Abstract
Social media has an extremely influential presence in our lives today. This paper describes the role of podcaster and comedian Joe Rogan, and his influence online through his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience. Since his podcast began in 2009 he has created and developed a space for unfiltered mass media consumption. He has experienced some controversy but has established a reputation for presenting and interviewing guests representing both sides of an issue. On topics discussed on the podcast Joe Rogan presents himself as a curious participant with a wide variety of interests, often playing devils advocate. His views are often fairly neutral, but he is not afraid to speak his mind and does not avoid confrontation. He makes a point of challenging guests to back up their perspectives. The paper goes into details about specific examples and events from the podcast to support evidence. Some examples occurred during heated debates surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Joe Rogan is unapologetically himself and has found a platform to successfully provide unfiltered content. His podcast informs the viewer about important events while allowing them to form their on conclusions on topics. This style is refreshing to viewers today as it does not force one opinion on them it lets them decide for themselves.
Introduction
The transformation of media over centuries has been occurring at an exponential pace. Originally media was hard to come by and had to be sought after, yet over the years it has become an inescapable part of everyday life. A hugely popular mass media presence has been built by Joe Rogan. This paper will discuss how he is a pioneer for direct-to consumer media consumption, providing unfiltered mass media distribution. Some current media issues revolve around what is true, the problems with mass media censorship, and how stories are perceived. He has become a major voice playing a role in identity and online advocacy. Joe Rogan is a diverse individual with a passion for learning new things and listening to people’s life stories. He is known for being a comedian, a sports commentator, and a personality with several interesting hobbies. He began a podcast in 2009 called The Joe Rogan Experience where he discusses his large array of passions with a wide variety of guests (Rosman et al., 2022). The role Joe Rogan conveys as an advocate and influencer online through his podcast has vastly impacted how people consume media daily. He uses unfiltered content without censorship, providing refreshing and balanced views on sensitive and controversial topics.
Types of Censorship
All individuals are constantly faced with two types of censorship while consuming media. Direct censorship is enforced by laws and policies that are strong enough to deter publication. It is often government driven and focuses on events that draw immediate attention (Sehdave, 2024). Groups supporting viewpoints that differ from the governing power are blocked. These opposing viewpoints are not given an audience, significant attention or publication and are dismissed until they eventually pass (Sehdave, 2024). What has allowed Joe Rogan to have so much success is his authentic and genuine approach to podcasting and media in general. One way he achieves this is by inviting a broad variety of guests all with different backgrounds that share an array of talents, passions, expertise, and political views. An example of this occurred in 2021 when he discussed the risk of the COVID-19 vaccines with Dr. Robert Malone, a scientist who worked on some the first variations of the vaccine (Bond, 2022). In mainstream media we were all made aware of the positive effects of the vaccine when protecting against COVID-19 (Bond, 2022). The mainstream media never highlighted any risks the vaccine presented and blocked out anyone trying to discuss them. Joe Rogan did not allow himself or his platform to be directly censored by the media, he continued to have conversations and provide both sides of the issue to listeners. This direct form of censorship can certainly influence people’s views and thoughts on the world. When people are repeatedly exposed to only one side of an issue, they will eventually believe what they are being shown is true or right (Sehdave, 2024). It can be extremely challenging for humans to escape and overcome this thought process proving that this type of censorship is dangerously effective (Sehdave, 2024). It is well recognized that Joe Rogan presents both sides of any topic being debated virtually eliminating any direct censorship.
Censorship can also be indirect, which is more common for humans to experience on a daily basis without realizing (Sehdave, 2024). It is more subtle and is implemented through choice of language, and vague explanations, allowing it to fly under the radar and hide in plain sight (Sehdave, 2024). It is the expression of an opinion buried in language (Sehdave, 2024). This type of censorship can be seen even in the words people use to describe recognized things. An example of this occurred back in World War II when the Germans used the word Holocaust to describe their evil genocide of Jewish people (Sehdave, 2024). This Greek derived word from holokauston actually means a burnt sacrifice offered whole to God” (Sehdave, 2024), implying it was a deserved sacrifice. Germans kept using this word overriding the term Sho’ah which was preferred by people of Israel and France meaning catastrophe (Sehdave, 2024). By using a more benign term for the genocide, the Germans affected and tried to alter the sentiment of their horrific acts (Sehdave, 2024). They used the term so much that it won over as the accepted term for the genocide and its original meaning was consequently lost over time (Sehdave, 2024). This misuse of language for labelling downplayed atrocities and painted a more favourable picture of Nazis using indirect censorship (Sehdave, 2024). This indirect form of censorship involves controlling how information is conveyed to the public, and similar to direct censorship it makes people believe that the perspective they are seeing must be correct (Sehdave, 2024). Joe Rogan mitigates indirect censorship by speaking his mind and allowing guests to do the same. There is no pressure to meet guidelines because it is a free-flowing conversation. This is another one of the many ways he is a leader in providing unfiltered media content, influencing people to make their own decision where they stand on certain issues.
Epistemic Bubbles and Echo Chambers
What is dangerous about direct and indirect censorship is that they are both forms of epistemic bubbles and echo chambers. Epistemic bubbles are very common and can also be self-inflicted (Sehdave, 2024). They occur when relevant voices are not taken into consideration and are inevitably eliminated (Sehdave, 2024). Rogan combats this by bringing on guests with opposing views and asks each probing questions to expose why they hold these opinions. This provides listeners with a balanced view allowing them to make their own informed decisions. Epistemic bubbles are caused by people only seeing what they want to see through personal patterns of interest (Sehdave, 2024). This often involves individuals mainly connecting with people who share similar interests and views on topics, blocking out the opposition. What is dangerous about epistemic bubbles is that they can be accidental, and self-inflicted but have major consequences (Sehdave, 2024). Once these bubbles are established it becomes very hard for people with opposing views to find common ground because everyone is only surrounded by people who share their same opinions (Sehdave, 2024). This leads to more tension, less empathy and overall, a smaller willingness to understand opposing viewpoints when people with differing beliefs are forced to interact (Sehdave, 2024). Echo chambers have similar characteristics but are slightly less common. An echo chamber occurs when relevant voices are invalidated through an external source (Sehdave, 2024). People begin to only trust others that hold the same values and views on topics, losing trust in the outer world (Sehdave, 2024). Echo chambers are dangerous because they stop people from thinking for themselves, forcing them to adopt an opinion based on other people. They limit people from growing, understanding, and thinking on their own reinforcing existing beliefs and biases (Sehdave, 2024). When false information is implemented into an echo chamber poor decisions are made by people which can lead to irreversible damage. The division of people and groups caused by echo chambers can be very serious as it allows people to see outsiders as enemies instead of possible friends (Sehdave, 2024). It has been noted that the political echo chambers occurring since the 2016 US presidential elections has taken the focus from issues to partisanship (Guo et al., 2018). Instead of discussing forward thinking ideas and helpful legislation the energy is mainly focused on reinforcing the group identity of supporters (Guo et al., 2018).
Benefits of Unfiltered Media
It has always been known that Joe Rogan does not care what people think and is going to do what he wants on his Platform. This was reinforced when he smoked marijuana with Elon Musk on a podcast in 2018 (Rosman et al., 2022). It was a surprise to all when his free speaking podcast landed him a $100 million dollar deal with Spotify in May of 2020 (Rosman et al., 2022). He promised to his listeners when he signed the deal his podcast would stay unfiltered by stating “It will be the exact same show. I am not going to be an employee of Spotify” (Rosman et al., 2022). Spotify saw their stock price increase 17% the day the deal was released, and his podcast continues to be the biggest on Spotify in the United States and 92 other countries today (Rosman et al., 2022). He appeals to an extremely diverse group of followers not just particular fringe groups. The chief executive of Spotify Daniel Ek told employees that The Joe Rogan Experience was crucial for Spotify in competing against tech giants Apple and Google (Rosman et al., 2022). The podcast even allowed Spotify to swiftly change their platform by including video with their podcasts, helping them differentiate themselves from competition (Rosman et al., 2022).
Possible Counterarguments
There are several positives to having accessible censorship free media but there are also counterarguments against it. When there is only free speech in the media there is no way of telling who is educated on topics and who is not. It can also promote hate towards certain groups and cause other social issues. We saw examples of this after Joe Rogan’s Spotify deal was announced as it sparked a lot of controversy. One of the main arguments against him included some misinformation about COVID-19 on his podcast (Rosman et al., 2022). In April of 2021 Rogan said, “if you’re a healthy person, and you’re exercising all the time, and you’re young, and you’re eating well, like, I don’t think you need to worry about this” (Steiger, 2022). Rogan is smart but he has no medical background and education regarding vaccines. These comments are problematic as he was broadcasting to a large audience that if you are young and healthy you do not need the vaccine. In reality a large number of young healthy people were dying of COVID-19 (Steiger, 2022). He also expressed his thoughts on vaccine passports saying society is getting “one step closer to dictatorship” (Steiger, 2022). In January of 2022, 270 scientists wrote to Spotify to report that Rogan’s podcast contained misinformation surrounding COVID-19 (Rosman et al., 2022). In line with this Neil Young demanded that his music be taken off Spotify saying, “they can have Rogan or Young… not both” (Rosman et al., 2022). Rogan also received backlash for his use of anti-trans language in 2021(Rosman et al., 2022). Various other inappropriate comments were circulated at this time to discredit Rogan. He responded with apologies and has largely overcome the backlash since then (Rosman et al., 2022).
Overall, Joe Rogan has faced some controversy in the past regarding his unacceptable statements and opinions. He remains to be a direct voice and has been appropriately called out when these extremes are given airtime on his podcast. He has shown a strong ability to react and adjust accordingly, recognizing when he has taken something too far and apologizing appropriately. This shows Joe Rogan is human and will make mistakes, but he is more than capable of overcoming them and thrives in an uncensored format. The role he plays as an influencer does not need to be controlled by outsiders. Listeners are able to relate and identify with his open discussions on current issues.
Conclusion
Joe Rogan has used his platform of interesting guests, open dialogue, and consideration of both sides of every issue to create an unfiltered podcast to listeners worldwide. Avoidance of direct and indirect censorship has provided listeners with refreshing and balanced viewpoints, while mainly avoiding the phenomenon of epistemic bubbles and echo chambers. Despite some blunders along the way Joe Rogan has recognized the need to act responsibly and proven that uncensored content is viable. Joe Rogan’s censorship free approach to media is refreshing as he is influencing and challenging listeners to think deeply and look at both sides of story before making an opinion.
References
Bond, S. (2022, January 21). What the Joe Rogan podcast controversy says about the online misinformation ecosystem. NCPR. https://www.npr.org/2022/01/21/1074442185/joe-rogan-doctor-covid-podcast-spotify-misinformation
Guo, L., Rohde, J., & Wu, D. (2018, July 3). Who is responsible for Twitter’s echo chamber problem? Evidence from 2016 U.S. election networks. Taylor & Francis Online. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2018.1499793?casa_token=sOn0bKobhowAAAAA%3AcFgnFEeminZ0a4sGeWUo-OvbODmxfesWOqHN6UDub7y9E_B1l7oRzYBo7M8gAjomUFk2FDZbddE4
Rosman, K., Sisario, B., Isaac, M., & Satariano, A. (2022, February 17). Spotify Bet Big on Joe Rogan. It Got More Than It Counted On. The New York Times. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/602a5678aeefe23588ad9da9/t/6214df8b38d59f032ffbc8f8/1645535118000/Spotify%27s+Joe+Rogan+Deal+Is+Said+to+Be+Worth+Over+%24200+Million+-+The+New+York+Times.pdf
Sehdave, T. (2024, February 6). The Unfiltered Lens: Social Media as a Threat to Democracy. Critical Debates HSGJ. https://criticaldebateshsgj.scholasticahq.com/article/92540
Steiger, G. (2022, February 1). An Analysis of Joe Rogan’s COVID-19 Apology. An Analysis of Joe Rogan’s COVID-19 Apology
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