I tuned in for most of Sen. Kerry’s hearing on the future of journalism and it was mostly as useless as I had thought it would be when I first heard about it. The short version of what those representing the mainstream media had to say was that they want congress to rescind anti-trust laws for the news industry and also allow them to go nonprofit. Well, they can go nonprofit, all they need is a lawyer – not the help of congress.
And as the recent financial shenanigans have shown us – what could possibly go wrong if you allow industries to collude and work together in an un-competitive way towards consumers?
Another concept being pushed was from writer David Simon who seemed to want papers to go back into their walled gardens or even offline. That’s never worked for news online, and is even less likely to work into the future.
The silliest beef of the dying mainstream media seemed to be versus Google. They seem to think that they should be paid because Google links to them. But as Marissa Meyer of Google noted – Google News sends out about 1.5 billion people to news sites per month. And if that’s so bad, it is really simple for newspapers to opt out of Google search – it’s just one text file.
The hearing didn’t resolve anything beyond making it abundantly clear the government shouldn’t be involved in the news business, and especially shouldn’t be in the business of giving life support to dying business models.
Let me simplify that title for you, Oliver:
“Kerry Useless As Advertised.”
BTW, I agree with you on this one, too.
J.
Classic Jay Tea. Can’t even agree with anyone without throwing out a gratuitous talking point.
Alas.
Martin, in his entire post-Viet Nam career, Kerry has done exactly one thing worthy of praise — and that was nigh on 20 years ago. Further, it’s entirely possible that he did that one thing out of ignorance.
The man IS useless. As the saying goes, “truth is an absolute defense.”
J.
Oh, and Sean, an insult to Kerry is NEVER gratuitous.
J.
Oh, and Sean, an insult to Kerry is NEVER gratuitous.
As a dedicated Bush supporter, you have a judgment on these matters is rather dubious.
Asshole.
And a headline for the comments section of this thread could be: Jay Tea Misses the Point As Expected”.
What about credentialing bloggers to cover Congress? That was brought up and is quite useful. I thought it was a good hearing. I also think that the idea of only having partisan media being a good thing is wrongheaded.
I don’t agree that the entire hearing was useless. I think that David Simon’s presentation before Kerry and the committee is more than worth a listen.
Here is the link:
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/5/7/david_simon_creator_of_acclaimed_hbo
Simon was probably the most wrong of anyone at the testimony.
Adam Serwer posted a worthwhile summary of the testimony that included a quote by David Simon, the former journalist who went on to be the writer for TV series, The Wire.
Simon: “”The day I run into a Huffington Post reporter at a Baltimore zoning board hearing is the day that I will be confident that we have actually reached some sort of balance.”"*
Serwer summed up Simon’s concerns as “talking about the local reporters who troll city halls and state capitols, local hospitals and police stations looking for stories, developing the kind of relationships that expose webs of influence, patronage, and corruption.”
I don’t share Oliver’s faith in the web as providing a replacement for the loss of a business method that can fund local investigative reporting. It doesn’t exist. Oliver, if I understand correctly, believes that it will come. Even if it does, it means years or longer before that loss of local reporting is supplemented by the new model, a model which is still the equivalent of “clean coal.” It doesn’t exist and is only theoretcial.
Bill Moyers had a riveting interview with David Simon that talked about “inner-city crime and politics, storytelling and the future of journalism today.” The TV interview with David Simon can be watched online.
Again, riveting interview.
(That’s apparently the correct quote, Serwer initially misquoted Simon).