The erroneous assumption that ideas, aesthetics, or opinions are inherently superior, correct, or more "authentic" simply because they are amplified by or aligned with dominant cultural institutions (corporate news, major studios, popular influencers). It conflates prevalence with validity, market share with truth. Conversely, it can also manifest as the inverse snobbery of automatically rejecting anything mainstream, but the core fallacy is granting automatic epistemic authority based solely on broadcast reach.
Example: "You think that indie theory holds water? Please. It's not on CNN or the NYT Bestseller list. If it was really important, it'd be everywhere—that's just the Mainstream Media Fallacy in reverse." This implies truth is democratically determined by airtime and that marginality, in either direction, is a marker of falsehood.
by Dumuabzu February 3, 2026
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