Journalistic both-sides coverage can be weaponized to manufacture public ignorance

Evidence

The signal characteristic of agnotology is that it makes use of these journalistic inclinations to venture beyond simple difference of opinion in order to promulgate artificial “authorities” and calculated deception, not just to sway public opinion, but to foster the widespread attitude that there is so much unfocused controversy rattling around in the rarified world of intellectuals that the poor average citizen might as well believe whatever he pleases. It is the predicament of the hapless consumer of modern news: one study tells me red wine is good for my health, and another insists it is unhealthy! John Cochrane says the crisis is all the fault of the government, while Joe Stiglitz blames it all on the banks! By a simple jujitsu move, the mechanical journalist’s appeal to objective presentation of “both sides” is turned into an imprimatur for the public to believe whatever their guts tell them is correct, at least until the marketplace of ideas delivers its final verdict. The aim of agnotology is not so much to convince the undecided, but to fog the minds of anyone lacking the patience to delve into the arguments in detail (which is pretty much everyone). — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 628

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines agnotology’s core mechanism: using journalistic norms of balance to manufacture consent for ignorance rather than persuade.
• XREF: Connects to the chapter’s thesis that agnotology is one of four horsemen of the neoliberal ‘Absolution from Apocalypse’; also echoes Koch-funded climate denial tactics. — connects to: Defensive press framing reframed contradictory worker data as neutral truth for all. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2085; Broadcasting’s formal balance of two sides distorts unequal real-world conflicts; Evenhanded journalism can itself bias public scientific belief — Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall, The Misinformation Age: How False…, 61 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Broadcasting’s formal balance of two sides distorts unequal real-world conflicts #expands (0.92)