Borkowski Weekly Media Trends: Mark Borkowski on Twisted Twitter, Harry & Meghan vs Paparazzi and more...

ALSO: AI Buzzfeed & The Accountancy Big Four's 'Apathy Strategy'

Mark Borkowski on the State of Twitter

Speed kills. An aphorism ingrained in our minds. This week, the news agenda gained momentum through tabloid media narratives, fueling debates on Twitter. From the Holly and Phil estrangement to the King receiving honey from David Beckham, the cacophony of chatter drowned out something profound: ideas and insight.

Each incident triggered angst, echoing the diverse passions of the Twitterati—a formless debate reflecting disapproval. We gain little from this commotion.

Amidst this chaotic landscape, the relentless pursuit of Meghan Markle by the paparazzi is another example of social media neglecting serious issues. It overshadowed more significant matters that deserve attention, highlighting the prioritization of sensationalism over substance.

The crowd should voice opinions openly and engage in honest debates, but Twitter is currently unfit for this purpose. It has devolved into a platform where grandiose individuals seek admiration. As Kurt Cobain once said, "I don't care what you think unless it is about me."
Having a point of view is distinct from being right. No one is infallible. But try explaining that to self-proclaimed opinion influencers.
Twitter Blue has enabled individuals to break free from character limits, fostering an environment where future imbeciles will thrive.
Objective reasoning and humility are incompatible on Twitter. We're bombarded daily with worthless knowledge and pseudo-events, hindering meaningful dialogue. Twitter has become a space where flawed values prevail.

Trusted sources and meaningful opinions are being phased out by Twitter, jeopardizing intelligent discourse. It was once a platform that inspired people with innovative ideas, but now its brevity needs to be more balanced with the daily debate.

Twitter Blue lowers the bar for those seeking recognition while silencing potential difference-makers. Brilliant intellects struggle to be heard, drowned out by breaking news moments. We've embraced instant gratification and soundbites.

These social sewers are clogged with effluent. Twitter emits a stench worse than the medieval streets of London. Commentators and influencers fixate on uninformed babble from new-age notables. An over-opinionated crowd reduces legitimate debate to mindless drivel.
We must prioritize humanity over clickbait and engage in meaningful discourse on the issues shaping our world. The future needs leaders who can decipher a vulnerable mob susceptible to charismatic demagogues.

Harry & Meghan’s New York Minute

It’s been relatively quiet on the Sussex front of late, with Prince Harry making only a subdued appearance at the coronation of King Charles. That all changed on Wednesday morning with the news that the couple had been pursued by photographers as they left an awards ceremony where Meghan was being honoured the previous evening. With the tragic death of Princess Diana in similar circumstances still casting a long shadow, the reaction by many to this apparent close call was visceral. What may or may not have actually taken place on the streets of New York is for others to debate, but it is undeniable that the messaging coming from camp Sussex, the NYPD and now the photo agency Backgrid, is a lesson in the monumental effect of word choice in public statements – to varying effects.

The first the world’s media heard of the incident was via a press release issued by a Sussex spokesperson. Describing the events as “near catastrophic” and the pursuant as “a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi,” the statement is certainly emotive at best, and hyperbolic at worst. Why go out of their way to publicise such a traumatic series of events? The purpose seems to have been a plea for the resulting images not to be used by the press, with the quote going on to say, "Dissemination of these images, given the ways in which they were obtained, encourages a highly intrusive practice that is dangerous to all in involved." The NYPD followed up with a more sober statement, closer to what we expect to see issued by official bodies following significant events, saying only that the numerous photographers surrounding Harry and Meghan’s vehicle “made their transport challenging” and clarifying that no injuries were reported or arrests made. Backgrid however, rose to the Sussex bait after an apparent request that they return the images taken during the incident, with a Trumpian statement quipping, “In America, as I’m sure you know, property belongs to the owner of it: third parties cannot just demand it be given to them, as perhaps kings can do.”

Harry and Meghan know their profile is divisive enough, so to poke the bear with this kind of sharp tongued language seems unwise. However, it is Backgrid – long embroiled in accusations of staged images and celebrity exploitation – that come out as unprofessional and juvenile in this particular war of words. 

Is AI the (near) future of Digital Media?

As AIs adoption rapidly increases, companies are increasingly looking to cash in, finding ways to streamline their business via this powerful wave of generative AI. While most sensible companies will approach this cautiously, some are making headlines for attempting to replace substantial chunks of their workforce with ‘robots’ powered by OpenAI’s powerful ChatGPT.

Buzzfeed Inc is the latest to change its business model drastically, and it’s a worrying trend for the media industry. BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti recently told investors that he sees AI as an “exciting new creativity tool”, which actually means a more efficient way to mass-produce generic quizzes in seconds and cut costs by outsourcing this to AI. What’s worse, BuzzFeed will use AI to tap into the “authentic voice” of various racial groups to appeal to a broader multicultural audience. This isn’t a parody or a teaser for the upcoming Black Mirror, execs are finding different ways to use AI as an excuse to cut jobs and outgoings to create passable content in bulk that they can tart up as search engine-friendly and churn out to the masses.

And in a recent Tweet by author Symeon Brown, we see how Buzzfeed might start training ChatGPT’s “authentic voice” as the AI tries to say “good afternoon everyone, how are you?” into “authentic black English”, and the result speaks for itself.

We’ll likely see more risky gambles like this as mass cost-cutting exercises, and they’ll probably fall flat. Companies cannot rely solely on generative AI to produce diverse content without hiring people of colour because the AI itself is prone to bias since inherently biased humans programmed it!

Are the big four so boring the public turn a blind eye to their actions?

PwC's latest scandal is just another example of accountancy’s ‘Big Four’ firms going from crisis to crisis. 

This time, it's PwC Australia that's in hot water after it was revealed that a partner used confidential information about the government's tax plans to win client work.

This is just the latest in a long line of scandals involving the Big 4 audit firms. In recent years, they've been caught up in everything from accounting fraud to sexual harassment allegations.

And yet, despite all of these scandals, the Big Four audit firms have faced little in the way of backlash.

One reason is that the Big Four audit firms are too big to fail. They're so entrenched in the global economy that it would be too disruptive to the system if they were to collapse.

Another reason is that the Big Four audit firms have a lot of friends in high places. There is a considerable revolving door between the Big Four and governments and regulators. 

But there’s another factor. The Big Four trades on being boring; faceless, anonymous, brandless and the apathy that this well-oiled boredom machine generates — save for the occasional exposé in Private Eye- allows many of their questionable actions to fly beneath the radar of public consciousness.

As a result, they're able to get away with a lot. But this can't continue forever. The public in Australia is rightly enraged about their actions. Is this the turning point?

What's happened in Australia is no different to the audit failures of Wirecard or Carillion here in the UK - both resulted in mass job losses and economic impact on many communities - but little meaningful repercussion for the accountancy giants. 

The regulators also need to do a better job of policing the Big Four. But we, as the public need to care. Yes, we know 'audit' is boring, but only when consumers pay attention will the government, regulators and companies themselves start to make meaningful reforms.