You don't always get to see how access journalism functions as state control of media so neatly.
lol hell yeah.
the influencer phenomenon is something i understand but also don't understand. like, as soon as someone identifies as "an influencer", doesn't that immediately undermine their authenticity because some corporate entity is paying them to peddle something? it would be much more potent to go the route of subtle product placement, imo. "oh that guy who makes cool wood sculptures always uses that brand of chisels" etc.
that ClimateTown guy did an episode about gas stoves years ago, and the section on a marketing strategy proposed for the gas lobby to pay "influencers" of highly specific demographics to make cooking with gas seem cool/superior, with such grim/hilarious characterizations as
- hispanic millenials
- design enthusiasts
- promising families
- young city solos
... and basically how cheap it is to go this route, because influencers are wildly cheaper than media buys for ad campaigns, professional video production, actors, etc.
anyway, after seeing under the hood, the only thing that makes sense for this as a strategy is that it's too cheap not to do. but, when i'm watching some kind of content maker that has a native ad sponsor, my automatic assumption is that the thing they are peddling is probably trash and they are literally only this to make the rent or whatever.
