In the past, on the strength of their image as the leading lights of modern knowledge, they used to be able to convey and introduce new concepts, but when highly capitalized media appeared in Taiwan, these began to fill the role previously held by the intellectuals. Consequently lazier and more superficial intellectuals gradually became marginalized, and entertainment industry idols or stars of media sensationalism took over their places in the media.
南方朔分析說，知識分子言論內容包含「訊息」與「意見」，以前還能以新銳形象傳播、引領新觀念，但資本龐大的媒體出現後，大都可以扮演前者的角色，因此不用功、議論浮泛的知識分子慢慢就被邊緣化，他們以往在媒體裡的位置，也被娛樂偶像或譁眾取寵式的文化明星所取代。