There's a pretty interesting Youtube video about how "the marketplace of ideas" is a load of crap powerful enough to help get an unthinkable candidate elected president. It speaks to the idea that "The Discourse" in today's social media trickles down to what people talk about and think about in real life as well, leading them to prioritize whatever issues are propped up by celebrities and media talking heads at that time. Most people want to be heard, but unless you are talking about what everyone else is already talking about, no one is going to listen.
Case in point, the current kerfuffle between The Wall Street Journal and millionaire Lets Play personality Pewdiepie. After being celebrated by several Neo Nazi groups for some of his "shock humor" jokes, based in Anti-Semitic words and images, Pewdiepie was dropped by Disney and Youtube Red as a partner, though Pewdiepie's main Youtube channel remains relatively unchanged in the face of the "scandal".
In the video below, Pewdiepie alternates between taking responsibility for the situation and blaming the Wall Street Journal for it. He feels that their attacks on him have been personal, and are out to try to damage his career. My guess is that this isn't the case. The Wall Street Journal has to know that this whole thing is going give both them and Pewdiepie a bump in viewership for as long as it lasts.
It's also likely that the writers in question at the The Wall Street Journal just honestly believe that Pewdiepie has been insensitive to the seriousness of the growing normalization of Anti-Semetic and KKK/Nazi-themed messaging in the world today, and has played a part in normalizing them. The fact that Pewdiepie takes the time here to complain about how "The Media" tends to focus on how much money he has, and not how "cool his story is" speaks to why the WSJ writers may feel that way. This is all despite the fact that the media has, in fact, spent plenty of time talking about how cool his story is. For an apology video, Pewdiepie spends a whole lot of time painting himself as the victim here.
via destructoid http://ift.tt/2kBRbQb