Glozell, Bethany and I don’t
sit in fancy news studios surrounded by fifty thousand dollar cameras
and polished metal and glass backdrops with inlayed 90-inch LCD screens.
People trust us because we’ve spent years developing a relationship
with them. We have been scrutinized and found not evil. Our legitimacy
comes from honesty, not from cultural signals or institutions.
sit in fancy news studios surrounded by fifty thousand dollar cameras
and polished metal and glass backdrops with inlayed 90-inch LCD screens.
People trust us because we’ve spent years developing a relationship
with them. We have been scrutinized and found not evil. Our legitimacy
comes from honesty, not from cultural signals or institutions.
And
with young people having no reasons to trust those cultural signals
that we older folks were raised with, this is the only thing that works
for them anymore. Our values and interests mesh with theirs enough that
they’ve come to trust us. They trust us to make content that they will
enjoy and they trust us to be the kind of people they can look up to.
People who betray that trust risk losing everything that they have
built.
with young people having no reasons to trust those cultural signals
that we older folks were raised with, this is the only thing that works
for them anymore. Our values and interests mesh with theirs enough that
they’ve come to trust us. They trust us to make content that they will
enjoy and they trust us to be the kind of people they can look up to.
People who betray that trust risk losing everything that they have
built.
To the journalists
who have criticized me for getting Obama to sign something for me, or
Glozell for saying the word “dick,” or Bethany for saying that she isn’t
very involved in politics, there’s something you need to understand:
Our legitimacy springs exclusively from honesty. I have to be who I am. I
have to act the way I feel like acting, or I am lying to my audience.
who have criticized me for getting Obama to sign something for me, or
Glozell for saying the word “dick,” or Bethany for saying that she isn’t
very involved in politics, there’s something you need to understand:
Our legitimacy springs exclusively from honesty. I have to be who I am. I
have to act the way I feel like acting, or I am lying to my audience.