why are you so out of touch, legacy media!?
whilst the world moves forward, legacy media clings to outdated narratives and techniques—and we’re all paying the price.
Good day, spectators,
As I always say, the spectacle is a geopolitics and world culture magazine, and now and again, I like to tackle topics that are a little different. Today’s article is definitely one of those.
This morning, I came across a Reuters headline about Lesotho, a small country completely surrounded by South Africa. The article highlighted how Lesotho was very insulted by Donald Trump’s comment that ‘nobody knew about it.’ While I could write an entire article about Trump’s latest imperialist bollocks, what caught my attention was something else entirely—it was the image that Reuters chose to accompany the story.
Take a look:
At first glance, you’d be forgiven for thinking Lesotho is some kind of backwards, Stone Age country where everyone lives in mud huts. But something about this didn’t sit right with me, so I decided to do a little bit more digging. What I found was a smaller country that, in many ways, resembles my own: a mix of quaint towns, villages, and one bigger city—Maseru—which looks like any other modern African city.
This whole diving into Lesotho got me thinking about something else: why is legacy media so out of touch with the realities of our world?
outdated people in a world of readily available truth.
I’ve noticed that legacy outlets are often way behind independent platforms like this very magazine you’re reading. They lack the insight, speed, and depth that we are able to and want to provide. For example, I posted a video of a Palestinian boy being killed by the IGF (Israeli Genocide Forces) in the West Bank weeks before Sky News picked it up. What took them so long? Similarly I posted this story last week and it’s yet to be covered by any media:
It’s as if legacy media is scared to dive into the communities where the real stories are being told—places like Telegram groups, forums, and social media platforms where people share firsthand accounts and raw footage. One of the best examples of this is the conscription crisis in Ukraine. Videos of men being snatched off the streets and forced to the frontlines are widely shared in local Telegram groups, yet mainstream outlets barely mention it. Why?
what do you do when the TCC comes for you?
how Ukraine's conscription centres are kidnapping unwilling men and forcing them to war.
I think the answer is twofold.
First, legacy media is disproportionately staffed by people with outdated views in a world where we have more access to information than ever. They’re stuck in an old paradigm, relying on press releases and official statements rather than engaging with the communities that hold the real stories. This is simply not good enough and leaves much context obscured.
Second, and far more insidiously, many of these outlets are in service of their (as one of my readers called it, ‘techno feudal’ owners—corporate interests and governments that have no interest in challenging the status quo. They are reactionary and neoliberal. This is nothing new mind; it’s been this way since the days of colonialism, when white supremacy decided its backyard was too small and set out to take what it wanted from the rest of the world. (Thank you for the line, Xiu.)
the rise and rise of independent media.
The good news is, spectators, that the crappier legacy media gets, the more people are turning to independent outlets like the spectacle. Together, we are building communities that prioritise truth over profit and reality over propaganda. I, personally, am tired of living in a world of manipulation that allows unthinkable atrocities to occur without getting proper coverage. I have had enough of being lied to by our own insufferable hypocritical Western leaders.
Our community is growing fast—3,000 subscribers in just a few short months—and your support is what keeps it going. It allows me to dig deeper, report harder, and shine a light on the stories that legacy media won’t touch. If you want to help me build this more directly, consider upgrading to a paid subscription. I can guarantee you I will be writing as long as I live so you’ll have no shortage of reading material for years to come.
(Plus, as a paid subscriber, you’ll get access to the microscope, our long-read section with deep dives into criminally underreported topics. This week we explored Sudan’s ongoing bloody conflict and who the geopolitical players are that keep fuelling it.)
the struggle for Sudan.
a deep dive into Sudan’s crisis: how it started, who’s involved, and whether hope is on the horizon.
Help me take back control of the narrative and commit to helping this community grow.
And on that note, I will say thank you for reading as always. Reading, commenting, liking and sharing consistently is always the best way to show your support for my work and I appreciate every one of you accompanying me on this journey.
Have a good day,
(As always, let me know your thoughts in the comments below!)
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Read more from the spectacle…
What fascinates me most in the way the legacy media is directed is to know who - if anyone - is ‘directing’ it. Obviously the owners will have their ‘target market’ in mind: they know most of their news-seeking population is happy to rub along with the same pre-conditioned pap they’ve been used to imbibing for decades. It’s part of their individual identity after all just like the many half-hour TV Westerns of the fifties and sixties are part of mine. (A colonialist part which I now see the true meaning of). Such is the attitude at BBC News.
Then there are the geopolitical considerations and their own personal convictions and affiliations and this is where it gets interesting. Are all these disparate owners acting independently or are they in some kind of ‘club’? And if so how do the orthodoxies of the ‘club’ impose themselves down through the journalistic chain of command?
If we knew the answer to this part of the puzzle it would help enormously in better understanding why the legacy media is indeed so out of touch as you say.
IF he media actually wrote the copy it reads and publishes, we could ask why the members of the media complex are out of touch. Sadly, they only read what Israel and the CIA hand to them to read, and it's all crafted to try to control their particular narrative. Media personalities are totally beholden for their livelihoods and job security to their "handlers," so couldn't venture too far from the established narrative for fear they will not have a job to go to. Besides, media "personalities" no longer have the skills to do real investigative journalism any more, either because they're out of practice or never learned how in the first place.