLIC SPHERE:

  • DOES THE DECLINE OF THE "MAGIC BULLET / HYPODERMIC NEEDLE" MODEL AMONG MEDIA SCHOLARS MEAN THAT INDIVIDUALS HAVE ALMOST COMPLETE AGENCY, OR MERELY THAT PUBLIC OPINION EMERGES FROM A VARIETY OF INFLUENCES WITH COMPLEX FEEDBACK EFFECTS?

  • HOW DO MEDIA SCHOLARS THINK THE NEWS MEDIA USES FRAMING, PRIMING & AGENDA-SETTING TO SHAPE PUBLIC OPINION, AND WHAT DO THEY THINK THE MAGNITUDE OF THESE EFFECTS ARE ON PUBLIC OPINION?

  • CONSIDERING THAT POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH INDICATES THAT CAMPAIGN ADS, DEBATES & SPEECHES HAVE AN ALMOST NEGLIGIBLE EFFECT ON ELECTION OUTCOMES (WHICH ARE MOSTLY DRIVE BY THE "FUNDAMENTALS"), HOW SKEPTICAL SHOULD WE BE OF BIG MEDIA EFFECTS ON PUBLIC OPINION?

  • WHY DO POLLS OF POLITICAL SCIENTISTS SHOW THAT THEY THINK FREEDOM OF THE PRESS IS VITAL TO DEMOCRACY IF MEDIA EFFECTS ARE ALMOST NEGLIGIBLE?

  • EVEN IF ALTERNATIVE MEDIA HAS A NEGLIGIBLE EFFECT ON PUBLIC OPINION, CAN IT PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE SMALLER WORLD OF THE "PUNDIT-SPHERE" SIMILAR TO THINK TANKS? OR IS ALTERNATIVE MEDIA BETTER SUITED TO MOBILIZING GRASSROOTS ACTIVISTS?

  • HOW DOES TIMUR KURAN'S THEORY OF "PREFERENCE FALSIFICATION" HELP EXPLAIN HOW PUBLIC OPINION CAN BE ENGINEERED BY ELITES, ONLY TO BE OCCASIONALLY PUNCTURED BY "PREFERENCE CASCADES" THAT LEAD TO RAPID SOCIAL CHANGE? DO HISTORICAL EVENTS LIKE THE FALL OF COMMUNISM & THE ARAB SPRING SUGGEST ALTERNATIVE MEDIA CAN START PREFERENCE CASCADES?

  • HOW DOES THE CONCEPT OF THE "OVERTON WINDOW" HELP EXPLAIN WHY ONLY A NARROW RANGE OF VIEWS ARE CONSIDERED "SERIOUS" AND HOW SOME VIEWS BECOME ALMOST UNTHINKABLE? CAN ALTERNATIVE MEDIA SHIFT THE OVERTON WINDOW - AND IF SO, IS IT BY VOICING OPINIONS AT THE WINDOW'S EDGE OR OUTSIDE THE WINDOW?

1a) Mike Rugnetta, "How DOES The Media Tell You What To Think?" (video - 12:34 min, start at 0:15 & listen to 10:30)

https://youtu.be/F7SzwMJ3MZQ?t=15

1b) Black Pigeon Speaks, "Public Lies, Private Truths: Why Communism Fell & Trump Won" (video - 12:35 min, start at 1:59 & listen to 12:15)

https://youtu.be/v--fNMx86c8?t=117

II. CONSERVATIVE TALK RADIO & THE ALT-RIGHT BLOGOSPHERE:

  • WHY DO CONSERVATIVE PUNDITS DOMINATE TALK RADIO? DOES NPR ACT AS AN IDEOLOGICAL COUNTER-WEIGHT ON THE LEFT?

  • DOES RESEARCH SUBSTANTIATE CHARLES SYKES' ALLEGATION THAT CONSERVATIVE TALK RADIO (ALONG WITH FOX NEWS) HAS CREATED AN "ECHO CHAMBER" (A.K.A. "EPISTEMIC CLOSURE") AMONG CONSERVATIVES BY DE-LEGITIMIZING THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA? DID THIS LEAD TO THE ELECTION OF DONALD TRUMP?

  • DOES THE SUCCESS OF PRAGER UNIVERSITY'S VIDEOS INDICATE THAT A MIX OF TRADITIONAL CONSERVATISM & TALKING POINTS FROM THE "INTELLECTUAL DARK WEB" MIGHT APPEAL TO SIGNIFICANT NUMBERS OF YOUNG PEOPLE?

  • IS SCOTT ALEXANDER RIGHT THAT THE DEFECTION OF CONSERVATIVE JOURNALISTS & READERS FROM MAINSTREAM MEDIA OUTLETS HAS CAUSED "ASYMMETRIC POLARIZATION" OF THE NEWS MEDIA?

  • IS STEVEN PINKER RIGHT THAT THE ALT-RIGHT HAS GAINED POPULARITY AMONG YOUNG WHITE MEN BY SEIZING ON TRUTHS OUTSIDE THE OVERTON WINDOW & SHAPING THEM INTO A RADICAL COUNTER-NARRATIVE?

  • IS ANGELA NAGLE RIGHT THAT P.C. DEBATES ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES AND "TUMBLR LIBERALISM" RADICALIZED YOUNG WHITE MALES & DROVE THEM TOWARDS THE ALT-RIGHT?

  • DOES THE DECLINE OF REBEL MEDIA IN 2017 FOLLOWING THEIR COVERAGE OF THE "UNITE THE RIGHT" RALLY IN CHARLOTTESVILLE INDICATE THAT THE ALT-RIGHT IS DECLINING IN PROMINENCE ONLINE, OR MERELY THAT THE "ALT-LITE" BRAND IS FADING?

2a) Charles Sykes, "The Conservative Radio Host Urging People to Break Out of Their Bubbles" (video - 3:44 min.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDAs3UKw3tI

2b) Angela Nagle, "Kill All Normies: The Online Culture Wars from 4chan and Tumblr to Trump" (video - 6:32 min.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtUSzoEiqHc

III. THE "INTELLECTUAL DARK WEB" (IDW), THE FOUR QUADRANT MODEL OF THE MEDIA & THE RISE OF "ALT-CENTRISM":

  • HOW DOES THE LISTENER BASE OF THE MAJOR IDW PUNDITS COMPARE TO THAT OF MAINSTREAM MEDIA OUTLETS?

  • DESPITE THE IDEOLOGICAL DIVERSITY AMONG THE IDW THINKERS, IS THERE A COMMON SET OF UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS OR ETHICAL PRINCIPLES OTHER THAN SUPPORT FOR FREE SPEECH? IS IT ACCURATE TO CALL THEM "CLASSICAL LIBERALS" & "CENTRISTS", OR DOES THEIR CRITIQUE OF IDENTITY POLITICS AND THE "STANDARD SOCIAL SCIENCE MODEL" MAKE THEM MORE ANALOGOUS TO THE "ALT-LITE"?

  • DO CENTRISTS IMPLICITLY RELY ON THE "HORSESHOE MODEL" OF POLITICS? IS THE "FISH HOOK MODEL" WHICH EQUATES CENTRISM WITH QUASI-FASCISM A VALID CRITIQUE?

  • IS ERIC WEINSTEIN'S "FOUR QUADRANT MODEL" OF MEDIA NARRATIVES HELPFUL IN UNDERSTANDING IDW THINKERS? HOW DOES IT COMPARE TO THE TWO-DIMENSIONAL POLITICAL COMPASS MODEL, ONCE WE REALIZE THAT THE WEINSTEIN BROTHERS BOTH IDENTIFY AS LEFT-LIBERTARIANS?

  • DOES THE FACT THAT MANY IDW THINKERS RELY ON PATREON GIVE THEM MORE FREEDOM TO EXPLORE TABOO TOPICS, OR DOES "MONETIZING OUTRAGE" FROM THE CULTURE WAR DISTORT THEIR INDEPENDENCE & OBJECTIVITY?

3a) Dave Rubin w/ Sam Harris, "What's the 'Intellectual Dark Web' & Why are People Listening?" (video - 7:46 min.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbbdu5rdlNs

3b) Sam Harris w/ Eric Weinstein, "The Four Quadrant Model" (video - 5:34 min, start at 0:13)

https://youtu.be/J0BEMOrkR2I?t=13

IV. THE "DIRTBAG LEFT", EXITING THE "VAMPIRE CASTLE" & THE RETURN OF DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM:

  • WHY ARE LEFT-WING NEWS OUTLETS LIKE ALTERNET, TRUTHOUT & COUNTERPUNCH BEING LABELED AS "FAKE NEWS" BY GOOGLE & HAVING THEIR TRAFFIC THROTTLED?

  • WHY HAVE LEFT-WING PODCASTS SUCCEEDED RECENTLY WHERE PROGRESSIVE TALK RADIO DIDN'T IN THE PAST? IS IT THE POLITICAL CLIMATE, THE MEDIUM, OR BOTH?

  • WHAT SHOULD WE MAKE OF THE DIRTBAG LEFT & JACOBIN LAUDING MARK FISHER'S "VAMPIRE CASTLE" CRITIQUE OF LEFT-WING IDENTITY POLITICS? WAS FISHER RIGHT THAT IDENTITY POLITICS IS A "BOURGEOIS-LIBERAL PERVERSION" OF SOCIAL JUSTICE IDEALS THAT PREVENTS WORKING CLASS SOLIDARITY?

  • CAN THE DIRTBAG LEFT NUDGE THE LEFT'S FOCUS AWAY FROM IDENTITY POLITICS & TOWARDS ECONOMIC ISSUES? WOULD THIS TYPE OF SHIFT HELP THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY ATTRACT MORE VOTERS?

  • IS THE MAINSTREAM LEFT'S DISMISSAL OF THE "DIRBAG LEFT" AS MISOGYNISTIC "BERNIE BROS" MOTIVATED BY ACTUAL MISOGYNY OR MERELY A REACTION TO THEIR VULGAR RHETORIC & REJECTION OF IDENTITY POLITICS?

  • IS JEET HEER RIGHT THAT THE DIRTBAG LEFT'S HECKLING OF THE CENTER-LEFT IS A TYPE OF "DOMINANCE POLITICS" THAT WORKS ON THE AUTHORITARIAN RIGHT BUT CLASHES WITH THE GOALS OF THE EGALITARIAN LEFT?

  • IS THE PLATFORM OF THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS OF AMERICA (DSA) THE BEST WAY TO ENCAPSULATE THE IDEAS OF THE "DIRTBAG LEFT"? DOES DSA OFFER A PLAUSIBLE CRITIQUE OF MAINSTREAM ECONOMICS, OR SHOULD WE LOOK INSTEAD AT POST-KEYNESIANISM & MODERN MONETARY THEORY?

  • IS MCKAY COPPINS RIGHT THAT LEFT-WING ALTERNATIVE MEDIA IS PUSHING CONSPIRACY THEORIES IN A MANNER ANALOGOUS TO RIGHT-WING SITES LIKE INFOWARS, OR ARE RUSSIAGATE SKEPTICS ON THE ALTERNATIVE LEFT PROVIDING A VALUABLE REALITY CHECK FOR THE CENTER-LEFT?

4a) Kyle Kulinski, "The Establishment Is Hammering Independent Left-Wing News" (video - 8:15 min, listen to 6:00)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gulbXI8Q3xI

4b) Michael Brooks, "On Chapo Trap House's 'Bend The Knee'-Gate" (video - 12:39 min, listen to 12:15)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ItGxJilS3U

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Cafe Walnut
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