The editorial of The Media Leader Sunday November 23, 2024
Maybe you’re like me. When everyone tells me that a film is absolutely brilliant, I’m very reluctant to go see it. And most of the time, this turns into outright abstention. Which generally results in me discovering the masterpiece in question on television without always being convinced by the genius of the author or the actors. I do not reserve this deplorable behavior for the cinema, which I frequent too little in any case, but also for TV series, literature and other cultural activities. It’s my Grouchy Smurf side, but with a smile. I’m very rarely sure of my judgment, but when everyone is moving in the same direction, I can’t help but find a reason to disagree. This is why I have never joined a political organization. The society of my now distant youth was much more clear-cut on this level than it is today and I was raised by parents who knew each other in a party. So, around my twenties, I attended a few meetings of organizations whose ideas I shared. But every time a point was taken for granted by the majority, a little thought crossed my head saying: “Yes but…”. Which very often results in: “Actually, no”. I’m not sure that this is a quality because if everyone reasoned the same way, we would never get anything done. And there is plenty to do, including abstention.
Not too troll
In recent weeks, we have seen a certain number of media outlets around the world announce their departure from the X network. The latest is the Sud-Ouest group which closely follows Ouest France, the first paid daily press broadcast of the country which had announced at the start of the week to leave the platform, or rather to “stop broadcasting” its content on lack of moderation has made this space unfrequentable. Nothing to add on this, any sane person can see it from the second turn of the scroll. Like many, I am wondering whether to close my account, as the atmosphere on this site is so unbreathable. But this is not from yesterday, nor from the last American election. Even when it was called Twitter, trolls swarmed there, spoiling conversations with their hateful opinions. And yet, like many, I remained a subscriber, without ever posting too much for fear of being insulted by anonymous people. But now, as the owner of this network prepares to take official office in his country, the wave of unsubscriptions is slowly growing. And again, this “Yes but” crosses my mind. Not necessarily very intelligent. But not troll.
