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Google partners to fund new local media sites

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Re: Google partners to fund new local media sites

#11

Post by piokoch »

kmlx wrote: post #8
zoul wrote: post #4

The main problem is that this just does not scale. Facebook and Google have damaged the business model of local media all over the world – now how can they fix that by reintroducing local media to a few towns below 500 thousand people? If they really want to undo the damage, a systemic change is needed, otherwise it’s just feel good PR. (I’m from a former communist country and this almost feels like the collectivizat…

can't the same be said about horse drawn carriage companies? ford model t came in and damaged their business model.

True, the problem is that replacing carriages with cars was a benefit for society, destroying local press is not.

Re: Google partners to fund new local media sites

#12

Post by zoul »

kmlx wrote: post #8
zoul wrote: post #4

The main problem is that this just does not scale. Facebook and Google have damaged the business model of local media all over the world – now how can they fix that by reintroducing local media to a few towns below 500 thousand people? If they really want to undo the damage, a systemic change is needed, otherwise it’s just feel good PR. (I’m from a former communist country and this almost feels like the collectivizat…

can't the same be said about horse drawn carriage companies? ford model t came in and damaged their business model.

I don’t think so. How does Google replace the journalism it helped to destroy? How can a single entity with its own political and other biases replace a vast, diverse network of local journalism?

Re: Google partners to fund new local media sites

#13

Post by zoul »

cromwellian wrote: post #6
mudil wrote: post #2

First, Google, a surveillance machine, kills journalism by monopolizing the ad business. And now it pretends to support journalism through its handouts. Nice society we are building, folks.

Well, it's like saying Autos killed Horse and Buggies, and auto manufacturers contributing to horse farms means they are bad people. How likely was it that local news was going to survive the digital transition as is, when suddenly, people who never ventured more than 25 miles from where they are born, and mostly obtained news by paper delivery or local TV, can suddenly access the sum total of human knowledge and any…

The writing was on the wall, in the same way that streaming killed optical media and optical media killed LPs. Or in the same way that e-commerce is killing retail once logistics gets cheap enough to make delivery cheaper than buying in store.

This is a completely different matter. Here you are giving examples of services getting replaced by a better competitor. How does Google or Facebook improve on local journalism? They have just destroyed an important public service with no viable replacement in sight. The situation has maybe improved for the advertisers, but the public has lost a big time.

Re: Google partners to fund new local media sites

#15

Post by ardy42 »

kmlx wrote: post #8
zoul wrote: post #4

The main problem is that this just does not scale. Facebook and Google have damaged the business model of local media all over the world – now how can they fix that by reintroducing local media to a few towns below 500 thousand people? If they really want to undo the damage, a systemic change is needed, otherwise it’s just feel good PR. (I’m from a former communist country and this almost feels like the collectivizat…

can't the same be said about horse drawn carriage companies? ford model t came in and damaged their business model.

> can't the same be said about horse drawn carriage companies? ford model t came in and damaged their business model.

More like Perdue Pharma came in with opioids and turned everyone into junkies that stopped traveling, so the horse drawn carriage companies lost their customers and started to fold.

The horse drawn carriage -> cars example suggests a poor mental model, since it makes it seem like all hardship caused by technological change seem like it's due to clear improvements in nearly every respect.

Re: Google partners to fund new local media sites

#16

Post by [deleted] »

zoul wrote: post #12
kmlx wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

can't the same be said about horse drawn carriage companies? ford model t came in and damaged their business model.

I don’t think so. How does Google replace the journalism it helped to destroy? How can a single entity with its own political and other biases replace a vast, diverse network of local journalism?

[deleted]

Re: Google partners to fund new local media sites

#17

Post by kmlx »

ardy42 wrote: post #15
kmlx wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

can't the same be said about horse drawn carriage companies? ford model t came in and damaged their business model.

> can't the same be said about horse drawn carriage companies? ford model t came in and damaged their business model. More like Perdue Pharma came in with opioids and turned everyone into junkies that stopped traveling, so the horse drawn carriage companies lost their customers and started to fold. The horse drawn carriage -> cars example suggests a poor mental model, since it makes it seem like all hardship caused b…

cars brought pollution. a different kind than horse manure, but still pollution.

if the news publishers don't know how to make money then they should step aside or consolidate or a million other things.

Re: Google partners to fund new local media sites

#18

Post by kmlx »

zoul wrote: post #12
kmlx wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

can't the same be said about horse drawn carriage companies? ford model t came in and damaged their business model.

I don’t think so. How does Google replace the journalism it helped to destroy? How can a single entity with its own political and other biases replace a vast, diverse network of local journalism?

why does google need to do anything? why is it google's fault that the news publishers don't know how to make money?

Re: Google partners to fund new local media sites

#19

Post by [deleted] »

cromwellian wrote: post #6
mudil wrote: post #2

First, Google, a surveillance machine, kills journalism by monopolizing the ad business. And now it pretends to support journalism through its handouts. Nice society we are building, folks.

Well, it's like saying Autos killed Horse and Buggies, and auto manufacturers contributing to horse farms means they are bad people. How likely was it that local news was going to survive the digital transition as is, when suddenly, people who never ventured more than 25 miles from where they are born, and mostly obtained news by paper delivery or local TV, can suddenly access the sum total of human knowledge and any…

[deleted]

Re: Google partners to fund new local media sites

#20

Post by kmlx »

piokoch wrote: post #11
kmlx wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

can't the same be said about horse drawn carriage companies? ford model t came in and damaged their business model.

True, the problem is that replacing carriages with cars was a benefit for society, destroying local press is not.

i would argue that cars, for all their benefits, contributed and still do to global pollution. so you get the benefits of private transport, but also you're indirectly killing off other humans. isn't killing off local press and replacing it with national the same?
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