In recent years, mainstream media outlets have become increasingly vocal in their criticism of tech platforms like YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. Articles and opinion pieces flood the pages of major newspapers, decrying the algorithms that drive these platforms and their alleged role in spreading misinformation, polarizing societies, and deteriorating mental health. While these critiques are not without merit, they are often delivered with an ironic lack of self-awareness. The truth is that mainstream media has been using many of the same tactics for decades—just with less efficiency and scale. Moreover, their near-exclusive focus on negative events and sensationalism reflects the very business model they accuse Big Tech of perpetuating.
This blog post explores how mainstream media’s practices parallel those of tech platforms, why their criticism often rings hollow, and why they are increasingly losing the competition for attention in the digital age.
The Mainstream Media Business Model: A Precursor to the Algorithmic Economy
Before algorithms ruled the internet, traditional media was the king of the attention economy. Newspapers, television, and radio relied heavily on advertising revenue, just as digital platforms do today. To maximize profits, they needed to maximize attention—a finite resource. The formula was simple: grab the audience’s attention with something they couldn’t ignore, hold it for as long as possible, and sell it to advertisers. Sound familiar?
Sensationalism: The Old Clickbait
Mainstream media has long mastered the art of sensationalism. Headlines like “SHOCKING TRUTH REVEALED” or “YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED NEXT” aren’t new inventions of the digital age. They were staples of tabloid journalism and eventually crept into even the most “respectable” outlets as competition for readers intensified.
Negative stories, in particular, have always been a goldmine for engagement. Fear, outrage, and scandal captivate the human psyche in ways that positive stories rarely do. As the adage goes, “If it bleeds, it leads.” From the latest political scandal to the devastation of a natural disaster, mainstream media has historically prioritized negative news not because the world lacks positivity, but because negativity sells.
Feedback Loops: The Precursor to Algorithms
While tech platforms use data-driven algorithms to push content that keeps users engaged, traditional media has relied on human editors and audience metrics to achieve the same goal. Stories that resonated with audiences were repeated, amplified, and spun into larger narratives. This manual feedback loop is essentially the analog version of what tech algorithms do at lightning speed and on a global scale.
The Negativity Bias: A Business Imperative
One of the most glaring parallels between mainstream media and Big Tech is their shared obsession with negativity. Mainstream media critics often point out that tech platforms prioritize polarizing or sensational content because it drives engagement. Yet they fail to acknowledge that their own coverage operates on the same principle.
Why Negative News Dominates
- Emotional Engagement: Negative news elicits strong emotional reactions—fear, anger, outrage—that keep audiences hooked. These emotions are powerful drivers of attention, which translates directly into revenue.
- Perceived Importance: Negative stories often feel more urgent or significant than positive ones, giving audiences a sense of staying informed about the “real issues.”
- Competitive Pressure: Positive stories rarely generate the same clicks, views, or subscriptions. In a competitive landscape, outlets are incentivized to focus on content that performs well.
The result? A distorted view of the world. While positive events and stories of human resilience occur daily, they are often ignored or relegated to niche segments because they don’t align with the business model. Instead, audiences are bombarded with a constant stream of crises, scandals, and disasters, leaving them with a skewed perception of reality.
Mainstream Media vs. Big Tech: Competing for the Same Attention
As digital platforms have risen to prominence, they’ve outpaced traditional media in capturing audience attention. This has created a deep resentment within the mainstream media, which now struggles to compete in the very game it helped invent.
The Efficiency of Algorithms
Unlike traditional media, which relies on human editors and curated programming, tech platforms use sophisticated algorithms to personalize and optimize content delivery. This automation allows platforms to:
- Deliver content that matches users’ preferences with uncanny precision.
- Keep users engaged for longer periods.
- Scale their operations globally with minimal human intervention.
Mainstream media simply can’t compete with this level of efficiency. Their reach is limited by the constraints of traditional distribution channels, and their editorial processes are slower and less adaptable.
The Hypocrisy of Criticism
Mainstream media’s critique of tech platforms often boils down to resentment over losing market share. They accuse Big Tech of amplifying negativity and misinformation, but these criticisms are difficult to take seriously when the media itself has spent decades profiting from similar tactics. The primary difference is that Big Tech does it better.
The Way Forward: Rethinking the Attention Economy
If mainstream media and tech platforms are guilty of the same fundamental practices, the real problem lies not in the tools but in the incentives of the attention economy. Both industries prioritize content that maximizes engagement because their revenue depends on it. To address this issue, we need systemic changes that shift the focus from quantity of attention to quality.
Possible Solutions
- Diversified Revenue Models: Both traditional and digital media need to reduce their reliance on advertising and explore alternative revenue streams, such as subscriptions or public funding, to lessen the incentive for sensationalism.
- Media Literacy: Educating audiences about the mechanics of the attention economy can empower them to make more informed choices about the content they consume.
- Algorithmic Transparency: Requiring tech platforms to be more transparent about how their algorithms work could help mitigate their negative impact.
- Positive Content Incentives: Media outlets and platforms should be incentivized to promote positive and constructive stories without sacrificing engagement.
Conclusion: The Pot Calls the Kettle Black
The mainstream media’s criticism of Big Tech is a classic case of projection. Both industries are built on the same foundational principle: capturing and monetizing human attention. The only difference is that tech platforms have automated and globalized the process, leaving traditional media struggling to keep up.
Rather than pointing fingers, it’s time for both industries to acknowledge their shared role in shaping the attention economy—and to take responsibility for its consequences. Until they do, the cycle of negativity and sensationalism will continue, to the detriment of society as a whole.
Afterthought – A note to Mainstream Media: Adapt or Face Obsolescence
If mainstream media continues down the same path of relentless negativity and exaggerated, attention-seeking content, their decline will only accelerate. The trust of readers is already eroding as audiences grow increasingly aware of the sensationalism that underpins much of modern reporting. By focusing so heavily on negativity, media outlets risk alienating their audiences, who are beginning to seek out alternative sources of information—often directly from Big Tech platforms.
The hard truth is this: mainstream media simply cannot compete with the efficiency and scale of Big Tech algorithms. Tech platforms operate on a level of personalization and engagement that traditional media cannot replicate, and they are rapidly consolidating their dominance over the attention economy. If mainstream media does not adapt, it will lose this race entirely and risk becoming obsolete.
To survive, media outlets need to rethink their business models and editorial priorities. Rather than chasing clicks with badly-researched global-elite-boosting utterly-biased low-value sensationalized content, they must invest in building trust with their audiences (assuming it’s not already too late). This could mean prioritizing accurate, balanced reporting, emphasizing solutions-oriented journalism, and highlighting positive stories that resonate with readers. Authenticity, credibility, and integrity will be their only advantages in an increasingly algorithm-driven world.
The choice is clear: adapt and innovate, or face irrelevance in the shadow of Big Tech.
