Monday November 30, 2020; 10:08 AM EST
John Naughton's nightly email newsletter is the only one I subscribe to. Rarely a night goes by that I don't read one of his stories, and they all change the way I think, which is why I read, and why daily writers write, at least the good ones. Anyway, one thing we disagree on is public funding for news orgs. He's a believer, and I'm a fervent opponent. For so many reasons. But the main one is, if we fund them now, we forever freeze journalism as being no more than it is now. #- The world has radically changed, and continues to change, journalism hasn't. And btw, also politics, because unfortunately the two go hand in hand. Politics can only go where journalism will let it go. We've learned that hard lesson during the Trump presidency. They have power to stop honorable people, but have no power over people who don't care. #
- Journalism blames Facebook and the rest of the web for the problems. Meanwhile their inability to build a functional two-way idea flow on the web has created the opportunity for all kinds of junk to flow in to take its place. This must not be where evolution stops. #
- Both journalism and politics have to stop seeing the web as "over there" and put themselves fully in the middle of it. We are participants, we want to help, that's their job, to help us. If they do, we've proven we will flood them with money. So far, neither politics or journalism has accepted that as the basic change. #