I hadn’t heard of the “Ratchet, Hatchet, Pivot” before. I really like it for intra-ecosystem communication.
I also love these questions: “What has gone right and why, what is going wrong and why, and what can be done to overcome the problems facing humanity?”
You can swap humanity for “my life,” “my family,” “my community,” “my country,” etc for a universally useful exercise.
On a separate note, your piece resonated because something I’m trying to interrogate for myself is also what you seem to be thinking about: what is the role of media in advancing progress?
I have a sneaking suspicion that part of the reason why most optimistic media usually(?) doesn’t do well is because it’s not tied to a particular theory of change.
I imagine most people wondering: “Cool, I’m glad to know that this cool invention is being built. But what exactly does this have to do with me?”
I suspect that media that feels like media that supports the growth a movement with clear and exciting goals could get traction.
I’ve seen some progress-adjacent YouTube channels do really well roughly targeting a niche of people who want to electrify their house, so they like to be up to date on new energy / storage inventions.
And I predict that I would love to follow media covering the journey of a group trying to get some progress-related legislation passed.
Movement media.
I’m not sure there’s room for general purpose optimistic, progress-oriented media beyond the current players right now. But I could be wrong!
Interesting thought about the market here. It seems though that the Atlantic and Vox have a pretty good bead on that. Between Derek Thompson etc. and Kelsey Piper etc. I think one thing we can do is augment their efforts and contribute to those already established and successful platforms, as well as Works in Progress.
I am not aware of the financial situation of any of these outlets, but I don’t see a market hole for another one. This might be good advice though for other current operations like Warp News.
Do we want to have media that contributes to a better future? Do we want to fuel content grounded in reason, logic, and common sense?
Focus on nuclear weapons.
There is no other factor within human control that can so quickly and so decisively end our hopes for a better future. The vast majority of other subjects being discussed in “constructive journalism” are really mostly a dangerous distraction from that which will decide our future.
Happily, we seem to be emerging from climate change denial, and now pretty much the entire population is alert to this danger, and receptive to plans to address this challenge. Unhappily, nuclear weapons denial disease remains rampant, pervasive, and durable, even at the very highest levels of our society.
This claim will now be disputed in following comments. The debate may be interesting for a few days, but then it will become boring, and we’ll drop right back in to nuclear weapons denial, and sweep it back under the rug so as to return our focus to sexier topics like AI. And this is the mechanism by which the brighter future you dream of will be destroyed.
Given the pervasive nature of nuclear weapons denial, every mention of these weapons in any media is an act of constructive activism. It’s not necessary to agree with any particular point of view. Just say the words “nuclear weapons” where ever you can, and you’re making a constructive contribution.
I enjoyed your piece, Tony.
I hadn’t heard of the “Ratchet, Hatchet, Pivot” before. I really like it for intra-ecosystem communication.
I also love these questions: “What has gone right and why, what is going wrong and why, and what can be done to overcome the problems facing humanity?”
You can swap humanity for “my life,” “my family,” “my community,” “my country,” etc for a universally useful exercise.
On a separate note, your piece resonated because something I’m trying to interrogate for myself is also what you seem to be thinking about: what is the role of media in advancing progress?
I have a sneaking suspicion that part of the reason why most optimistic media usually(?) doesn’t do well is because it’s not tied to a particular theory of change.
I imagine most people wondering: “Cool, I’m glad to know that this cool invention is being built. But what exactly does this have to do with me?”
I suspect that media that feels like media that supports the growth a movement with clear and exciting goals could get traction.
I’ve seen some progress-adjacent YouTube channels do really well roughly targeting a niche of people who want to electrify their house, so they like to be up to date on new energy / storage inventions.
And I predict that I would love to follow media covering the journey of a group trying to get some progress-related legislation passed.
Movement media.
I’m not sure there’s room for general purpose optimistic, progress-oriented media beyond the current players right now. But I could be wrong!
What do you think?
Interesting thought about the market here. It seems though that the Atlantic and Vox have a pretty good bead on that. Between Derek Thompson etc. and Kelsey Piper etc. I think one thing we can do is augment their efforts and contribute to those already established and successful platforms, as well as Works in Progress.
I am not aware of the financial situation of any of these outlets, but I don’t see a market hole for another one. This might be good advice though for other current operations like Warp News.
Do we want to have media that contributes to a better future? Do we want to fuel content grounded in reason, logic, and common sense?
Focus on nuclear weapons.
There is no other factor within human control that can so quickly and so decisively end our hopes for a better future. The vast majority of other subjects being discussed in “constructive journalism” are really mostly a dangerous distraction from that which will decide our future.
Happily, we seem to be emerging from climate change denial, and now pretty much the entire population is alert to this danger, and receptive to plans to address this challenge. Unhappily, nuclear weapons denial disease remains rampant, pervasive, and durable, even at the very highest levels of our society.
This claim will now be disputed in following comments. The debate may be interesting for a few days, but then it will become boring, and we’ll drop right back in to nuclear weapons denial, and sweep it back under the rug so as to return our focus to sexier topics like AI. And this is the mechanism by which the brighter future you dream of will be destroyed.
Given the pervasive nature of nuclear weapons denial, every mention of these weapons in any media is an act of constructive activism. It’s not necessary to agree with any particular point of view. Just say the words “nuclear weapons” where ever you can, and you’re making a constructive contribution.
https://www.tannytalk.com/s/nukes