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I think you’re wrong about government funded news. It will always be less biased than privately funded news because democratic governments (even Trump) are held accountable in a way that no private company ever will be.
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Facebook was not built on the backs of journalist has always been about chatting to friends and family first, strangers second, and news a distant third
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Facebook has clearly stated they don’t profit off news. I’m inclined to believe them until proven otherwise, especially since I can open the Facebook app and there is literally no news anywhere to be seen.
Comment on Facebook ate and then ignored the news industry. It's hard, but we should leave it be
CaptObvious@literature.cafe 8 months ago
As a former journalist, I agree that a robust news industry is absolutely essential to a functioning democracy. And while that should make it something to support with tax revenue, in the US right now, it’s terrifying even to imagine what Trump 2.0 would do with that control. It isn’t comfortable to think what Biden would do to silence critics who are complicating his re-election campaign.
I have to disagree with the professors’ basic premise about the Media Bargaining Code taking money from a profitable business to prop up an unprofitable one. First, news should be viewed as a public service, not a business. Second, Facebook et al. established and grew their ad businesses by relaying journalists’ work; that’s worth something. The fact that FB no longer wants to pay for the content they’re profiting off of is just too damn bad. Third, the complaint about redistributing wealth doesn’t hold water since that’s exactly what the traditional news outlets’ own ad businesses did: transfer wealth from profitable businesses (largely retail and services) to support a less profitable one (journalism producers).
I’m not Australian, so arguably I don’t have a dog in this race. But it doesn’t sit well to watch Facebook rape and pillage an entire vital industry and then just walk away leaving it for dead. They must be held to account.
abhibeckert@lemmy.world 8 months ago
unionagainstdhmo@aussie.zone 8 months ago
We already have taxpayer-funded media here the ABC (fully funded) and the SBS (partially funded), if the government invested more into these outlets there would be no need for the utter shit, lies, fear and LNP propaganda put forth by Murdoch, Seven-West and Nine-Fairfax.
An impartial media is essential to a functioning democracy, I agree with that, it’s the rich bastards we’ve got right now that we don’t need. We don’t need biased opinion pieces, people should be able to think critically and form their own opinions. Not vote for whoever their local Murdoch paper wants them to vote for.
CaptObvious@literature.cafe 8 months ago
So long as there’s a strong mechanism to ensure their independence, this is the way to go. We used to have taxpayer-funded journalism (PBS and NPR) in the US. They still exist, but they’re forced to solicit
advertisers“underwriters” to keep the lights on thanks to Reagan and Gingrich.We have Murdoch’s “Fox News” too. I think that man may be evil incarnate. You guys can have him back. :)
DeltaTangoLima@reddrefuge.com 8 months ago
However, I have to disagree with the professors’ basic premise about the Media Bargaining Code taking money from a profitable business to prop up an unprofitable one. First, news should be viewed as a public service, not a business.
That wasn’t the professor’s point - that was the reporter’s. But if you read on, another professor (of media studies) puts it quite aptly:
The reason for this was news organisations were never in the news business, Amanda Lotz, a professor of media studies at QUT, said. "They were in the attention-attraction business. "In another era, if you were an advertiser, a newspaper was a great place to be. “But now there are just much better places to be.”
I honestly can’t recall how long it’s been, but it’s been at least decades since there was a newspaper dedicated to just news. It’s always been all the other stuff piled in - entertainment reading, comics, crosswords, classifieds, public notices, etc - that made a “news” paper worth reading, as well as the news itself.
This problem is older than Facebook. Facebook is simply the newest face of it.
CaptObvious@literature.cafe 8 months ago
… Code taking money from a profitable business to prop up an unprofitable one.
That wasn’t the professor’s point - that was the reporter’s.
It seems an accurate reporting of the law, but true. My apologies.
The reason for this was news organisations were never in the news business, Amanda Lotz, a professor of media studies at QUT, said.
Media studies is not journalism. It’s an adjacent field. While she certainly has a point from her perspective, I wouldn’t call it the final arbiter in this case.
DeltaTangoLima@reddrefuge.com 8 months ago
Media studies is not journalism
This isn’t about journalism. It’s about the fact that news orgs can only succeed if they can pay for themselves or be attached to larger money-making machines. That’s why most mastheads are owned by large media conglomerates, and those that aren’t have to charge subscription fees just to survive.
CaptObvious@literature.cafe 8 months ago
It seems to be about journalism and fair play. Media studies is tangential to that.
Nath@aussie.zone 8 months ago
I don’t disagree with anything you’ve said here, but at the same time, what is the response?
- The Government insists that Facebook pays a royalty for news articles shared on its platform.
- Facebook bans news articles on its platform (again) instead of paying anything.
- Nobody on Facebook sees news; just disinformation and propaganda.
Facebook already has the engagement they want. While they grew that platform engagement partially from news content, they have it now and no longer need news content. In fact, if the article is to be believed, they no longer want news on their platform.
porous_grey_matter@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
Maybe make the royalty per user rather than per article. Then there’s no incentive to ban news.
unionagainstdhmo@aussie.zone 8 months ago
A royalty for what though? To display the headline of a news article and the first few words? I hate Facebook as much as anyone on Lemmy but I don’t think they owe the media a cent.
We don’t need these media outlets anyway, we have the ABC which doesn’t need to be profitable. Most print media has extreme political biases which shape public thought by focusing on something to make it seem more common. An example: youth crime in Queensland, the number of offences has been in decline however the media give it disproportionate coverage to make it seem like the government isn’t doing enough. They like the LNP, they want the LNP in power. In Queensland Labor are in power, they don’t like them, so they lie.
No1@aussie.zone 8 months ago
former journalist 'profiting off of ’ not Australian
Personally, I often wonder about the mysterious role of editors
Zagorath@aussie.zone 8 months ago
Omg I am getting sick of hearing this lie. No, Facebook does not use journalists’ work. The send the newspapers readers. They are adding value to the news orgs by giving them customers. It’s ridiculous to double dip by expecting Facebook to also pay for sending them traffic.
CaptObvious@literature.cafe 8 months ago
We both know that’s not how stereotypical FB users work. They read the news on the platform. Full stop. They didn’t pause doomscrolling to go read the same article on the producers’ websites.
Zagorath@aussie.zone 8 months ago
There is no news on Facebook. There are links to news articles.
CaptObvious@literature.cafe 8 months ago
Which people don’t follow. Hell, they don’t even stop scrolling on Lemmy to click the links.