Introduction
For most of modern history, the question around power and influence was: Who controls the message? Governments, media organizations, and institutions competed to shape public narrative. The assumption was that if you could craft compelling stories and get them distributed, you could influence what people believed and how societies made decisions. That’s no longer how it works. Today, the question isn’t just who controls the message—it’s who controls the infrastructure that determines whether message gets seen at all.
WHAT’S CHANGED
Public discourse now happens on private platforms. A handful of corporations control the systems that determine what becomes visible, what gains traction, and what gets silenced. This isn’t about content moderation or “censorship” in the traditional sense. It’s about architecture. The platforms themselves—their design, their algorithms, their economic models—govern how communication happens. Three dynamics are reshaping public discourse:
PLATFORMS GOVERN VISIBILITY
What reaches people isn’t determined by the quality of ideas or public interest. It’s determined by algorithmic systems designed to maximize engagement. These systems decide what appears in feeds, what gets recommended, what becomes “trending.” They’re optimized for attention—which means they often amplify conflict, sensationalism, and emotional intensity rather than nuanced argument or factual information. The result: What people see isn’t a reflection of what’s being said. It’s a reflection of what algorithms are designed to surface.
INFRASTRUCTURE SHAPES WHAT’S POSSIBLE
The tools people use to communicate—social platforms, messaging apps, AI systems—aren’t neutral channels. They’re designed with specific assumptions about how communication should work, what counts as valuable content, and who should have voice.
These design choices encode power. They determine what kinds of messages can spread, what forms of organizing are possible, and what modes of expression get amplified or suppressed.
Most people don’t see this. They experience platforms as transparent—just a way to reach an audience. But the infrastructure itself is shaping what can be said and done.
These design choices encode power. They determine what kinds of messages can spread, what forms of organizing are possible, and what modes of expression get amplified or suppressed.
Most people don’t see this. They experience platforms as transparent—just a way to reach an audience. But the infrastructure itself is shaping what can be said and done.
POWER OPERATES THROUGH ARCHITECTURE, NOT JUST CONTENT
The most consequential decisions about public discourse aren’t made by governments or media organizations anymore. They’re made by platform companies through design choices, algorithmic parameters, and infrastructure control. These aren’t technical decisions. They’re political decisions about who gets heard, what becomes credible, and what’s politically possible. But they’re made privately, with minimal public accountability or democratic governance. The terrain of public communication has fundamentally changed. And most people are navigating it without seeing the structure.
Stories have always shaped how we understand the world. But today, the platforms delivering these stories determine what becomes visible, what gains traction, and what gets silenced. These systems—algorithms, platform architectures, narrative frames—structure public and private life. They shape what we see, what we accept as true, and how societies make decisions about policy and democracy.
My work helps people and organizations see this terrain clearly. Drawing on narrative theory, platform studies, visual communication, and political economy, I examine how stories, images, and digital systems shape public voice and policy outcomes. I work with organizations that need to understand these dynamics—not just to navigate them, but to build alternatives.
WHY THIS MATTERS
This isn’t abstract. It’s shaping policy debates, election outcomes, social movements, and everyday decisions about what’s true. When platforms suppress certain content while amplifying others—often in invisible ways—they’re not just affecting individual messages, they’re structuring what becomes politically possible. When algorithmic systems determine what gains traction, they’re not just curating feeds, they’re shaping collective attention and public priorities. When infrastructure is controlled by corporations optimizing for profit, not democratic discourse, the gap between “public sphere” and actual governance of public speech keeps growing.
Understanding how this works is the first step toward navigating it—or building alternatives.
Understanding how this works is the first step toward navigating it—or building alternatives.
WHAT I STUDY
Narrative & Framing
How stories and visual symbols structure public meaning and public possibility.
How stories and visual symbols structure public meaning and public possibility.
Media & Platform Systems
How media architectures, digital platforms, and algorithms, shape visibility, discourse, and agency.
How media architectures, digital platforms, and algorithms, shape visibility, discourse, and agency.
Political Theory & Public Life
How democratic participation, public voice, and policy formation are shaped by technopolitical systems.
How democratic participation, public voice, and policy formation are shaped by technopolitical systems.
WHY IT MATTERS
These systems determine what we see, what we believe, and what becomes politically possible.
Public voice depends on literacy in the infrastructures that mediate it.
Democracy cannot function when the systems that shape public speech remain invisible and ungovernable.
Understanding these systems is the first step toward reshaping them.
HOW I WORK WITH ORGANIZATIONS
I work with mission-driven and advocacy organizations on issues where narrative framing and storytelling shape outcomes. The work centers on:
Helping leadership see the terrain — how narratives move, how platforms shape visibility, where opposition messaging is working, what structural dynamics are at play
Strategic design and guidance — campaign architecture, narrative framing, visual communication that clarifies complex issues, support through critical decision points and transitions
This takes different forms depending on need: campaign strategy, visual narrative development, high-stakes communications, training, or longer-term partnership.
LEARN MORE
For those interested in the intellectual foundations of this work, I’ve compiled a [Field Guide to Narrative Power & Platform Systems] — a curated list on media studies, platform governance, political economy, and democratic theory.
For further inquiry: monte@monteritz.com