The left has gained a kind of cultural supremacy. And as a result, the web became a more transgressive space and that empowered the right because being transgressive is just about attacking whatever the dominant culture is. I really do think the road to extremism for so many people began from a very non-ideological place...and then they're suddenly waging a heroic battle for Western civilization.
Have clicks, likes, and shares driven media and democracy to the point of disrepair? Sean Illing is joined by Ben Smith, the editor-in-chief of Semafor and the author of "Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral." Together, they discuss how newsrooms were transformed by social media and the pursuit of traffic, and what the future of the industry might look like.
Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area
Guest: Ben Smith (@semaforben), editor-in-chief of Semafor, author of Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral
References:
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This episode was made by:
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Engineer: Patrick Boyd
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Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall
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