The New Media Are Growing Old Already

November 18, 2008 by John H. Taylor | Filed Under Hackosphere, News media 

Fascinating New York Times article about a new model of scrappy, non-profit news gathering outfits busy in San Diego, Minneapolis, and elsewhere. More proof that that the news business and democracy won’t be saved by the Starbucks-based hackosphere but by diligent, old-fashioned journalists who are paid to generate quality content. Says one San Diego pioneer:

Information is now a public service as much as it’s a commodity. It should be thought of the same way as education, health care. It’s one of the things you need to operate a civil society, and the market isn’t doing it very well.

Non-profit news can work, as NPR and public television show. But the same as education? News in the hands of government agencies like the BBC and Xinhua News Agency? Let’s not go too far.

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