The News Media Turn People Into Products

Isn't it obvious? News Media companies are businesses that sell caricatures of people. Sometimes these caricatures are positive, like the passionate and determined little kid who raises money for a noble cause. But often these caricatures are negative, like the idiot politician who says something that sounds stupid to some people, true to others, and just funny to most.  

The media's need to produce and subsequently sell caricatures is the unspoken reasoning that underlies +Catherine Rampell's column: The Republicans are right. We in the media suck. 

In her column Ms Rampell states:

We in the media suck because we have rewarded their [politicians'] rampant dishonesty and buffoonery with nonstop news coverage. Which, of course, has encouraged more dishonesty and buffoonery.

 
Why do media companies reward "rampant dishonesty and buffoonery"? Because it sells. Caricatures are provocative, interesting to look at, amusing to talk about. We are more likely to watch a network with caricatures, than a network without them. 

Why does this matter? I haven't heard this much recently, but I remember when, in the nineties, journalists and pundits patted themselves on the back for being the Fourth Estate. In other words an unofficial political force for good. 

I believe the void left by our inability to agree on even fundamental notions of what "good" is has been filled by the profit motive. And that's not to mention the other force in this social dynamic: the desire on the part of many people to be turned into products. 

Which, in the end, makes criticizing the media at least a little disingenuous. On what platform will your message reach the largest number of people? News media platforms, that's what.