bruno debaenst pulation still had trust in its media. Journalists from left to right all had in common that they wanted to uncover the truth and report on the objective facts. In the past half century, this trust has almost completely vanished. Nowadays, only a minority of Americans still believe what the newspapers are writing.There is huge distrust towards the so-called “fake media”. There is some ground of truth in this. The media have changed. Sensation and partisan politics have become more important than objectivity. Most newspapers no longer report on the objective facts, but give their own colored, opinioned interpretation of the facts. Even when some quality newspapers still strive to report according to objective standards, only a small minority of the American population reads them. A second important factor is the rise of social media. For the first time in history, everyone can directly communicate with (almost) everyone else. There is no longer need for intermediaries. This has advantages and disadvantages. It prevents censorship and allows for direct communication of ideas and news events all over the world. At the same time, there are no longer gatekeepers to control the information, allowing fake news to spread as running fire. The negative effects have become clear, for example with the intrusion of the Russians in the American 2016 elections. There is another problem. Social media are not neutral: they operate with algorithms, feeding the users with a selection of information. People receive the information they want to receive, based on their profile. The result is paradox. In theory, the internet with its direct means of communication could procure for the first time in human history the means to create a “complete” public opinion, since all people have in theory direct access to all the information. In reality, the opposite is true. The internet and social media reinforce a fragmentation of public opinion in numerous, often badly informed and manipulated opinions, the so-called “echo chamber effect”. In other words, the decline of the mainstream press and the rise of social media make it almost impossible to create the healthy public opinion needed to serve as watchdog of the Rechtsstaat. Pointing at the problem is one thing. Proposing solutions another. Do we maybe need a “Ministry of Truth”? Not a ministry responsible for spreading lies, as 75
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