The New Priesthood
16th February 2024
ZMan’s weekly podcast. Highly recommended.
A unique feature of this age is the fact that our societies are largely controlled by what we call the media. It was not that long ago when the term “the media” did not exist as a commonly understood concept. There were newspapers, books, and pamphlets, but they were called newspapers, books, and pamphlets. The concept of “the media” is a product of the 20th century.
These days, the media is not a collection of discreet communication entities but more of a subculture that hangs over society like smog. There are thousands of people who call themselves journalists, for example, who do not work for a journal or even have full-time employment at a newspaper. They are part of the media and speak of themselves as if they are in a righteous subculture or mass movement.
That is the way to think of it. The people in this thing we call the media operate like people in a religious cult or movement. This is why there is so little diversity of opinion in the media now, compared to just a generation ago. In a holy cause, there is no tolerance for those who question the cause. The people in this thing called the media are a priestly class who see their role as moral enforcers.