In recent years it has become almost, ahem, mainstream, to vehemently criticise the mainstream media (MSM). And I guess at times there is good reason to. Yes, there may be political bias, yes there may be sensationalism, yes there may also be an “agenda” at times. But for all the flaws and shortcomings of the MSM, what is the alternative?
In the age of social media, I find the alternative quite terrifying. On all social media platforms everyone effectively has a voice and on one hand that can be viewed as a good thing. The problem though is what these social media platforms have now become; veritable free-for-all cesspools brimming with unverified information. For the non discerning, this is very dangerous. We can be critical all we want of MSM outlets, but at least there are guardrails and filters in place. There is a curatorial and editorial function in place; something that is woefully lacking in the reams of neverending content on Facebook, Twitter/X, YouTube etc.
Even on more respected platforms like Substack there is a problem. Whilst there are many credible journalists and writers who use Substack the problem is that anyone can effectively be a journalist and, unlike with more traditional MSM outlets, there is no editor or verification agent in the house. Thus, we have to question a lot of what we read on these platforms. Especially if the information is unverified.
Unfortunately, many people are lazy and have cognitive biases (including myself) and it is simply too much work to verify everything that we read on social media platforms. At least with MSM publications, regardless of which way they swing politically, we can be rest assured that the information in the articles we read will be verified; whether we agree with it or not.
The decline of the traditional MSM is not something to celebrate and we should be careful what we wish for.
By Nicholas Peart
8th August 2026
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Image: Amani Atra’s Medium
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