We have a guest post today that I pilfered from the ether by a chap called Weaver. The discussion was on why commercial networks do not provide intelligent shows to viewers.
The function of commercial media is to sell audiences/readers to advertisers. The audience/readers are not the customers, they are the product. The advertisers are the customers, and they want a particular kind of product, i.e. they want the kind of audience/readers it's worthwhile advertising to:
1. people with money,
2. who are likely to spend that money,
3. and who are, if possible, a bit thick.
These requirements may vary - slightly - depending on the things being advertised, but the business model does not change. You may think you are the customer, but you are not; you are the product (or you are chaff the advertisers don't care about, like a homeless person leafing through a copy of Forbes they found in the street).
The usual grift is that content is designed to keep audience/readers happy; the corollary is the oft repeated lie "but this is what our audience/readers want!" This is like a baker complaining "But of course I use rancid horsemeat - that's what the pies want!" The audience is formed by the content; not vice versa. What the audience/readers want is irrelevant; what matters is what the customers want and the customers of commercial media want the eyes or ears of people who are easy to shill to.
The phrasing, I think, really hammers home the message. Hell, I'm starting to wonder how we ended up with anything that's intelligent - or questioning how, or perhaps even if that's really the case. It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you.
