Media Mobs
Matt Taibbi correctly (& ruthlessly) identified the devolution of journalistic reporting. From an erstwhile bastion of independent thought into a vengeful mob exacting absolute compliance into a hyper-moralistic gospel that kills Media's societal function to create a nationally shared narrative for the consumption of all. He/She who dares to report something that veers from the established narrative will be excommunicated. As if these times of crisis needed an extra layer of difficulty. I am afraid the de facto abdication of Media's role to present an objective, shared narrative (driven by the atomization of the industry) is the direct result of the adoption of social media by journalists. In a sense, I pity them. Faced with the evisceration of jobs in their industry (pushed by the death of print in general & and of local press in particular), they resort to building clout online on Twitter, Instagram & Facebook as a fallback plan in case they get fired. Since t