An Open Letter on the Epistemic Responsibility of Media Platforms
Dear Editor, I do not know whether your organization too indulges in this practice. I sincerely hope it does not. But if it does, I believe it deserves serious reflection. I write this not merely as a reader but as a researcher who spends a considerable amount of time examining institutions, knowledge production, and the ways through which authority is manufactured in public life. I could perhaps convert this concern into a paper for a media studies journal, spend months writing it, wait through peer review, revisions, and publication, only for it to appear when the issue has already moved on. The slow temporality of academic publishing often makes it ineffective for intervening in questions that demand immediate public debate. Therefore, I write directly. Over the past few years, I have increasingly encountered a peculiar editorial practice in sections such as Subscriber Writes , Your Turn , and similar citizen-contribution platforms. Articles are published under the banner o...