Okay, folks. I was *going* to write about cool new science today, but instead we have to talk about media layoffs.
There are many articles sounding the alarm about all the lost jobs. I go one further than some, though, by highlighting that the quality of our news is *already* gutted. Today, I talk about some of the social directions (product reviews! AI content! gutted democracy!) we can expect until we pass policy that recenters news media as a vital public enterprise.
https://onlysky.media/mclark/downsized-news-media-ai-futures-and-democratic-losses/
@MLClark Very curious about this one.
@MLClark I'm beginning to wonder how they count jobs numbers, because we're supposedly seeing many new jobs created, but every week we hear about huge layofss.
I'd like to think that's like climate versus weather, but it's starting to feel like every time they lay off people, then they hire new people, they count that as a new job, even though the old job was destroyed in the process.
If you hire 10k people, then lay them off, then hire 5k people, you didn't create 15k jobs, you got rid of 5k.
@MLClark
News is something you pay for. All the rest is advertising to you, productizing you, or both
I feel the same way about a good social media experience, Brent. :)
@MLClark This is an incredibly balanced and informative article. I'm one of those types that has very little to no faith in the news. I always assumed I'm being lied to, or sold to somewhere when I'm reading most articles.
I use ground news, and hit the neutral button, I find that works pretty well.
Ground News is keeping a lot of us sane(ish) these days, methinks!
Thank you for taking the time to read this one, Becca - and that is *high, high* praise, so thank you for that, too. I'll try to keep myself worthy of it!
@MLClark I am ADHD brained, so I often get half way through and then a butterfly distracts me or something and that's the game.
But good data paired with rock solid, well organized writing, is often enough to hook me and get me through a piece. You do that particularly well, and I see nothing in that piece, but an effort towards a well researched and fair analysis leading to a nuanced conclusion.
(Cool new science article eventually, I hope. I do so miss that part of my beat!)