Financialized media structures actively block imagining alternatives to capitalism.

Evidence

Taming and resisting capitalism, however, are merely tactics that neutralize harm, they are not transformative strategies. In the face of global climate collapse, accompanied by increased authoritarianism, imperialism, social injustice, and global immiseration, the question of overcoming capitalism itself has returned to prominence. Dismantling capitalism entails the gradual transition to a system more democratic, egalitarian, and participatory. Our media system could play a role in this transition were it to present a more diverse array of stories and ideas with which citizens could imagine and experience the many possible alternatives to capitalism. … To the contrary, the current financialized media system actively impedes such a transition because of its structure that rewards profit extraction and derivative content. — Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, 466

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s whole project: the claim that ownership structure shapes what stories can be told is the thesis payoff — a financialized structure precludes depicting alternatives to capitalism.
• SEED: Article angle: does mainstream narrative media actually exclude depictions of post-capitalist societies, and if so is the constraint structural (finance) or merely cultural (taste)?