Journalism and the wider media landscape is often considered an important and fundamental pillar of modern liberal democracies, so much so that it is referred to as the “fourth estate” to ensure checks and balances are met in the halls of power. The ostensible watchdog role of the media has, however, been deeply criticised and questioned, with trust in the media seeming to decline further on a global scale (Edelman, 2023). While much of this distrust of the mass media is likely to be mired under accusations of “fake news” and misinformation – with different applications and meanings depending on which direction they are coming from – those buzzwords have been comprehensively covered since their popularisation during the US elections in 2016. A more critical examination of the media, including its role in society (both proclaimed and actual) and how that is carried out in practice, is perhaps better served by viewing journalistic practice through the lens of the overarching systems of power and connectivity in the current era.
Continue reading “The Blind Watchdogs: Barriers of State, Capital and Platforms Against Contemporary Journalistic Practice”Tag: digital commons
The Surveillance of State and Capital and the Collapse of Privacy
An essay on surveillance and data written for university. It was relatively limited around the content of a particular section of the course content, but I took liberties with the approach and by including the commodification of data by the private sector. The premise is that the institutions of state and capital are incapable of ensuring or allowing privacy in an increasingly digitised and data driven world. References are below.
Data collection has become so normalised it is rarely questioned. Big data has been a buzz word for well over a decade, it has been a decade since Edward Snowden revealed the extent of what is essentially the US government’s domestic and international spying via the NSA and various programs, and data has been described by many in the business and tech worlds as the new oil. State and corporate entities have immense power and influence over the modern internet, and dystopian levels of access to personal data. Questions of privacy over security, or privacy over convenience, seem somewhat irrelevant when faced with the question of whether privacy is even possible.
Continue reading “The Surveillance of State and Capital and the Collapse of Privacy”My 2022 Reading List – Part 1
It’s that time of year again where I make note of how little I have written, but at least I’ve made up for it by reading more. Particularly, reading books on topics to ensure that what I did write (mostly university essays) was as polished as possible – and given my grades, for the most part, were good this year, it paid off. So like previous years (linked below), here is the first part of my 2022 reading list. As usual, it is in the order that I completed reading them – so enjoy the jumps between topics.
Continue reading “My 2022 Reading List – Part 1”2021 Reading List (Part 1)
13/12/2021
I have not written anything for a while, having gone from taking a short break at the wind down of university and then straight back into work, and thought that I should get a head start on the yearly reading list review. I hope to add another one or two by year’s end, but I am quite happy with the amount I’ve managed to get through this year. List will be in the order I read them with comments looking back over them, and with a few exceptions I would recommend most of them. Also keep in mind the earlier in the year it was the less precise details I’m going to remember about the book, so bear with that.
Continue reading “2021 Reading List (Part 1)”
Anarchist Rising 