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  • Should Social Media Companies Pay a Fair Price for the News?

    From Nick Odell@21:1/5 to All on Sat Aug 19 07:04:18 2023
    There are suggestions that the current stand-off between social media
    companies and the Canadian government are contributing to confusion
    surrounding evacuations from wildfire areas because many members of
    the public have forgotten how to get news directly from source.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66535401


    In an ideal world people who live in dangerous places would rehearse
    what to do in an emergency when cell towers fall silent or mobile
    phones stop working. But we are where we are and people now
    predominantly depend on social media for essential information. How do
    we make sure they get it and that the news-producing organisations can
    earn enough revenue to stay effective and stay in business?

    Australia demanded fair payments for the news - but were forced to
    back down.

    France demanded fair payments for the news - and won.

    What will happen in Canada and what should be the message for the rest
    of the world?

    Nick

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  • From John Levine@21:1/5 to All on Sat Aug 19 09:28:18 2023
    According to Nick Odell <nickodell49@yahoo.ca>:
    There are suggestions that the current stand-off between social media >companies and the Canadian government are contributing to confusion >surrounding evacuations from wildfire areas because many members of
    the public have forgotten how to get news directly from source.

    Sigh. People have forgotten how to turn on the radio?

    Australia demanded fair payments for the news - but were forced to
    back down.

    France demanded fair payments for the news - and won.

    Not really. Ten years ago Google did a one-time Digital Innovation
    Fund, but there was and is no link tax.

    What will happen in Canada and what should be the message for the rest
    of the world?

    If the government had any sense they'd stop listening to the whinging
    from the big papers and start listening to Michael Geist. It is
    certainly true that newspaper ad revenues have collapsed, but Google
    and Facebook didn't cause it (blame Craigslist if you want) and
    shaking them down won't fix it. It doubly won't fix it because the
    papers that need the money are small local ones and the link tax money
    would mostly go to big rich ones.

    --
    Regards,
    John Levine, johnl@taugh.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
    Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. https://jl.ly

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  • From Rick@21:1/5 to John Levine on Sun Aug 20 09:33:05 2023
    "John Levine" wrote in message news:ubqqb6$fl3$1@gal.iecc.com...

    According to Nick Odell <nickodell49@yahoo.ca>:
    There are suggestions that the current stand-off between social media >>companies and the Canadian government are contributing to confusion >>surrounding evacuations from wildfire areas because many members of
    the public have forgotten how to get news directly from source.

    Sigh. People have forgotten how to turn on the radio?


    Well this is a bit sad and maybe a slight exaggeration, but I don't think my millenial adult children - now in their late 30s - have ever used a radio in their lives. They grew up on TV and the internet and social media, never
    owned a transistor radio (as my generation did) and probably the only time
    they ever heard a radio in their lives was the car radio on family trips.

    --

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