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~Transmogrifications in Contemporary Media~
Sentiment, respect, and diversity were once reasons for writing. This belief has altered; these motivations exist elsewhere. The desire for personal achievement has replaced the one beautiful aspect of eRepublik - the indistinguishably unique passion for developing creative and thoughtful literature masterpieces. But media in real life is very much different than media in eRepublik, simply because it is the only outlet for anybody who has something to say in the e-world. Journals, newspapers, catalogs, and even sources of literature are all housed under one category entitled the media. The flaws of this generalization are becoming prevalent in modern times as the media becomes industrialized. The "power of the pen," which at one point was an influence to an international demographic, has recently been susceptible to nationalists, profiteers, and attention whores. I point to, but do not flame, newspapers like OtherNews, eWorld Trade Center, and Newspaper of Onrche. Granted, this article is not meant to be a literary criticism of the current media moguls. That would be damn near impossible given my current education of the Hungarian language, or lack there of. The point of this article is to get you to think before subscribing; consider who and what you are acknowledging respect to.
There are dozens of newspapers in the world that merit the recognition as a media "mogul," and there are a handful out there who have it that many would argue are not as deserving. What constitutes a worthy mogul? Certainly one man cannot set the ground rules for such an award. Even influencing the way citizens read and respond to newspapers is difficult, if not impossible. I will, in upcoming articles, work to improve on several aspects of the media. The first is the obvious - the way different written pieces are organized, displayed, and presented. I will work to optimize said presentation to reach out to all demographics, not just those who appreciated foreign affairs like the current international news can vouch for (or, more relevant to today's world, eHungarian domestic affairs). The second is not so obvious, and an internal issue in eRepublik. In short it is a fundamental problem of this game, aforementioned briefly. Why two completely different subjects such as a lottery contest and a declaration of war fall under the same category I do not know. It is this confusion that brings me to the desire for change in eRepublik; change that is necessary to overcome such clustered messages; change that will open the minds of citizens around the world; change that will allow for everybody's voice to be heard truly, not just those who write attention-grabbing articles.
Our media has transformed from a reliable source of structured and developed literature into a machine of recent events and propaganda. Granted, those articles have their place in the game; if they did not then the game would be similarly corrupt as it is now. However, what is wrought from this topical isolation is often regarded as hatred and a growing sense of alliance pride. Such repetition makes the game boring for the majority of us who appreciate the hard work that is commonly overlooked. All of these factors are a good sign as to the recent wars - alliance pride, nationalism, boredom, and hatred. The result of these factors help represent how media in eRepublik is slowly transitioning into an unsophisticated World where satire and cynicism are accepted and the ability to augment one’s subscriber base reflects their abilities as a writer. The reasons why a large subscriber base is desirable are obvious - the "power of the pen," as stated before, offers much political and social drive in this game, and the top "writers" (journalists, statisticians, and even spin doctors) have as much power as proportionate to their number of subscribers. I look down upon those who write with profit in mind primarily.
The media is being manipulated as a tool. A recent Indonesian movement is marked by a lop-sided proportion of subscribers to general population between the countries of eRepublik exemplifies this and proves it as factual. Population does not accurately depict the activity of a country's media realm. High activity should always be welcomed into the game. It improves micro-society, and the general fun of the game, but where and when does such a society cross the line into being overly influential in the media? Perhaps that line has been crossed; maybe such large subscriber bases as shown lately proclaim a new era in the game in which the media is yet another factor that can overshadow the "inactive," or small countries - right next to military, political, and economic influences. Even if it does not, the media is still remarkably flawed. Whether e-society. as a whole, is transitioning to be overwhelming, overshadowing, or eventually overbearing, a flaw is becoming present. Something's gotta give, significant change is the only way to end current and potential corruption. Change in the way media is perceived, presented, and organized. One can only hope such a cultural shift occurs soon.
Thanks for reading,
~Benn
There are dozens of newspapers in the world that merit the recognition as a media "mogul," and there are a handful out there who have it that many would argue are not as deserving. What constitutes a worthy mogul? Certainly one man cannot set the ground rules for such an award. Even influencing the way citizens read and respond to newspapers is difficult, if not impossible. I will, in upcoming articles, work to improve on several aspects of the media. The first is the obvious - the way different written pieces are organized, displayed, and presented. I will work to optimize said presentation to reach out to all demographics, not just those who appreciated foreign affairs like the current international news can vouch for (or, more relevant to today's world, eHungarian domestic affairs). The second is not so obvious, and an internal issue in eRepublik. In short it is a fundamental problem of this game, aforementioned briefly. Why two completely different subjects such as a lottery contest and a declaration of war fall under the same category I do not know. It is this confusion that brings me to the desire for change in eRepublik; change that is necessary to overcome such clustered messages; change that will open the minds of citizens around the world; change that will allow for everybody's voice to be heard truly, not just those who write attention-grabbing articles.
Our media has transformed from a reliable source of structured and developed literature into a machine of recent events and propaganda. Granted, those articles have their place in the game; if they did not then the game would be similarly corrupt as it is now. However, what is wrought from this topical isolation is often regarded as hatred and a growing sense of alliance pride. Such repetition makes the game boring for the majority of us who appreciate the hard work that is commonly overlooked. All of these factors are a good sign as to the recent wars - alliance pride, nationalism, boredom, and hatred. The result of these factors help represent how media in eRepublik is slowly transitioning into an unsophisticated World where satire and cynicism are accepted and the ability to augment one’s subscriber base reflects their abilities as a writer. The reasons why a large subscriber base is desirable are obvious - the "power of the pen," as stated before, offers much political and social drive in this game, and the top "writers" (journalists, statisticians, and even spin doctors) have as much power as proportionate to their number of subscribers. I look down upon those who write with profit in mind primarily.
The media is being manipulated as a tool. A recent Indonesian movement is marked by a lop-sided proportion of subscribers to general population between the countries of eRepublik exemplifies this and proves it as factual. Population does not accurately depict the activity of a country's media realm. High activity should always be welcomed into the game. It improves micro-society, and the general fun of the game, but where and when does such a society cross the line into being overly influential in the media? Perhaps that line has been crossed; maybe such large subscriber bases as shown lately proclaim a new era in the game in which the media is yet another factor that can overshadow the "inactive," or small countries - right next to military, political, and economic influences. Even if it does not, the media is still remarkably flawed. Whether e-society. as a whole, is transitioning to be overwhelming, overshadowing, or eventually overbearing, a flaw is becoming present. Something's gotta give, significant change is the only way to end current and potential corruption. Change in the way media is perceived, presented, and organized. One can only hope such a cultural shift occurs soon.
Thanks for reading,
~Benn
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Took me a few hours to write... no pertamax!
DAMN! NO PERTAMAXXX ??
SOLARRRR
(gara2 gak bisa pertamaxxx)
damn! you much like admin benn.
oh no...
were doomed
This is a true example of how a MM article should be..
Though u might add some spaces, easier to read then..
Awesome article.
Cool article!
Surely my favorite article from you yet, but I was expecting it to end with a suggestion.
I'm too drunk to read it right now. But i promise to read it tomorrow Looks good.
Great article Benn!
You talk about hungary and Indonesia but I think you are doing the same thing, just propaganda, are you gonna tell me you are not aware about the Romanian gold fever where they call every Romanian to subscribe to every paper to get the gold from media mogul? I do agree with some thing on this article but you are doing it too, just talking about peace nations, really sad your articles changed that much, they were not like that before, they were not just propaganda, thats why Im still subscribed, I want to believe you are going to change that
@Inferno: I'm planning on doing a suggestion piece as a followup. The admins also don't like people to put suggestions in the media (which is the first sign of regulation, huzzah!), and I wanted it to shy away from such an article.
@Martin: You say all of that as if I do not know. Ask GladDOS; we were talking about what you just said minutes before you posted it. I am well-aware that I have contributed to the constantly re-fueled propaganda machine, and I'm not ashamed of it. Why should I be? If all media goes toward the same place, and there is no way to filter or regulate (to a degree), then publishing what one desires should not be put to blame. Again, I am not flaming anybody. I even said so in the very first paragraph. My propaganda was written because every country needs a leader, and I do not blame any propagandists out there for doing the same as me.
If anything, I've been shying away from propaganda pieces since I resigned presidency after my second term.
Also, on the Romanian thing - I was actually not aware, or I would have mentioned it as well. Odds are that the news was posted in Romanian and thus I was not educated on the matter.
I agree, and I have recently unsubscribed to several, formerly quality, but now whorish newspapers after they spammed my sub box and write article after article trying to get subscribers. I think there was only ever one legitimate Subscription-getting contest, and that was Propaganda Now!'s, if for no other reason than their being Propaganda Now!.
BTW, transmogrification= best word ever.
@Vincent:
"transmogrification= best word ever."
I know right? $200k words FTW.
Magnifico...
Saluto para Benn
When will you married Flik or GlaDos...?
:runaway:
all media is propaganda, the only news I've seen worthy of worldwide recognition is the eworld trade news when it was publishing the actual world fact update. most of everything else is editorial, much like this article.
So many silly changes and fads in articles these past few months. Laugh whenever I see that one which lists all the writer's past articles at the bottom, as if they're hard to find. Takes up a whole page on my browser. Laugh whenever I see 'vote and subscribe' in an article. (That was another thing I thought I might see at the end, just for the lawls.) Laugh whenever I see articles published in every country, especially when they all just link to a single article. 'Another one to unsubscribe from', I tell myself. (Though there are a few purposes for which I find it acceptable.)
And yeah, there's a lot of good papers that do all this. No disrespect, but it needs to stop, to change.
@Adept World Change (Citizen name = ds0rke xD?) - They gather information that can be found within three clicks and put that info into pretty graphs that use primary colors for the lower-IQ'd citizens of the world to think like they understand complicated mathematics and/or economics whereas understanding that "Food in America is cheaper than food in China!" is not a difficult concept in actuality.
Great article Benn.
I wrote a similar one a few hours ago, but this completly beats mine anyway.
You raise valid points, and I think you at least imply solutions.
I am sick of being spammed with "the next 200 subscribers who vote, comment, and subscribe to my paper, the NavelGazeEtte, will receive 3 South Vietnamese piastres" or whatever. And then you look at the paper, and there's not any actual content.
Don't aid subscription pimps by being a subscription whore. Don't subscribe to something you know you'll never read just because they promised to send you Bolivian pesetas, or enter you in a lottery, or such.
Periodically, go down to that little green "subscription" button on the left side of your home page. When you see papers that you haven't read in forever, and look and remember that it's because they're crap, UNSUBSCRIBE.
And when you see good stuff, use one of your "shouts" to let others know about.
Well written Benn. Anyone who is starting a paper out there would be wise to pay attention to this article, it is written by one of the first (the first?) person to get the media mogul award. And he didn't do it by writing letters offering people gold. I have disagreed with some of the things you have written in the past Benn, but your articles have always been well written. Kudos to you!
Second* mogul. Thanks Neil, and the others.
good article benn
a possible suggestion is to sort out the media is a category for the author of the article to choose for their article out of a possible list for example. opinions, political, economical so on so forth. If someone violates the use of it (such as spam articles) there is a report article button.
The only downside is it requires a lot of moderation (and lets be honest we havent seen much of that )
masterpiece
V.O.T.E.D™
Great article Benn
I think I can sum up your article with the sentence:
"The quality and purpose of the 'media' section has gone into the shit."
Double Voted. Every word it`s true.
need to find a dictionary so i can continue reading... but really, quite well writen
I think that instead of decrying the multiple uses players have found for the newspaper feature, one might instead consider what a flexible tool for communication it has become.
Statistics are as much a punishment as they are a reward, they will amplify your reputation, whatever it is.
Write and let write.
I agree.
@Greystand: Do you think that the smaller countries feel the same about what you describe as "flexible"?
i prefer regional news and news classification to be implemented
Very good article Benn, you have an excellent point.
Now, I've just got to go vote and subscribe on "Free cash, Subscribers wanted."
I agree with everything you write except your labeling the "eWorld Trade Center" as either nationalistic, profiteering, or in need of attention. It's just a brilliantly-named paper that throws out simple-minded, but not completely brainless, analyses of eRepublik.
A lot of the criticism levied at dSoKre seems to be driven from the "attention whore" realm itself, as the only reasons behind 90% of the attacks on dSoKre or his paper are that of jealousy.
So he got the 1,000 subscribers when others were "ahead" of him in line, so what... as far as I know, he hasn't been offering gold for votes, right?
That was an orgasm for my mind.
Awesome.
I've been on for maybe three weeks max now, and I must agree with this entire article.
Lotteries have no place in the media of eRepublik I believe.
@Trey: Actually, I really do think that the guy loves the attention. Why would he post a link to every one of his articles in every one of his articles. Some of his articles are cool, but a lot of them are just level 1 thinking articles that serve as merely sources of reference.
All media is propaganda of one sort or other no matter how objective the author claims to be. It's the nature of the medium.
tldr
"I agree, and I have recently unsubscribed to several, formerly quality, but now whorish newspapers after they spammed my sub box and write article after article trying to get subscribers. I think there was only ever one legitimate Subscription-getting contest, and that was Propaganda Now!'s, if for no other reason than their being Propaganda Now!."
Vincent, you will forever be my friend.
Good article, Benn. I was hoping you'd tell us what "transmogrification" meant by the end. Since you didn't I had to look it up:
transmogrification: (n): the act of changing into a different form or appearance (especially a fantastic or grotesque one).
lol
voted
Excellent article Benn.
"Population does not accurately depict the activity of a country's media realm."
Quite true, Thailand's media has always been quite active for such a small population, and for the most part full of really good writers...which is one of the reasons I enjoy the country so much.
Would it be wrong, then, to say that eRepublik lacks journalistic integrity, due to a lack of concrete incentive to pursue honest reporting?
Just a suggestion, but maybe what the community needs is a staunch and honest paper that makes it its business to critique our eMedia (like this article, in a sense). Just like plenty of RL media, much of journalism's social worth stems from its fundamental purpose: to give the public the truth, and let people formulate their own opinions from there.
Like Benn has said, there's a place for sensationalism and propaganda, but I'll bet more than just me would like to read a paper that sorts fact from fiction, fidelity from fervor. There's a lot of news out there, and it's sometimes hard for the average eCitizen to find the good stuff.
I realize there are problems inherent in this suggestion: for instance, what would stop this hypothetical paper from becoming bureaucracy in itself, or simply another political propaganda wagon? Or perhaps that honesty in journalism is a lost concept, period. Still, I'd put money on the chance that there are people willing to do honest reporting, and more who'd be willing to read a an honest paper.
McFall
too much txt dont have time to read lol pertamax
I hate those articles that are like "Vote and surscribe and you'll get cool things"
I agree with martin. And i totally disagree with everything you said. Those reasons are allthe good reasons. They are also the very same good reasons for your post. To inform, incite, propogate, prophesy,intimidate, etc...!
Wow, it's great to find someone thinking along the same lines as a few others over in eCanada. I've started to organize a media focus group on the eCanada forum and have also been looking at ways to better focus media/literary efforts.
Please take a look at the "SPAMM Competition" (don't let the title fool you) and the Award for Best Article of the Week.
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/the-shameless-plug-award-for-best-article-march-1-7-750100/1/20
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/and-they-re-off-mini-media-mogul-tournament-spamm-begins-747983/1/20
Voted..
The media has always been corrupt, governments have always used them to bend our wills, the world is not a fair place, and it is never going to be changed. You are starting to sound like an old man Benn