404 MEDIA: Exploring the ways technology is shaping–and is shaped by–our world.

INTRO: 404 Media is a journalist-founded digital media company exploring the ways technology is shaping–and is shaped by–our world.

 

We're focused on investigative reports, long-form features, blogs, and scoops about topics including: hacking, cybersecurity, cyber-crime, sex, artificial intelligence, consumer rights, surveillance, privacy, and the democratization of the internet.

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Podcast

How Identity Literally Changes What You See (with Samuel Bagg)

Joseph speaks to Samuel Bagg about all the ways identities dictate what people see, and how what they choose to believe is based much more on those identities than the evidence in front of them. 

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New Release: 404 Bank (Medium)
 

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MeesaZona blooger insert -- FOR YOUR INTERESTED I HAVE ONE READER COMMENT

"Glad 404 got to interview this guy. I had found his blog thought-provoking and enjoyed listening to him speak about his research.

Approaching the problem through labor unions rings true to me. It sure af isn't going to be through technology or social media. Have to get people off their phones or they won't hear any messaging Meta and co don't want to be heard. And despite their weakness right now, there's massive support for unions in the States, especially among younger people.

I appreciated that he's set down a more rigorous basis for the assertion that nobody, not even trained journalists, can have a perfectly neutral POV.  

This is a trap legacy media falls into, where there's this weird compulsion to be in the exact center between the most extreme points of any story. It's a Freewill situation: if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice!

Speaking of manipulation by big tech, I wonder if online filter bubbles are a cause of diverging identity groups or a shadow cast by them. . ."

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Joseph Cox

· Feb 2, 2026

• ⁠The Problem is Epistemic. The Solution is Not⁠
• ⁠The Dispersion of Power: A Critical Realist Theory of Democracy⁠

404 Media is an independent website whose work is written, reported, and owned by human journalists. Our intended audience is real people, not AI scrapers, bots, or a search algorithm. Become a paid subscriber here for access to all of our articles ad-free and bonus content.

This week Joseph talks to Samuel Bagg, assistant professor of political science at the University of South Carolina. Bagg recently wrote a fascinating essay, linked below, about how the problem with lots of things might be knowledge-based (people believing stuff that’s wrong or dangerous) but the solution is not more knowledge. It’s all about social identity. This is an incredibly interesting discussion, and definitely check out more of Bagg’s writing.

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