Why You Should Sample Ideas You Disagree with, and Be Skeptical of Celebrity Journalists | Big Think

Why You Should Sample Ideas You Disagree with, and Be Skeptical of Celebrity Journalists

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When PR strategist Matthew Hiltzik visited our video studio, he framed the world as a marketplace of ideas, and the US as a fortunate country whose citizens have a multitude of voices and perspectives—both traditional and revolutionary—to learn from. So are we exercising that luxury, or are we staying loyal to one or two key news sources that comfortably align with our worldview, even our self-identity. What is the cost of that? We may be limiting our own education and cementing arguments instead of working toward resolutions. Hiltzik suggests that there are opportunities and benefits to listening to a wide variety of news sources, even ones that present ideas you may not be accustomed to, and that doing so could help bridge the divides in modern America: "The more understanding you have of your neighbor the more you have the ability to find common interests," he says. If the world is a marketplace of ideas, buy into them carefully, Hiltzik says, but sample them broadly and skeptically, especially in an era of celebrity journalism and see-sawing journalistic standards.

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MATTHEW HILTZIK:

Matthew Hiltzik is the president and CEO of Hiltzik Strategies, a highly regarded strategic communications and consulting firm with offices in Manhattan and LA. He has worked closely with industry leaders in film, finance, sports, philanthropy, tech, music and entertainment and public affairs.

As an attorney as well as a documentary producer, Matthew has enjoyed a fascinating career as the quintessential “guy” behind the guy (or the woman). He often does his best work in ways that are invisible to the public (though not necessarily journalists) but appreciated by his clients. After graduating from Cornell and Fordham Law School, Matthew began his career in politics as press secretary and deputy executive director of the New York State Democratic Committee. From there, he moved to Hollywood, as the head of corporate communications for Miramax Films while serving as a spokesman and advisor to Harvey Weinstein. In 2005, Matthew left Miramax to become President and CEO of the U.S. office of the U.K based publicity firm Freud Communications before founding Hiltzik Strategies in 2008.

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TRANSCRIPT:

Matthew Hiltzik: One of the great things about our country and the way our Constitution was established is that we have a marketplace of ideas. That means that people can shop for those ideas that they want to hear. My hope is that more people would want to shop for a variety of products; ones that come from a lot of different suppliers, ones that have a lot of different ideas and perceptions and perspectives and facts and experiences that are shared.

But we live in a country where you're free to get whatever you want. And if you want to shop on a side where it's only one type of product that's giving you one vision, you have the right to do that and that's not for me to tell anyone not to do that. It would be unfortunate, I think, if people limit themselves because they do care and are interested in the consumption of news. I think it's really important to try to be able to search for different outlets and for different opportunities to learn more and to educate yourselves.

One of the things with our practice over the years has been working with clients who have very different political views. They weren't necessarily mine; I have clients who are way more liberal than me and I have clients who are way more conservative than me. We only work on things politically that we agree with, but we work with clients whose politics we may not, because being around people and having discussions and learning about them and appreciating and respecting the points of view that they have, is really valuable for us to understand how to reach people, how to understand things, and truthfully I think it makes us better people—a little bit—by the fact that we try it. It doesn't mean you're a bad person if you don't, but I think that the more understanding you have of your neighbor the more you have the ability to find common interests.

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