The Freak Show in the Center Ring of Our Political-Media Circus

“Matt Drudge is the outsider, the kid with his nose pressed against the window. He grew up with feelings of anger, bitterness towards the system. These kinds of feelings are one’s that lots of Conservatives identify with…. The Drudge Report is really unique in being able to drive stories in the mainstream media. Republican operatives use him…. Drudge has become the ultimate insider in being able to effect the public narrative that is so important in political campaigns.”

Halprin and Harris: “Freak show values and freak show incentives are not on the fringes, but at the center of our media.”

“A bad confluence between weak political organizations and personalities, two polarizing presidents, and a weak media have brought us to this cultural crisis.”

“There’s never been a media that 24 hours a day … emphasizes the attack, the negative, and the superficial over anything else. The current media culture allows the low culture, the attack media politics to dominate.”

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The Blogosphere in the main excels the freak show. The notion of neutral news does not exist any longer. There’s no such thing as a neutral fact…. If you’re a blogger your incentive is always for the most extreme statement and for framing issues in the way that is going to get you the most attention. That’s the signature of what we call ‘The Freak Show.’”

Read Chapter 1 of The Way to Win: Taking the White House in 2008.

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Andrew Keen is PoliticsCentral’s podcasting source for the present and future convergence of media, culture and technology.

You can find his previous podcasts @ AfterTV and his collected writings @ The Great Seduction.

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