By Lee Abrams and Dave Charles
Media, social in particular, has created four categories of culture. Here’s a simplified look at what’s driving the conversation:
Junk Culture: Characterised by high accessibility and low intellectual demand, this quadrant is trend-driven, image-obsessed, and often demographically niche. It offers entertainment that is fleeting and prioritises fashion over substance. American politics has, in many cases, devolved into junk
Examples: Viral TikTok challenges, celebrity reality TV series, fast fashion trends.
Smart Culture: Occupying the high ground of intellectual engagement and lasting benefit, this quadrant values innovation, soulful depth, and enduring quality. It possesses a robust “coolness” derived from genuine substance.
Examples: Pioneering tech like Apple’s early design philosophy, landmark films (e.g., 2001: A Space Odyssey), and scientific exploration.
Conspiracy Culture: Rooted in misinformation and paranoia, this quadrant thrives on social media and ideological extremes. Its content ranges from mildly plausible to deeply absurd and damaging, serving as a profoundly divisive force.
Examples: QAnon narratives, flat-earth theories, and other widely debunked claims amplified by algorithmic media.
Average Culture: This is the baseline of cultural acceptance—neither revolutionary nor objectionable. It consists of utilities and standardised offerings that have become unremarkable parts of the everyday landscape.
Examples: McDonald’s, mainstream network television, household appliances.
Impact and Analysis
Junk and Conspiracy Culture are identified as the most harmful, contributing to a perceived decline in public discourse. Junk Culture acts as “electronic candy”—immediately gratifying but nutritionally void. Conspiracy Culture functions as a social toxin, eroding shared reality through paranoia.
In contrast, Smart Culture advances and enlightens, creating works with lasting relevance that touch all demographics through quality, not arrogance. Average Culture provides stability but rarely inspires.
Strategic Cultural “Investment”
While quick profits are often found in Junk and Conspiracy productions, and safety lies in the omnipresent Average, the most strategic long-term “investment” is in Smart Culture. Choosing the enlightening route offers a longer, more positive lifespan for creations and contributes to countering the junk epidemic. In a cultural stock market, Smart Culture represents the high-value growth stock.
Dave Charles (left) is the President of Media RESULTS Inc. With more than six decades spent working in radio here and overseas he was inducted into the Canadian Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2024. Lee Abrams (right) has worked as a consultant to over 1,000 radio stations, 12 major print publications, tv stations and cable networks and is the designer of XM satellite.