" Mark Zuckerberg’s manifesto about community, released last week on Facebook, wisely analyzed the state of journalism BUT his memo ignored two major points — the role that Facebook and other technology platforms are playing in inadvertently damaging local news media. Local news is weak in large part because the business models have collapsed when advertising spending shifted from print, TV & radio to the internet, the money didn’t mostly go to digital news organizations. Increasingly, it goes to Facebook and Google. To be clear, they are not being malicious. But just because the result is unintentional doesn’t mean it is fantasy: Newsrooms have been decimated, with basic accountability reporting slashed as a result. These companies, including Apple and Verizon, are among the biggest beneficiaries of the digital disruption that has, caused the crisis in American journalism. "
At www.nytimes.com
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