The Power Force Christopher Hitchens Derided Tarot Readers Call "Spirit," "Universe" and More

 " ... nobody has risen to replace the late Christopher Hitchens on the lecture circuit, on cable news, in books and in the pages of our best publications. If he were resurrected today, who would hire him? And if they did, how long would it take for the staff to petition the bosses to fire him?" - From Jack Shafer's Politico article "The Collapse of the News Industry Takes Its Soul Down With It," May 6, 2024

It was a different time when Christopher Hitchens not only threw journalistic grenades but was respected and trusted. Without fear he positioned and packaged Mother Teresa as a menace and told us to forget that god was on our side since there was no god. 

Today, those contentions, even if well documented, probably wouldn't reach the final stage of being actually published. The reasons include:

Fear of lawsuits. The nuclear verdict for the plaintiff in "Hulk Hogan v Gawker" has a long half life. Also there are plenty, like Peter Thiel, who are willing to invest in the funding of such litigation. 

Increasing insurance premimums for liability coverage in media. The categories are broad and open to legal interpretation, including emotional distress, misappropriation, disparagement, defamation and invasion of privacy.

Distrust by the public. According to a recent Gallup poll, trust in media is low. Only about 32% consider what's published credible. 

Short-staffed. There simply aren't enough journalists to tell the needed stories right. Since 2005, two-thirds of jobs in that sector have been eliminated.

Influence of power players. Tough stories can be blocked pre-publication, such as those about podcaster Jay Shetty by the Hollywood Reporter and Esquire. 

The collapse happened quite rapidly. 

Here it is spring 2024. In spring 2021 two investigative reporters Sujeet Indap and Max Frumes published an expose on Wall Street and large law firms: "The Caesars Palace Coup." At the time, it sold well and was favorably reviewed by establishment media. 

What likely helped those sales was the outing by Vanity Fair and other media of the pre-publication warnings to the authors and the publisher by elite law firm Paul, Weiss. Those were about possible defamation. Nevertheless the book was published.

That was then. 

Today those warnings might have been taken seriously and there would be no book. After all, points of law are open to interpretation. That's why society is addicted to observing genius lawyers argue their cases.

Today, Paul, Weiss might have taken actual legal action. Not just warn. That is the ethos of these times. Incidentally, "Caesars" currently is in Amazon ranking hell of 541,740. So much for journalism. In contrast the September 2014 how-to by Peter Thiel "Zero to One" on entrepreneurship ranks at 2,548 on Amazon. We can get plenty of expose stuff via social networks. 

Journalism per se may be an anachronism. The demand is for how to do things. Incidentally, the jobs are going to those who do things. We are in a blue-collar boom and a white-collar recesssion.

Also back then was Hitchens able to deride mysticism. For us Tarot readers (a calling I have had since childhood) the "god" he does not accept the existence of we label "spirit," "universe" and more. Today we Tarot readers and our clients might file class-action lawsuits for defamation and disparagement against Hitchens. 

The New York Times could be a witness for us the plaintiff. In 2021, it published a major article saluting the Tarot as a tool for self-awareness and introspection. Also bring on The New York Post. It documented that some are ditching their therapists for Psychic readers. Cassandra Vanzant, founder of The Elite Psychics, explains how to select the right fit. 

Power is the price of entry into The Big Games. Journalism has lost much of its power. To those who started out our careers in communications as reporters (a hat I have proudly worn) that is sad. But it is reality. And that sector is not alone. Management consulting, much of marketing, even parts of finance and tech and more are also losing power. 

Those gaining power include large law firms, generative AI departments in businesses and, yes, mysticism niches. About the latter, two years ago I picked up on where trust was flowing and currently 80% of my life's work is in Tarot reading, with only 20% in commercial communications. 

Tarot Card Reader. Intuitive Career Coach. Medium.

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