For a variety of reasons, we in the USA and around the word are experiencing change at a rate and at a depth few of us would have ever imagined possible.

The ways we encounter the world — especially the world beyond our immediate vision, has changed dramatically.

How we interact with, and meet people is not what it was just a few years ago.

Many of us, for a variety of influences, have retreated into an ever-smaller circle of friends and family.

What we used to know as “news” was, not long ago, “broadcast” which meant widely spread, and while we might watch, listen to or read different aspects, like sports, current events or business, our perception of the world, for the most part, emerged from the same sources.

There were always fringe groups with their own networks of fears and fantasies.

Those fringe groups had brochures and hushed phone calls, and a few secluded conversations.

The media, which everyone depended on — and, for the most part, trusted, was authoritative and respected and, most of all, dominant.

For better or worse, communication technology has shifted to the immediate, unmediated and unfiltered.

Legacy Media

What became known as “mainstream media” (or MSM) became as technologically obsolete as it became culturally irrelevant.

Cultural and technological shifts converged with unstoppable demographic forces which have combined to bring us to the near -extinction of what had been presumed anchors and reference points for virtually every industrial economy.

Radio, print media and television were the news sources for a generation or two (or three) essentially around the world.

Print media in particular was static and confirmable. Radio and television were, by definition flowing and being transmitted — and not always recorded.

The Fourth Estate

That whole category of media became known as the Fourth Estate whose mission (sometimes overt and publicly stated) was to confront, inform and hold accountable nobility, clergy, subjects (otherwise known as government, the church and citizens).

The legacy media was highly moderated, mediated and with multiple, and ever-vigilant gate-keepers.

Over time, these semi-independent news producers and broadcasters consolidated into just a few major networks.

In a recent study 86% of Americans surveyed got their primary news from digital sources — not print or broadcast. Many young people have little to no knowledge or direct experience with broadcast media (as in radio and television). One ten-year-old recently said to me “What’s a radio station?” For his generation, that is not an unreasonable question.

I am a long-time listener to NPR. And most current NPR supporters and listeners are, in fact, long-time listeners — but not future listeners. in fact most NPR radio listeners are 44 and older; in comparison, most of its podcast listeners are between 18 and 44.

In short, the fourth estate is losing its dominance. If it hasn’t already.

The US is not alone. In Denmark Radio remains the largest audio medium with 46% of surveyed Danes saying they spent their total listening time on it. But the future for radio does not look good — according to the same survey, young people and adults under 46 spend significantly more time on music streaming than on radio compared to the rest the population.

AM radio was once king in America, and then FM, but now…

Enter the Fifth Estate

The Fifth Estate is not simply the blogging community, or even an extension of the (pre) existing media, but ‘networked individuals’ (also known as unregulated unaccountable influencers) enabled by the Internet, (specifically social media) in ways that, in theory at least, could hold the other estates accountable.

Or not.

Free of control, accountability or even corporate sponsors, this emergence of unaffiliated, unofficial bloggers, journalists, hacktivists, and media outlets that operate outside of (if not directly in opposition to) the mainstream media.

With no accountability, and little reference to evidence, facts or what used to be called journalistic responsibility was discarded along with even the most basic of research or documentation procedures.

Unfounded (or even literally impossible) accusations, and wild (sometimes alien-based) conspiracy theories.

The MSM, by comparison, is cautious and, often constrained by journalistic standards. And sponsor considerations.

This dramatic decline across media is reflected in the decline of other once-standard moderating and shared cultural and social forces.

Before the Fifth Estate, and even the dominance of the Fourth Estate, the three previously defining estates (government, church and citizenry) are still existing — and, just maybe, might find themselves at the center and maybe even reclaiming authority.

But even that will likely take a very different shape as time progresses.

I heard a local church pastor say that their church, with a 125-year presence in the neighborhood, had an average Sunday morning attendance of 40 people -with an average age of 80.

If there is not change in this momentum (and there is little reason to believe there would be) this church will permanently close within five years — at most. This church, and its members, has been a visible, tangible, immediate presence in the community for well over a century, and is unlikely to exist five years from now.

This is a common story among what were one main-line churches that, a generation ago were

prominent and influential in their communities.

Pair this decline in interest in and support of church communities with the approximately equal decline in support and trust in our government and you have the survival of only one of the traditional three “estates”; citizens.

We the People

Our form of government, if not every democratic republic (as opposed to a monarchy) is premised on the existence of an informed, fair and ethical engaged citizenry.

We, the citizens (and yes, we the people) need our institutions (as in the government and the church) to remind us who we are and what we are (or should be) doing. We need traditions and the social cohesion that makes progress, or even survival possible.

We, as individuals, need the structure and moral, if not historical framework to keep our bearings as we face tumultuous times and unforeseen challenges.

We need to be informed about those issues that may not concern us directly, and which we may never encounter or know about other than through media with reaches around the world.

Americans don’t agree on much lately, but one thing we might all agree on is that our institutions are not healthy.

How to strengthen them, and ourselves along the way, is certainly the challenge of our times.

Are you informed? Or influenced?

I’m sure I’m showing my age here, but I’d far rather be informed than influenced.

In general, to be informed means to be aware of concerns far beyond our own direct life experiences — to understand, maybe even sympathize with, issues beyond our own.

To be “influenced” literally means to let someone “influence” you. No matter how fun or entertaining that might be, it rarely equips or inspires you to be of help or encouragement to your larger community.

As our issues become more pressing, our sources of news and information are more urgent, and more fragile, than ever.

And, of course, more worthy of our support.