In the first episode (audio) of his podcast series 'Rebooting the News' with Dave Winer, Jay Rosen calls this post, 'Audience Atomization Overcome: Why the Internet Weakens the Authority of the Press', the most linked-to post on his blog, ever.
Jay wrote:
"(…) Take a sheet of paper and make a big circle in the middle. In the
center of that circle draw a smaller one to create a doughnut shape.
Label the doughnut hole “sphere of consensus.” Call the middle region
“sphere of legitimate debate,” and the outer region “sphere of
deviance.” (…)"
center of that circle draw a smaller one to create a doughnut shape.
Label the doughnut hole “sphere of consensus.” Call the middle region
“sphere of legitimate debate,” and the outer region “sphere of
deviance.” (…)"
Jay argues that journalists in the U.S. will not step outside of the agreed boundaries of what is considered "the political debate". If your coverage stays between "what the Republicans are saying" and "what the Democrats are saying", you're safe.
This phenomenon is not confined to the U.S.