Focused Read in 3-4 minutes
"The
Declining Importance of Character and Other 2018 Trends
(By Sergei Samoilenko)
Many media and political
analysts struggle to adequately explain today’s reputation
scandals.
Oftentimes, they attempt to grasp the recent downfall of
powerful public figures only in terms of causes and effects of human
activity.
... In 2018, it will be even
more critical to understand the social and cultural context in which
many events take place.
The process of character assassination is
embedded in symbolic acts of communication that are very sensitive to
the fluidity of time and culture.
In the context of globalization and
accelerated technological innovations, cultural shifts occur more
frequently. As a result, this significantly impacts how often
societies decide to reevaluate moral codes embedded in their social
norms and traditions.
Historical research
demonstrates that character attacks in different historical epochs
are frequently associated with some distinct moral and cultural
standards.
For example, in late-medieval Europe, youthful
monarchs were among the most vulnerable targets of character
attacks because their immaturity was perceived as morally suspect and
linked to the whole range of tyrannical vices, including
irrationality, sensuality, and gullibility.
This blog post was
inspired by 2018 Trends Brief by Sparks&Honey:
Below is my list
of the new cultural and social trends that will be critical for
character assassination research in 2018.
Declining Relevance of
Political Character
Recent research by
Wattenberg indicates that the chances of presidential image
makers to emphasize a president’s personal character are now much
less than in the era of Johnson, Nixon, and Reagan.
There are several
reasons for that.
First, the public sees politicians to be generally unreliable.
Therefore, they often choose the unreliable person who
shows most support for their personal interests.
Thus, commonality
of interests is likely to determine electoral and approval
ratings in 2018.
(Emphasis is mine.)
Also, public support for
political candidates is now less determined by the perceptions of
character but rather by partisan identification.
For example, in the
U.S., political polarization sparks a “culture war” between
conservatives and progressives that is particularly known for
confrontational dynamics.
One effect of this political and cultural
polarization demonstrates that U.S. voters choose more to
identify with a party agenda and support the candidates of their
party regardless of accusations against them.
Interestingly, despite
the declining relevance of candidates’ personal attributes, there
is no direct evidence that the frequency of character assassination
events has decreased or become less effective.
Importance of Charisma
and Impression Management
The skills of political
actors will remain crucial in 2018.
While public confidence in major
national institutions continues to stay low, charismatic leaders will
remain attractive.
A report by McCloskey at the CARP-2017 conference
shows
that political leaders who can establish authenticity against
their rivals are perceived as better political candidates.
For
example, he argues that during the 2016 U.S. presidential election,
Trump’s strategy was to abandon character altogether and instead
focus entirely on being authentic, even if that meant being
authentically terrible.
(Emphasis is mine.)
Traditional Roles and
Norms Challenged
As 2018 Trends
Brief suggests, many traditional norms and perceptions of
gender, race, ethnicity and sexuality in binary terms will be further
challenged.
One of them is the debate concerning “agender” as an
acceptable identification and the following adjustment of
communication etiquette.
Another notable trend concerns changing
social norms and communication habits aimed at detoxifying
masculinity.
... This may result in more
prominent cases of public outrage against “toxic masculinity” and
men publicly demonstrating various forms of symbolic power attributed
to patriarchal behavior.
This may lead to new conflicts and value
clashes between Baby Boomers and Generation X and younger
generations.
The 2017 Net-Neutrality
Bill and Corporate Coercion
Despite the Utopian notion
of the Internet as a genuinely democratic space, we learned in 2017
that this environment is highly susceptible to ideological and
corporate propaganda.
The recent decision by Federal Communications
Commission to grant broadband companies, like AT&T, Comcast
and Verizon, the right to decide which websites and content get more
visibility may complicate this issue even further.
In other words,
these companies can now slow down their competitors’ content or
block dissenting political opinions.
(Emphasis is mine.)
The consequences will be
especially grim for misrepresented online communities and independent
media outlets. It makes the American Internet in 2018 more conducive
to the spread of corporate spin and frames approved and prompted by
corporations.
Truth Police and
Algorithm-Approved Moral Compass
The frenzy around “fake
news” gave rise to services offering methods and
strategies aimed at determining accuracy and reinforcing ethics and
appropriate behaviors.
Nowadays, this is a standard and appropriate
practice for companies formerly accused of spreading falsehood to
offer services fighting the spread of misinformation. Tech giants
experiment with big data in new ways to sharpen new algorithms
deciding what is true or false.
(Emphasis is mine.)
The responsibility of
making decisions about professional and personal ethics is
increasingly delegated to technology.
For example, the PRSA Code of
Ethics, widely regarded as the public relations industry standard, is
now available on the App Store for downloads to help
practitioners navigate ethics principles and applications. New voice
assistants, like Alexa and Siri, have become our voices of common
sense and used pervasively for personal advice.
We expect to see a
rise of people turning to the moral judgments imposed by electronic
assistants.
(Emphasis is mine.)
In sum, the 2018 will
bring new trends challenging our traditional values and social norms
including the changing role of character and technologically-driven
moral compass.
... The problem with
delegating the task of finding answers
about truth and falsity, objectivity, or personal
ethics to technology is a double-edge sword.
On one hand, it may
help to find an easy and rational solution to complex issues.
On the
other, it is apparent that the acceptable range of our future
decisions and opinions concerning complex reputation issues will be
largely determined by the degrees of freedom allowed by technological
algorithms.
You
can read more here
( Courtesy of the “Character Assassination and Reputation Politics Research Lab” )
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You can share Curtis's Tweet here
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→ Direct sources for Democrats:
* ( Personal favored and most informative follows are shared here with the understanding that readers will always apply their own critical thinking to any information provided anywhere by anyone. #StrongerTogether does not share sources of information lightly but -- no one is perfect! -- so always #DistrustAndVerify I am using a star rating that is strictly based on my situational experience with the work of the media personality specifically in relation to issues of interest to me. )
The Democratic Party Website
Also
C-SPAN (a good place for speeches & hearings direct source (s))
→ Fact checking organizations courtesy of the Society of Professional Journalists
in alphabetical order...
→ Some of my favorite, most informative
follows on Twitter include:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ US Intelligence | Author | Navy Senior Chief | NBC/MSNBC
⭐⭐⭐ Federal Government Operations | Vanity Fair | Newsweek | MSNBC Contributor | Author
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Voting Rights/Voter Suppression | Author | Mother Jones
→ Some of the most credible media -- at the moment:
📰📰📰 Mother Jones
→ Some of the most credible Talking Heads -- at the moment -- and their Twitter handles:
( 📎 Interesting to note: Wallace, a former Republican (or an inactive Republican I believe she calls herself) is new to the job but for right now she has clearly put country over party and her work on Trump GOP has been credible, IMO... )
...for Networking for Democrats today!
g. (Unapologetic Democrat)
g. (Unapologetic Democrat)
📎 Note: I rarely get involved in primary races -- outside of those in my own area. And, unless there is a glaring reason that can not be ignored, I support Democratic Party nominees winning in general elections.
.
.
.
(Linked) "...is our 2016 platform...a declaration of how we plan to move America forward. Democrats believe that cooperation is better than conflict, unity is better than division, empowerment is better than resentment, and bridges are better than walls.
It’s a simple but powerful idea: We are stronger together."
Eleanor Roosevelt with female reporters
at her first White House press conference
on March 6, 1933.
“ … At first Eleanor Roosevelt adhered to her own...political topics. She told about her daily schedules, discussed the prints on the White House Walls, and shared low-cost menus for Depression-era households. But reporters pressed the First Lady for more news on public policy, and the press conference sessions soon broadened their scope. As early as April 1933 Eleanor Roosevelt provided a political scoop; she announced that beer would be served in the White House once Prohibition ended. By the end of 1933, according to UP reporter Ruby Black, the First Lady had defended low cost housing, the subsistence homestead program, equal pay for equal work, old age pensions, and the minimum wage. “Tea Pouring Items Give Way to Big News,” Black declared. “No newspaperwoman could have asked for better luck,” reporter Bess Furman recalled. The First Lady, she wrote, “conducts classes on scores of subjects, always seeing beyond her immediate hearers to ‘the women of the country.’” … “ ( You can read more here )
( #its2018now )
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Curated by Gail Mountain, with occasional personal commentary, Network For #StrongerTogether ! is not affiliated with The Democratic Party in any capacity. This is an independent blog and the hope is you will, at a glance, learn more about the Party and you will, with a click or two, also take action on its behalf as it is provided!
*
See the League of Women Voters website:
Vote411 here
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Thank you for Focusing!
g., aka Focused Democrat
✊ Resisting "Fake News"
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