Shredding Public Knowledge

Why the Trump administration (and a lot of other people) are trying to kill journalism, and what we can do to stop them. Subscribe to Andrea Pitzer's Degenerate Art newsletter to support Next Comes What and get Andrea's posts first: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/subscribe Read the post that inspired this episode: https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/shredding-public-knowledge Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/s768y0SrCp8  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@degenerateartnews In this week's episode, Andrea Pitzer looks at a new report on journalism from the Roosevelt Institute that reveals how corporate interests have prioritized power and profit, shattering news organizations and journalism itself. She goes further than the report to suggest that the current attack is not just on journalism but all public institutions in the US, from universities to public schools, hospitals, and the very idea of independent knowledge. This suppression of the right to know facts and establish reality is a hallmark of authoritarians, and Andrea outlines a few past examples from around the world. Journalism in the US has faced creeping destruction for decades, but now it's all accelerating with devastating speed, not only on the corporate side, but as a direct result of White House actions: through personal attacks on journalists, the recent White House "media bias" project, the stripping of credentials from any real Pentagon Press Corps, and more. The Roosevelt Institute report outlines how public-interest obligations have been ignored, and media institutions have been made vulnerable to capture in ways that leave them unable to withstand authoritarian pressure. Andrea looks at those reporters and outlets who are still fighting the good fight, and closes with what you can do to help. Get the full report: https://rooseveltinstitute.org/publications/political-economy-of-us-media-system/