Good information needs hard work

Information that is too easy to come by is usually a sign that a lot of money has gone into making it available to you. Money is what removes the friction. Money is the grease that oils the cogs of message production.

Things work so well for the manipulators of the message — those who ‘manufacture consent’ — because they have full control of the media that is consumed with so little friction. Both TV and the newspapers are controlled by and for the interests of those who rule. And by ‘rule’, don’t think I’m talking simply of those in government. We no longer have a democracy (because money skews and distorts votes, policies, and management of the economy as a whole) so government tends to be simply the most amenable representatives of the dominant corporate interests. So, those in charge of government policy are also in charge of the media that presents those policies as ‘best for Britain’. What could possibly go wrong? Well, not much for them but a lot for the rest of us.

Alternative voices are available. Much of the writing and journalism on alternative media sites far outshines the stenography, repetition, and relentlessly on-message output available across corporate media. The friction in consuming this media takes the form of the effort involved in hunting it down. It’s not going to drop onto your doormat or shout loudly at you from the newsstands. It’s not going to be represented on political news shows on TV or radio. For all the mass penetration of social media and the internet in general, alternative media still…