The Challenges of The Post-Truth Digital Convergence
What is the post-truth era? The Oxford Dictionary describes it as: ‘circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.’ The majority of negative news coverage is directed towards people’s emotions (Philo, 2002). It relates to an arbitrary culture of prioritising emotions, lies, absurdity, rhetorics and subjective perceptions with little or no regard for rationality, common sense, facts or truths.
The term “post-truth” refers to the current time period which is dominated by emotions, beliefs and thoughts prevalent over facts and evidence, thus shaping public opinion. Coined in the early 21st century the term has been used to describe a number of phenomena namely; spread of misinformation, the erosion of trust in traditional sources of information, rhetorical content, fabricated news and the role of social media in shaping public discourses.
(1) Hegemony: Hegemony is the predominance of a collective system of ideas, values, beliefs, and ethical norms that shapes and sustains the cultural, social, and political framework of a society or community within a specific historical context. Hegemony is not an immutable or totalitarian force; instead, it exists within a framework that allows for the emergence of counter hegemonic movements. Media channels sustaining hegemony remain accessible to alternative narratives, which are indispensable for any political or cultural transformation (Holub, 1992, p. 91). In essence, redemptive hegemony leverages the potential of transformative media to reaffirm individual and collective empowerment, allowing people to navigate and shape the evolving epistemic terrain of the digital age. Epistemic security refers to the ability to reliably produce, distribute, acquire, and assess information within a society. Redemptive hegemony means feeling sure about what you know both about yourself and the world. It also means feeling powerful because you accept and follow a trusted way of understanding things.
(2) Transformation is not a singular, dramatic rupture between the old and the new; it must unfold across multiple domains; economic, cultural, sociological, and linguistic—reflecting the interconnected complexity of the digital age. Dominant groups often neutralise revolutionary moments by exploiting the existing structures of media hegemony (Adamson, 1980, p. 225). However, counter hegemonies create fertile conditions for alternatives to thrive by establishing new communicative spaces, practices, values, and epistemic forms of cognitive authority. These elements collectively empower marginalised groups and communities to challenge dominant narratives and reconfigure the resources of influence (Simon, 1991, p. 29).
It is a dynamic, communicative and iterative process that must continuously adapt to remain non-coercive and relevant in the face of shifting social, political, and technological realities (Urbinati, 1998). To justify its legitimacy without resorting to force, elite power structures must expose their claims to public scrutiny, generating diverse and potentially contradictory discourses. These contradictions become valuable tools for critique, especially when they diverge from the lived experiences of those under elite rule (Scott, 1990, p. 106).
(3) Language: This plays a pivotal role in this dynamic. As a structure of values mediated by hegemonic agents, language can reinforce the status quo. In a media environment defined by rapid convergence and the erosion of epistemic clarity, this inherent duality underscores the imperative for journalists and media practitioners to embrace epistemic rigour. Only by fostering value-driven knowledge and creating spaces for alternative discourses can the media and the new media play a transformative role in enabling a more equitable and reflective society.
Furthermore, ‘Redemptive Hegemony’ aligns with today’s transformative media by offering individuals a sense of epistemic empowerment amidst the complexities of the digital era. This is a notion that combines confidence in one’s understanding of the self and the world, the perception of that understanding as reality, and a sense of empowerment that comes from being part of authoritative epistemic (knowledge-based) systems.
In this dynamic landscape, redemptive hegemony reconciles by:
(a). Fostering Epistemic Agency: Transformative media enable individuals to access diverse sources of information, empowering them to engage with and validate authoritative epistemic schemes that resonate with their understanding of reality.
(b) Reinforcing Authenticity: You can challenge dominant narratives, promoting values and ideas that align with their self-knowledge and ethical convictions through participatory platforms and decentralised content creation.
(c) Navigating Contradictions: Redemptive hegemony helps you to reconcile conflicting narratives in media by anchoring their understanding in coherent and meaningful epistemic frameworks, offering clarity amidst digital noise.
(d) Facilitating Community Building: Transformative media supports the formation of communities around shared knowledge and values, strengthening collective confidence and fostering empowerment through mutual validation.
(e) Digital Data Abundance: Accessing reliable information is crucial for collective action in a democratic society. However, new technologies have brought about new threats and vulnerabilities to our systems of information production and exchange, including interference, attention economy, insular communities, and difficulty in evaluating the trustworthiness of information sources. [NEXT – More Challenges]