大众媒体与二战以来美国政治中的反智主义

Mass Media and the Anti-intellectualism in American Politics after World War Ⅱ

反智主义在美国有着深远的历史,它以反理性、反知识和反精英为核心,成为统治者维护其统治的复杂策略。二战以来,美国政治中的反智主义进一步强化和发展,呈现出思想保守化、政治极端化、手段民粹化等新特征。作为民众获取信息最主要的渠道,大众媒体在二战后美国政治反智主义的发展中扮演了重要角色。麦卡锡掀起的反共主义、华莱士推动的种族主义、小布什发起的单边主义反恐战争和特朗普掀起的反智主义新浪潮等美国政治反智主义的典型案例,揭示了美国政治精英如何借助乃至操纵电视、互联网等新兴大众媒体,助长和推动民众的反智言行。这折射出美国式“民主”运作的悖论和伦理困境,简单的政治家操守和媒体职业规范要求并不能为其解局。

Anti-intellectualism has a profound history in the United States,with anti-rationality,antiknowledge and anti-elite as its core,becoming a complex strategy for rulers to maintain their rule.Anti-intellectualism in the politics of the United States has been further strengthened and developed after World War II,showing new characteristics such as conservative ideology,politics polarization and populist methods.As the main channel for people to obtain information,mass media played an important role in the development of anti-intellectualism in American politics after World War II.Typical cases of American political anti-intellectualism,such as anti-communism launched by McCarthy,racism promoted by Wallace,the unilateralist war on terrorism initiated by George W.Bush and the new wave of anti-intellectualism launched by trump,reveal how American political elites utilize or even manipulate emerging mass media such as television and the Internet to promote people's anti-intellectualism.This reflects the basic paradox and ethical dilemma of the operation of American“democracy”,which might not be solved by the simple requirements of politicians*ethics and media professional norms.