Doc Edward Morbius ⭕@vortex_egg Rhetoric. The Sophists. Most of the field of Communications.
There's my own recent realisation that media monopoly is directly tied to censorship, surveillance, propaganda, and targeted manipulation:
https://joindiaspora.com/posts/7bfcf170eefc013863fa002590d8e506 (HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24771470)
I've found bits of that in the works of others, notably Shoshana Zuboff's Surveillance Capitalism (and earlier), Tim Wu, Bruce Schneier, and Cory Doctorow (most of which are mentioned/linked in comments to the original and/or HN threads).
There's the understanding of what information does. My view is that it's not power itself but a power multiplier. As such it enhances an existing power imbalance, though it may offer some corrective capabilities. I've addressed that in some #TechOntology threads / posts here and elsewhere.
This "light reading list" includes references to some of that (the list could be updated, it remains pretty good):
https://old.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/7k7l4m/media_advertising_sustainability_externalities/
#media #information #power #media #monopoly #censorship #propaganda #surveillance #manipulation #advertising #intimidation
Propaganda, Censorship, and Surveillance are attributes of the same...
Propaganda, Censorship, and Surveillance are attributes of the same underlying aspect: Monopoly and Centralised Control. All three problems have the same effective solution: Break up the monopolies. Propaganda is a function of amplification, attention, audience capture, selective promotion, discovery, distraction, stealing the air supply or acquiring of any competion, and coöption of the platform. Propaganda is an inherent property of monopoly control. Censorship and Gatekeeping are functions of excludability, audience gating, selective exclusion, obfuscation, distraction, stealing the air supply or acquiring of any competion, and, again, coöption of the platform. Censorship is an inherent property of monopoly control. Surveillance whether of the state, capitalist, or non-state actor varieties, is a function of population and provider capture, coercion or gatekeeping of vendors and pipelines, and, again, coöption of the platform. Surveillance is an inherent property of monopoly c...