Who Is Responsible for Getting Us the Information We Need?
This blog post from the Newsosaur caught my eye.
This line in particular:
“Google isn’t responsible for saving the newspaper industry or journalism. Publishers and editors are.”
I disagree. I think a root issue for newspapers (among other media) is that the industry hasn’t reached out. Instead, as the Newsosaur describes, they’ve spent the last several years whining.
There are also great examples of non traditional media outlets – in cable access, in public broadcasting, on the web – tackling the issue of how to generate independent, relevant journalism in the upside-down economics of Internet distribution. I would argue that We the People – individuals, institutions, policymakers, academics – are responsible for addressing the question of sustaining journalism. The same way We the People are obligated to address the issues of our day. We are obligated to be civically engaged. (Oh my God, I sound like my mother!)
I do think Google has a civic obligation to think about how it will shape journalism, as well as other corporate, government and non for profit organizations. And we do too: individuals now more than ever are responsible for making sure they have access to the information they need as citizens and consumers.
The days of the highly profitable, benevolent news outlet creating information for an informed democracy has been shrinking for decades. But we’re at a unique point in history where the government can regulate media to empower individuals to inform themselves.
