Whom to trust I Standard Time Talk Show

Political fragmentation is constantly rising. We experience less and less of a shared reality across society. Some people are afraid of migrants – others of losing their homes. Some people don’t believe COVID exists – some religiously believe in science and objectivism. Yet others attribute anything they don’t understand to ancient aliens.

Our societies are more saturated with media than ever before. The proliferation of content for the sake of content makes it that much harder for the viewers to identify relevance. This upheaval, this destabilization of meaning is what happens every time a major technological shift pushes society out of its established habits.

A few decades ago, digital progressives used to promise a new age, where the internet and its amenities would bring about freedom, and democracy, making our lives easier and more enjoyable. Today, most media diets are dominated by garbage adverts, political propaganda and a constant, pounding noise from content farms.

Who can we blame for all this? Today’s guests have some insight to offer.

Mercy Abang is an award-winning journalist from Nigeria. She’s a media entrepreneur, co-managing director and CEO of Hostwriter, based in Berlin, Germany.

Lina Chawaf is a Syrian journalist, and founder of Radio Rozana broadcasting in Arabic to a Syrian audience both in Syria and in the diaspora. She’s working from Gaziantep, Turkey.

Péter Krekó is a political scientist and social psychologist at ELTE University. He is the director of Political Capital Institute a Budapest-based independent think tank. He’s also a long-time recurring author and friend of Eurozine.

We meet with them at the spectacular library of the School of English and American Studies at the Eötvös Loránd University, in the heart of Budapest, Hungary.