The Oxygen of Amplification - Cunningham
The Oxygen of Amplification is an analysis of the dangers of highlighting negative agendas in the news and the adverse effects that online news has on the journalists who report it. Phillips interviews various journalists and industry professionals to get a rounded perspective of the situation. Part one lays out the risks of amplification as well as the risks that come with not amplifying harmful information in the news. Part two uses four categories to show how the digital news culture has aided the agendas of the extremist groups it is generally trying to condemn.
The first segment of Part One provides nine common statements that journalists give when speaking out against amplification. These comments range from claiming that amplification will only give people attention that they do not deserve to implicating that responding to the outrageous behavior justifies it in the process. The second segment of Part One gives seven statements that frequently come up in tandem with the first set, explaining the dangers of not amplifying the groups in question. The arguments include the fear of another reporter portraying the story in a worse way and letting the public be educated by those who are meant to be silenced. Both of these segments point out a negative stream of thought when it comes to the debate of "to amplify or not to amplify."(3) Phillips does not provide either side with a sense of positivity but instead shows that this is not a list of pros and cons but rather an aid in the decision between two evils.
Part Two explains how digital newscasting is causing an adverse effect on stories about extremist groups and causes the journalist to be put in harm's way. The Tyranny of Analytics lays out the demand for reporters to get out as much information on the internet as possible. The information is not expected to be good reporting; it is expected to generate popularity. The reporters are encouraged to write stories that people want to hear, which frequently mean stories that they have already heard somewhere else. This concept slides into the Information imperative section that explains how reporting on stories that are known to be already doing well helps generate more revenue. The shock factor is also a tactic used to gather more views which has Phillips worried that "the question in newsrooms tends to be whether or not someone can say something, not whether or not they should." (13) The new objective of the newsrooms it to be the most looked at, no matter the cost. The labor issues section describes problems that go far beyond the newsroom. The unreasonable demands of publicizing themselves on social media cause many journalists to receive severe backlash from the digital community. These attacks are greater than a distaste for the article and extend to the attack on the journalist. This problem is generally faced by those who are not straight white males and therefore are not taken seriously by the higher-ups who fit the aforementioned demographic. The final section, Homogeneity of (Imagined) Audiences and Hegemony of Newsrooms describes the balance of giving the readers what they want and assuming the knowledge of the reader as being a straight white male. This causes stories to be told in such a light that the majority of readers cannot connect with them because the imaginary audience is not the same as the real one.
Phillips creates a great conversation in her analysis of these issues. Although the fixes she presents at the end of her article are acceptable, no changes will come from them. This report does not demand action against the system that it finds so many flaws in, it solely presents the politically correct answers that are expected. The newsrooms have to come together to decide as a unit on the standards of reporting and the safety protocols for their journalists. It is unrealistic to believe that the straight white male perspective will change in a significantly any time soon. Until there is a consensus, online news will continue to slip down the slope that is the internet, constantly trying to outshine each other to the detriment of the outlets as well as the readers.
Bibliography
Whitney Phillips, (2018). The Oxygen of Amplification. Data & Society