BBC R4 New Gurus “Gigachads” episode

[audeloquipalam]

Not posting here to be antagonistic but genuinely interested in the thoughts of anyone who frequents this forum / topic that might have listened to it.

I don’t consume official media so can’t comment on the content, but will say this:

The absolute state of modern “journalism” - trying and failing to understand internet memes.

What are your own thoughts?

I enjoyed it - good basic explainer of feminism and how it doesn’t centre males, and how men, as their friendship circles have diminished, have turned to toxic male influencers.

My thoughts are that it briefly referenced the genuine problems some men have finding a valued space in society only to act as a way into something quite dismissive and lazy purporting to be analysis.

A less partial journalist might have done a better job of analysing how Tate has engineered his malign influence by referring to the fact he was world champion in two weight divisions rather than simply “keen on martial arts” for instance.

Especially when you’re building the bulk of the 30 minutes around “because Andrew Tate….”. But why work to make a considered case when you can just blow a dog whistle?

A desire to diminish overcame what could have been a more valuable point and that ended up being the tone of the whole piece.

When it got to referencing American Psycho that’s when I thought I’d ask a question on this forum.

Maybe I’m old and naive but I thought something on R4 would have avoided some of the more obvious social media guff.

The absolute state of modern “journalism” - trying and failing to understand internet memes.

What makes you think a journalist understands internet memes less well than you do? Do you think journalists don't spend time in the internet?

Maybe I’m old and naive but I thought something on R4 would have avoided some of the more obvious social media guff.

Surely the whole point of the series is about “social media guff”?

The New Gurus is a series about looking for enlightenment in the digital world.

Oh I’m sure they spend plenty of time on the internet looking for inspiration content. They just don’t understand the more niche communities. There have been plenty of examples over the years.

That's not a journalism issue, that's a 'niche communities are niche communities' issue, and it isn't unique to the internet.

Journalists are people like you and me. They don't know everything nor should they. Lazy journalists exist, but they are far from the norm.

And one of the worst thing a journalist can do is just be a fan who writes about their fandom. One of my kids got into KPop, and that was where I saw the way internet niche fandoms had changed since I was in it back in the late 90s-2010s - suddenly fans had ONE narrative, and if a journalist wrote like someone outside the fandom not only were they wrong, they were biased (or racist, or bigoted, etc...).

This is what I like about The New Gurus. It's well-researched, but still approaches the subject from an external perspective and let's interviewees speak for themselves.