Peter Bale - curated media, journalism, news - more on Facebook and journalism; BBC faces Orban moment in the UK; more more.
MH is a friend and I have been involved in some of these debates. The big problem, as a story lower down shows, is that the public is on Facebook and if media is to do its public interest duty it needs to be there in some form, unless it chooses to disconnect and appeal only to subscribers.
I sort of figured this was probably the situation, that the media and tech circles were going nuts but that the rest of the world just liked the ability to post pictures and connect people and share anti-vax material.
It was terrible then, and it’s terrible now.
I bloody love Ethan. He's a true thinker and innovator and a nice chap. I think it is really important though to not see Mark Zuckerberg's embarrassing video as the true vision of what is possible. Facebook is claiming a huge stake in the future and given its success in shifting to mobile - akin to Bill Gates realising the Internet mattered -- we would be stupid to dismiss it or think it is just tactics.
Good piece and I respect what Jessica Lessen has created with The Information. Mark and his team have effectively told the mainstream media to bugger off and there is some value in that given that the mainstream media tends to hate Facebook and blame it for many of its own mistakes. However, they will pay a price if they don't engage -- hence the many Facebook programmes to support journalism and even pay for it. It's complicated. See below for a prime example.
This whole process smacks of the tactics of Orban in Hungary. I am afraid for the future of the BBC, genuinely. It may have faults but this attempt to force Dacre into a position of influence is dangerous, as is the criticism from the UK Culture Secretary of BBC coverage.
The plan follows criticism it received over how a 1995 interview with Princess Diana was obtained.
This is a very straight BBC explanation of what they are proposing to do. The reality is the BBC has a gun to its head and none of this is fair or proportionate. It handled the Diana thing appallingly then but it was the fault of senior managers, not of the entire process. Note that one of the advisers on this panel was a former BBC political journalist who became Conservative PM David Cameron's press secretary, gained a ludicrous knighthood for it and has gone on to abuse his position trying to interfere in the decision-making about BBC critical staff roles.
I looked at this piece and thought it seemed interesting but not what I needed to read at the time. What is so extraordinary is the effectiveness of what has become an interesting trans lobby. I get the need to think of trans people and their humanity. I admit, however, to being challenged by some elements of their campaign and the hostility towards people like Suzanne Moore or the academic from Sussex University.