This is the third in a series of micro-essays I developed from a talk I gave in 2018. The talk and essays explore foundational truths I’ve learned during the first half of my statistically-expected life.

Anything with commercial breaks or advertising is entertainment.

If content gets interrupted for a “message from our sponsor,” the content stops being news, discourse, journalism, political debate, education, etc. The monetization strategy initially compromises the content, and quickly dictates the content entirely.

Think about it this way: What is the goal of a television show that contains advertising? Simply put, it’s profit. How does the show’s producer maximize that profit? By extracting the largest fees possible from advertisers. How does the producer maximize the fees it charges advertisers? By attracting the largest audience possible. What’s the most effective way to build an audience—by airing thoughtful discourse about political theory, sociology, and economics? Not by a long shot. The most effective way to maximize viewership is by televising a train wreck, pointing a finger at someone as the culprit, and crucifying them on-screen.

A very strong pattern has emerged across all advertising-supported media: (1) spectacle followed by (2) outrage. That one-two punch reliably generates engagement, which then reliably generates advertising revenue and profits for the producer. The out-of-band drama adds perceived meaning to the concrete events (sports contests, politicial debates, etc), which attracts ever larger, more engaged (outraged) viewing audiences.

No media is immune. An ad-supported business model demands the replacement of thoughtful, thought-provoking content with whatever entertainment delivers the most people to the waiting advertisers. TV, radio, social media, newspapers, magazines, and mobile apps all follow the same pattern—attract an audience and sell it to the highest bidder.

In the universe of ad-supported media, the content is an input material, not the finished product. Ad-supported media delivers people. You are the product. This idea’s status as a tired cliché doesn’t make it less true.

Why does this matter? Because once content becomes entertainment, it’s no longer optimized for truthfulness, insight, relevance, or instruction. On the contrary, pursuing those ideals would generally hinder the producer’s goal of maximizing advertising revenue since thorough, balanced discussions between sincere people aren’t good television. And once sincerity and relevance are no longer the goal, the content inevitably gets distorted in whatever way makes it the most entertaining. For content produced strictly as entertainment, this isn’t a problem. However, when entertainment masquerades as journalism or information, it conditions the audience to believe things about the world which are simply not true. And people who make decisions based on bad data make bad decisions.

TAKEAWAY: Incentives are everywhere and the matter. When presented with content, trace back through the chain of incentives. Understand why content was created and how it reached you. We humans often conflate the vehicle and the cargo.

RSS