In the UK, you need a substantial amount of meta-knowledge about the media outlets and political landscape in order to use news reporting to become more, not less or dis-, informed.
Itβs a shame that the idea of learning media studies and related subjects at school or university were so maligned in the 00s, but probably not a coincidence either.
> In the UK, you need a substantial amount of meta-knowledge about the media outlets and political landscape in order to use news reporting to become more, not less or dis-, informed.
This is most-certainly true, and an interesting corrollary is that journalists themselves very likely underestimate the impact their work can have. Being on the inside, they of course know (because 'everybody knows') that this Daily Mail article about Jeremy Corbyn being a soviet spy (yes, it is real [1]) is utter dreck, basically just popcorn nonsense for bored retirees to flick past on the way to the sports pages. Journalists might have a hard time believing/understanding that people actually trust and respect them, and may even take what they say at face value, with actual consequences.
Of course, their proprieters understand this full-well, which is why e.g. Murdoch is willing to plough endless cash into loss-making endeavours like The Times.
Not that I intend to absolve journalists whatsoever. Their actions have literally destroyed everything (we just haven't realised it yet).
Itβs a shame that the idea of learning media studies and related subjects at school or university were so maligned in the 00s, but probably not a coincidence either.