The Information Crisis Inside the Information Crisis
Guardian editor, Katharine Viner ‘s diagnoses our current moment — the erosion of attention, the corrosion of trust, the fragmentation of shared reality, and the role she believes independent, publicly funded journalism must play in holding it together. There is a deeper problem.
The System Doesn’t Break People. It Fits Them.
Idealists enter politics hoping to change it. Then, discover something else entirely: a machine that rewards alignment, punishes independence, and quietly reshapes those who stay.
How the Attention Economy Is Hollowing Power, Politics, and Public Consent
DIGITAL SYSTEMS ARE NOT MERELY CHANGING SOCIETY — THEY ARE QUIETLY ERODING THE TRUST, COHESION AND INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY ON WHICH DEMOCRATIC POWER ITSELF DEPENDS.
Why This Journal: protect minds and institutions in an age of algorithms
This journal documents an inquiry: Can classical rhetoric and Stoic practice protect minds and institutions in an age of algorithmic manipulation?
The question isn't academic. For thirty years I've worked in security and communications — violent extremism, media warfare, information operations. The tools have changed (social media, AI, micro-targeting) but the mechanisms haven't.
I'm Rod Cowan. I've spent over thirty years working at the intersection of security, communications, and information operations—advising on violent extremism, media strategy, and cognitive security. I've worked with government, military, and civil society across multiple conflicts and information environments.
I explore greyzone and narrative warfare, and the effect of institutions and individuals of manipulation in the digital age.
This will be occaisional essays.
Serious inquiry, not hot takes.
No audience in mind.
But, if you're navigating similar terrain, I'd value the conversation.
