It used to be commonly held that “All politics is local.” Meaning most voters are most concerned about issues directly affecting their lives. Self-interest generally trumped broader causes. Whether Democrat or Republican, the majority of the electorate gravitated towards the center where a commonality of core beliefs was broadly shared. Political junkies kept to themselves. One’s party affiliation was anybody’s guess. Politics and religion were taboo topics faithfully avoided in everyday conversation. Socialization was mostly an avoidance of differences.  

Today, globalization and e-interconnectivity have made politics a religiously practiced obsessive part of our social identity and a far more worldly impact upon our daily lives. Now, overt partisanship rules the day, every day, 24-7. Facebook plays up the sociopolitical division to enhance a bottom line based on polarization. Adversarial addictiveness is a calculated goal. Ultra-partisanship goes viral. Controversy is everything. Truth is arbitrary. Opinion need not be factual. The important thing is constant immediacy and continued stimulation. Thoughtful reflection is an endangered species whose loss few will even notice. What’s not to like? Answer: Mark Zuckerberg.  

All of the above has hit the Fourth Estate like a perfectly stormed tsunami of virtual reality bent on destroying journalism’s unofficial and autonomous watchdog branch of governance. News and entertainment steadily become indistinguishable. Political attention span deficit disorder runs rampant. Like the Big Box erosion of Main Street, local print media’s traditional anchoring of communal values is being eradicated by a far more targeted e-presentation of what one wants to know rather than what one needs to know. The long-trusted custom of a consensus definition of reality has given way to subjectively selected takeaways on events and their importance.  

More and more, people have their pants in a bunch over something they’re exposed to online that has little to do with them. Some occurrence happening somewhere they’ve never been affecting people they’ve never met. That’s also the bullseye of good journalism. The difference is that sensationalism is replacing meaningful context. People have an endless appetite for news from afar yet so little interest in what’s happening in their community that they don’t even subscribe to their local paper. Sketchy social media postings stand in for trustworthy professional reportage.  

Many no longer subscribe to any newspaper. Piecemeal journalism gleaned from limited e-access to major news outlets only confirms that “You get what you pay for.” The power of an independent press is being systematically compromised by those buying into the notion that they’re beating the system by getting their news free. What they’re doing is defunding what’s always been a crucial contribution to democratic self-rule. Dwindling revenues are forcing more and more news outlets into economic failure or desperate consolidation. The staggering number of long-established newspapers and magazines that have disappeared in recent years continues to mount.  

Again and again, I’m dismayed to find yet another friend or acquaintance joining this downward-spiral that only reinforces the vicious circle of ultra-divisiveness undermining our democracy. Community is a far cry from simply living in the same place. Local newspapers used to be a principal part of how we see ourselves in relation to each other and a larger world. In breaking that customary tie that binds by opting for an e-narrowing of experience tailored to individual preference, we are most emphatically far from being on the same page collectively.  

Somehow, people think that professional news gathering’s often heroic purpose of truthtelling will continue despite their lack of patronage. Online cherry-picking is only sustainable if those informative sources maintain a real-world income stream. Content’s directly related to readership’s willingness to finance the whole enchilada. The larger the readership the more robust content can be in holding feet to the fire by being a vigilant check upon the three formal branches of government.  

The Fourth Estate will only remain a viable arbitrator of truth if people elect to keep it so. Zuckerberg, Putin and Trump are most definitely interfering in that election. The “Cloud” could care less. Crowdfunding support for the fourth estate is as easy as purchasing the nearest newsstand, virtual or old school. Your community’s newspaper carriers would appreciate the latter.  

Gary Anderson lives in Bath.