The internet
needs two buttons pinned to its chest. One should proclaim: a blessing. The other should admit: a curse.
There’s
no denying technology—through the internet—has been a life-changing revolution.
My industry has benefited from lightning-fast ways to do business, but there
have been crippling consequences, too. I’ll get to that in a minute.
Look
around. You can see the benefits everywhere. Students of all ages have access
to more information than ever before. And what about the technology-led
advances in medicine? Whoever gifted us with the internet idea ought to feel
proud—for the most part.
Now,
consider the “other part” of the internet. While it has lifted us in myriad
ways, the internet has significantly dragged us backwards. Civility is on the
fast track to extinction. The internet has birthed a legion of anonymous
bullies who feel unashamedly brave to spew their venom. Call them what they
are: cowards. Every time I read of a
suicide that is linked to cyber bullying, I want to heave my breakfast into the
azaleas.
I am not
a fan of social media, especially Facebook. Read The Accidental Billionaires, about Mark Zuckerberg’s rise to riches
based on his tawdry scheme to illegally hack Harvard’s student files,
especially those of female classmates. His company’s reckless handling of
personal data should be criminal.
I respect the right of others to
make choices, and I choose to never have a personal Facebook account. Furthermore,
Facebook is irresponsible in the dissemination of false information. The
proliferation of fake news has severely damaged the reputation of credible
journalism. That makes me want to vomit, too.
Since
the arrival and explosion of the internet,
newspapers aren’t the only aggrieved businesses. Go up and down Main Street in
any town. The disruption is widespread. Realtors are hammered by Zillow, Offer
Pad, Red Fin and the like. Carvana and others are taking on auto dealers. Yesterday,
I complimented a 4-year-old on her new shoes. She smiled and said, “A man
brought them to the front door.” Online shopping—primarily Amazon—is doing its
best to put plywood on the windows of retailers everywhere.
Yes, I
know. Technology and the internet have created millions of jobs, but how many paychecks
have they destroyed? As industrial robots take over, where will those displaced
workers go? When driverless
This
revolution is like a real-life game of hopscotch. We jump two blocks forward
and leap three back, hoping we wind up ahead and not behind.
On the
flip side of the internet’s positives for newspapers, here’s the curse. Generations
are being trained that what they read on the internet is synonymous with free.
Sixty
years ago, my grandmother predicted what is happening today. She warned, “If you let folks get milk through the fence, they’ll never buy a cow.” Newspapers
were dumb to let Facebook, Google, Yahoo and information aggregators milk our
valuable content “through the fence” without paying for it.
The most
expensive investment a newspaper makes is the gathering and editing of news. Our
reporters cannot work as unpaid volunteers. But in the meantime, internet
behemoths—such as Facebook and Google—are raking in billions in profits, taking
free rides on the backs of journalists.
If you
think Mark Zuckerberg and his peers are going to be your community’s watchdog and champion, you need to think again. When
a newspaper’s inquisitive spotlight doesn’t shine into dark corners, the
welfare of the community is at risk.
And what’s
scary is that too many people don’t realize that or care.
Excuse
me.
I’m going
to find the azaleas.
dnesmith@cninewspapers.com
