0 Persons are tagged with #democracy

#democracy

prplcdclnw@diasp.eu
David

Democracy Dies Behind Paywalls

The case for making journalism free—at least during the 2024 election

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/04/paywall-problems-media-trust-democracy/678032/

I learned of this article on Techdirt. I keep JavaScript off by default, so I have no trouble reading this. See if you do.

It almost feels like a publicity stunt. They put an article called "Democracy Dies Behind Paywalls" behind a paywall. It's like performance art. I think it's very funny.

Here's a bit of the Atlantic article.

Paywalls create a two-tiered system: credible, fact-based information for people who are willing to pay for it, and murkier, less-reliable information for everyone else. Simply put, paywalls get in the way of informing the public, which is the mission of journalism. And they get in the way of the public being informed, which is the foundation of democracy. It is a terrible time for the press to be failing at reaching people, during an election in which democracy is on the line. There’s a simple, temporary solution: Publications should suspend their paywalls for all 2024 election coverage and all information that is beneficial to voters. Democracy does not die in darkness—it dies behind paywalls.

See also "The Truth Is Paywalled But The Lies Are Free" at https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/08/the-truth-is-paywalled-but-the-lies-are-free/

#the-atlantic #paywalls #democracy #free-journalism #election #funny #media #news #journalism

Democracy Dies Behind Paywalls

The case for making journalism free—at least during the 2024 election

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tord_dellsen@diasp.eu
Sunyata ☸ 👨🏻‍💻

Michael Parenti on the ruling class' concern with our thinking/perceptions

"But they don’t care about what we think. They turn a deaf ear to us," some people complain. That is not true. They care very much about what you think. In fact, that is the only thing about you that holds their attention and concern. They don’t care if you go hungry, unemployed, sick, or homeless. But they do care when you are beginning to entertain resistant democratic #thoughts. They get nervous when you discard your #liberal complaints and adopt a #radical analysis. They do care that you are catching on as to what the motives and functions of the national security state and the US global empire are all about at home and in so many corners of the world. They get furiously concerned when you and millions like you are rejecting the pap that is served up by corporate #media and establishment leaders.

By controlling our #perceptions, they control our society; they control public #opinion and public #discourse. And they limit the range and impact of our political #consciousness. The plutocrats know that their power comes from their ability to control our empowering responses. They know they can live at the apex of the social pyramid only as long as they can keep us in line at the pyramid’s base. Who pays for all their wars? We do. Who fights these #wars? We do or our low-income loved ones do. If we refuse to be led around on a super-patriotic, fear-ridden leash and if we come to our own decisions and act upon them more and more as our ranks grow, then the ruling profiteers’ power shrinks and can even unwind and crash—as has happened with dynasties and monarchies of previous #epochs.

We need to strive in every way possible for the revolutionary unraveling, a #revolution of organized #consciousness striking at the #empire’s heart with full force when #democracy is in the streets and mobilized for the kind of irresistible upsurge that seems to come from nowhere yet is sometimes able to carry everything before it.

There is nothing sacred about the existing system. All economic and political #institutions are contrivances that should serve the interests of the #people. When they fail to do so, they should be replaced by something more responsive, more just, and more democratic.

--- Michael Parenti, in his book Profit Pathology and Other Indecencies (highlights added by me)

#MichaelParenti #capitialism #oligarchy #RulingClass

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digit@iviv.hu
Digit

Both Humza Yousaf & Rishi Sunak seem more selected than elected.

#thisisnotwhatdemocracylookslike = #selectednotelected.
Both seem removed from popular opinion, even deranged from reality.
#weareinalotoftrouble #notthecriteria #fortrue #democracy #inthe #uk #and #scotland
(ps...)
(And why does #england not have its own devolved assembly like scotland and #wales?)
(And as i ask that pointed question, I realise I dont know who's the leader of the welsh assembly, so look it up, and, Humphrey Vaughan ap David Gething, new fella, just last month. So was he actually more genuinely elected, and not selected by the inner party? "Gething won the Welsh Labour leadership election to replace Mark Drakeford and become First Minister of Wales, making him the first black leader of any European country." ... because it does look a bit funny, like triple try-hard tokenisation. I hope that's not the racist criteria. Though worse, is their undemocratic selling us out, to their corrupt masters, club, clique, class, etc.
It would be nice to have democracy.)
(I am increasingly appreciative of the perspective that political parties are not a good thing.)

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brainwavelost@nerdpol.ch
brainwavelost

What challenging statements.

On the margins of propaganda battles, our enemies deliberately resort to shameless substitution of concepts. The West's seizure of "Ukraine" is called "liberation from the Russian dictatorship." And planting and supporting a bastard #neo-Nazi regime created by a comedy series actor is "supporting #democracy and freedom." Conversely, our efforts to preserve the common Russian space are described as Russian "intervention" and "occupation."

All normal people have long understood that this is a lie. Healthy political forces in the world are also gradually becoming aware of the true state of affairs.

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khobo4ka@pod.geraspora.de
khobo4ka

According to the latest draft text of the controversial EU Child Sexual Abuse Regulation proposal leaked by the French news organization Contexte, which the EU member states discussed, the EU interior ministers want to exempt professional accounts of staff of intelligence agencies, police and military from the envisaged scanning of chats and messages (Article 1 (2a)). The regulation should also not apply to “confidential information” such as professional secrets (Article 1 (2b)). The EU governments reject the idea that the new EU Child Protection Centre should support them in the prevention of child sexual abuse and develop best practices for prevention initiatives (Article 43(8)).

“The fact that the EU interior ministers want to exempt police officers, soldiers, intelligence officers and even themselves from chat control scanning proves that they know exactly just how unreliable and dangerous the snooping algorithms are that they want to unleash on us citizens,” commented Pirate Party MEP Patrick Breyer.

https://www.patrick-breyer.de/en/leak-eu-interior-ministers-want-to-exempt-themselves-from-chat-control-bulk-scanning-of-private-messages/

It just keeps on crawling back time and time again like a freaking zombie

#chatcontrol #Chatkontrolle #chatcontrole #privacy #europe #democracy #surveillance

Leak: EU interior ministers want to exempt themselves from chat control bulk scanning of private messages

According to the latest draft text of the controversial EU Child Sexual Abuse Regulation proposal leaked by the French news organization Contexte, which the EU member states discussed, the EU interior ministers want to exempt professional accounts...

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