In early January 2020, I gave a speech in my home for a small group of friends. The presentation was about the 2020 election, the candidates, and the media. In the media section, I gave the relevant facts about the degradation of the belief and trust in our media over the last 40 years.  Mainstream (?) media blames that degradation on what used to be called the 'alternative media', but is now referred to in itself a degrading way, as just 'right wing' media. The mainstream media points to Fox News and says they’re lying and as result the public, or at least a portion of it, has been duped. Isn’t it interesting how when somebody is lying and somebody steps up and points at them and says they are lying, the other side points back and says, no they are lying. All those trying to follow this are left with, who is lying? On that confusion point, a question was asked at that presentation I gave which said, so where are we heading with American media? My answer began with a little background. We all know media is changing. Where we used to be dominated by three networks who were relatively trustworthy. Then cable exploded into many more networks of news and then CNN offering 24 hour nonstop news. Newspapers The New York Times, The Washington Post and the like continue to flourish, but with an expectation there would be a declining market share due to technology and an increasing number of sources for news. Then came the introduction of the Internet in the mid to late 90s providing more freelance news/opinion reporting. In the 2000s the advent of social media, as well as the introduction of iPhones, and the ability to access all that information instantaneously further eroded legacy market share. Now, where do you get honest media? With that background, my answer to where is the American media heading was this.  This will evolve into come combination of big new and social media. Can't tell you which social media, but one, or some. That background trend is going to continue. The impact of the Internet, social media, mobile communication, virtual media, national media organizations [and now emerging AI] will increase.  It will evolve into something that is direct to consumer, and you pick your favorite source. Legacy media's hold on news will completely evaporate. We’ve always picked our preferred sources of news & entertainment and that will continue, without a middle man big media.  We have seen that evolution. Now, three years later, lets take another step forward. Tucker Carlson, highest rated news and commentary host on cable TV, was fired. Couple weeks later he appeared on Twitter introducing his first two privately produced shows, about 15 minutes each, basically a podcast on Twitter about one subject that he thinks is important that day. The format is the same as the monologue he used to start his FoxNews show with. Those two podcasts immediately went viral. What does that say?   Carlson changes the landscape. He is not the first or the biggest private program on social media (Joe Rogan will have some statistics to prove that point). But, this is the first national media network host to start his own news show.  Is this the remaking of news media? It says that people will gravitate to who they believe are trustworthy, which will not be big media companies, like say, FoxNation.  It will include things like PragerU's 5 minute videos, which the left wing censors cancelled. And, with the technological capabilities available, people will increasingly move to their preferred source and presenter of information. Rush Limbaugh proved that in radio for 30 years.  Someone, maybe Carlson will now do it with new media, and he won't be the only one. Is that good or is that bad? Well, as with most things, probably both. The good news is it is out there and anyone can access the information and decide for themselves.  The bad news is this type of news distribution can be fraught with accuracy and false narrative issues. We already know that exists now in traditional network news, on the Internet and podcasts otherwise streaming where political and media narratives dominate. No matter the traditional news source or the new news source, we still have to be concerned about what we are receiving in the way of accurate & honest news. There are outlets now that say they are just about news, The 404, Just The News and others. There will be more. Maybe some who present both sides, like this one? Today, the left wing broadcast news organizations proclaim that 'bothsiderism' is bad.  Telling the whole story is now an 'ism', I guess. They say ignore everyone else, they push 'misinformation', just listen to us! Whenever you hear that you should know something is wrong.  This tweet makes that point perfectly:

Actually, when there are competing claims about what caused a calamity, and the claims can't be resolved by available evidence, "bothsidesing"--reporting the competing claims without passing judgment--is the essence of good journalism. Onesidesing is propaganda. https://t.co/ntgZIywPOh

— Robert Wright (@robertwrighter) June 8, 2023

Good journalism does not shy away from uncomfortable facts. We don't have 'good journalism' today. Vary your news sources and learn how to differentiate between reality and political narratives. We also have to remember this. With the old censorship Twitter, Carlson would have been banned.  He would not have gotten in one podcast because certain people do not want you to hear what he has to say about today's issues.  Apparently Elon Musk's Twitter is not going to censor him.  Free speech is a winner and Carlson has the ability to do his podcast. He’s only two shows in right now, we'll see if it continues, and if others follow.