The Attention Economy: A Journalist’s Guide to Epistemic Security
The digital age, defined by the information economy, is also known as the attention economy due to the glut of data, making critical autonomy – the ability to understand and evaluate information more vital than ever. With billions of people accessing and creating streams of discourse on the Internet daily, knowledge has never been more widely available. This growth of information is accompanied by an increase in unreliable and misleading content. Cognitive constraints, systemic biases, and the rapid spread of misinformation pose significant challenges to democratic societies.
In this environment educators and journalists play an indispensable role in fostering informed, discerning audiences. Journalists equipped with deep insights and effective digital strategies can navigate the complexities of attention scarcity and promote epistemic security—a cornerstone of informed and resilient societies in an era dominated by digitalisation.
The rise of the attention economy puts increasing pressure and stress on journalists who also face threats and abuse in the fast-paced newsroom and production environment. It also has far reaching implications for citizens if they are not intelligently and critically informed about what’s going on around them and how news may affect them. Herbert Simon’s striking observation in 1971 remains aptly relevant today: “A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.”
In the competitive sphere of digital platforms, where attention is the most valuable currency, content providers are incentivised to create sensational, emotive, and identity-affirming material. Consequently, attention and interest rather than truth, often dictates which information is amplified, shaping public discourse and understanding. People’s lack of interest in world news on British TV channels, including the BBC News Channel because the news items don’t directly and immediately affect them demonstrates this point
Former BBC Director General John Birt’s classic notion of ‘bias against understanding’ has resurfaced to highlight today’s audience which is not capable of handling news. Birt presumed intellectual inferiors are associated with the ‘ordinary’ men and women of Britain who did not understand the background to the news they were told in news summaries, a strong motivation for appending a background to every news story had to be explained any time there was any news. Because ‘ordinary people’ were deemed intellectually inferior, the message of any report had to be reinforced by relevant vivid visuals. Survey research shows that few people are prepared to effectively navigate the digital world. For example, the Pew Research Center found as recently as 2017 that only 17 percent of US adults have the skills and confidence to learn new information effectively online (J. B. Horrigan, 2019) Hence, triggering an additional role for journalists to explain – Birt’s news reporting for explaining has resurfaced as a mission which makes actual investigative reporting more important in today’s age. Today’s data economy calls for a rethinking of documentary journalism as a vital tool for underpinning in-depth investigative reporting which is disappearing. Documentary journalism in the post-truth era enhances the audience’s understanding of news from different perspectives, reinforcing epistemic newsgathering, interviewing and reporting in the Digital Age. Documentary examines the factors contributing to this decline and explores how documentary storytelling can be revitalised to strengthen epistemic journalism -a knowledge-driven, truth-seeking approach to media.
Documentary Uncovers the Underlying Truth in News Reports
In today’s media landscape, where the sheer volume of information is overwhelming and misinformation is rampant, documentary journalism emerges as a vital tool for truth-seeking. While traditional news reporting provides quick updates on events, it often lacks the depth, context, and investigative rigour needed to fully grasp the complexities of an issue. The reality underlying many news reports is often encoded in selective framing, agenda-driven narratives, and editorial constraints, making it difficult for audiences to extract the full picture. This necessitates a form of journalism that goes beyond surface-level reporting, one that requires a level of media literacy akin to a detective’s instincts – capable of dissecting, analyzing, and reconstructing the reality concealed beneath fragmented news coverage.
Documentaries serve as this much-needed investigative lens, bridging the gap between daily news updates and long-term historical narratives. They allow for an in-depth exploration of issues, offering audiences a chance to understand systemic patterns rather than isolated events. In contrast to the rapid pace of news cycles, which often move on before stories can be fully developed or contextualised, documentary journalism takes the time to examine the underlying forces at play—be it political corruption, corporate misconduct, environmental degradation, or human rights violations. This makes documentary storytelling not only an antidote to the limitations of traditional news media but also an essential medium for fostering critical thinking and informed citizenship.
News reporting, by its very nature, operates under constraints that limit its ability to present the full depth of an issue. The structure of news prioritises brevity and immediacy, often sacrificing detailed analysis in favor of rapid dissemination. In a 24/7 media environment, journalists must work under tight deadlines, leading to episodic and fragmented storytelling. Reports focus on breaking news, while the underlying causes, long-term consequences, and power dynamics remain underexplored. This creates a knowledge gap, where audiences are informed of what is happening but not necessarily why it is happening or how different elements are interconnected.
Beyond time constraints, news reporting is also shaped by editorial policies, corporate influences, and political affiliations. Media outlets, especially those operating under commercial models, are often bound by the interests of advertisers, stakeholders, or government regulations, which can influence what is covered and how it is framed. Certain issues may receive extensive coverage, while others are sidelined or ignored altogether. Even when news does address significant social or political problems, it tends to do so within a particular framing that aligns with the dominant narrative, often simplifying complex realities into binary oppositions – good versus evil, democracy versus authoritarianism, or progress versus regression. This leaves audiences with a partial or even misleading understanding of events, requiring them to decode and critically assess the information they receive.
Documentary journalism, on the other hand, provides the necessary depth that news lacks. While news operates in a mode of urgency, documentaries function on a longer timeline, allowing for thorough research, careful storytelling, and a nuanced presentation of facts. Documentaries are uniquely positioned to revisit and recontextualize past events, drawing connections between historical patterns and contemporary developments. They have the capacity to challenge official narratives, expose misinformation, and give voice to marginalised perspectives that are often overlooked in mainstream media. Through archival footage, expert interviews, firsthand testimonies, and investigative research, documentaries construct a holistic picture of reality, equipping audiences with the tools to question, analyze, and critically engage with the information they consume.
Journalism Reflecting Real-World Events
Attention-Driven Coverage: Journalism often begins with real-world events that capture public or editorial attention (e.g., a natural disaster, a political scandal).
Dynamic Influence: The events themselves drive the initial attention, but editorial choices (e.g., framing, prioritization) shape how the story unfolds and how much interest it garners.
Public Interest and Demand: The need to reflect real-world events is often market-driven—publishers aim to meet public demand for breaking news or trending topics. This can create a feedback loop, where public consumption patterns influence the content covered.
Pitfalls of Reflection: Overemphasis on sensationalism or viral trends can result in shallow coverage that reflects the surface of events without addressing deeper implications.
Complex, systemic issues (e.g., climate change, economic inequality) often receive less attention because they lack immediate visual or emotional appeal.
Journalism as a Normative Guide
Here, journalism serves its higher purpose, which transcends mere reporting of events to enlighten and empower citizens:
- Informing and Educating:
Dynamic Model: Events may trigger reporting, but journalists take a step further by contextualising, explaining, and analysing.
Example: Reporting on inflation doesn’t stop at numbers; it explains how policies, markets, and global events interact to affect daily life.
Challenge: This depends on journalistic intent and editorial freedom. Commercial pressures may dilute the focus on education for more “clickable” stories.
- Alerting and Protecting: Journalism warns citizens of dangers (e.g., environmental hazards, policy changes) and exposes corruption, misuse of power, and injustice.
Dynamic Influence: Public reactions to such reporting often guide journalists to delve deeper or shift focus to related issues.
- Guarding Free Speech and Accountability
Normative Role: Journalism is central to democracy, acting as a watchdog to hold governments, politicians, and corporations accountable.
Real-World Practice: While some outlets succeed here, others may fail due to censorship, media ownership conflicts, or political polarisation.
Dynamic Loop: Investigative reporting often triggers public demand for accountability, which in turn fuels further journalistic inquiry (e.g., the Watergate scandal).
- Counselling and Advising: Journalists can offer nuanced opinions or solutions that guide public discourse (e.g., op-eds about healthcare policy). However, this is often tricky as it overlaps with advocacy, raising questions about objectivity.
- Does Journalism Balance the Two?: In reality, journalism often struggles to balance reflecting events with its normative role due to several factors:
(a) Commercial Pressures: The shift to digital platforms prioritises clicks, views, and ad revenue, often sidelining normative goals.
(b) Polarisation: Ideologically driven reporting sometimes undermines journalism’s role in enlightening citizens.
(c) Event-Driven Focus: The fast-paced news cycle favours immediate event coverage, leaving little time for deep investigation or critical analysis.
The Dynamic Feedback Loop in Journalism
Journalism is profoundly shaped by:
- Audience Feedback: Public reactions to coverage influence editorial priorities. A lack of engagement with critical issues can disincentivize their coverage.
- Events: Real-world developments push certain stories to the forefront, creating urgency and reshaping narratives.
- Institutional and Cultural Norms: In some nations, journalism thrives as a fourth estate, while in others, it’s constrained by state control or media conglomerates.
Optimising Journalism for Its Normative Role
For journalism to go beyond reflecting events and truly enlighten:
- Media Literacy: Citizens need to critically assess media content, distinguishing between sensationalism and substantive reporting.
- B. Editorial Integrity: Journalists and outlets have prioritised accountability and education over profit motives.
- Public Engagement: Journalists need to seek to create a dialogue with citizens, responding to their concerns and informing their understanding of issues.
Journalism is both a mirror of events and a torchlight for society—but its effectiveness depends on the interplay of external events, editorial choices, public reactions, and institutional structures. The dynamic model fits perfectly here, as journalism constantly adapts to the realities of the world it seeks to reflect and the higher ideals it aims to uphold.
Do you think today’s journalism fulfills its normative role effectively? Or does it lean too heavily toward event-driven reporting?
Today’s journalist often finds itself torn between fulfilling its normative role as an informer, educator, explainer and entertainer and succumbing to the pressures of event-driven reporting.