[NOTE: This is an edited version of an essay I first published a year ago.]
Roughly halfway through my half-century in journalism, a revolutionary technological development disrupted the entire media world in unprecedented ways. Until the early 1990s, print journalism had relied on essentially the same technology ever since well before the American Revolution.
Newspapers, broadsheets, magazines, and books had all existed when the Constitution was written and their co-dependence was critical to how democracy in North America evolved.
The Constitution with its First Amendment guaranteeing our rights as the press wasn’t broadcast and it wasn’t posted to the Web. It didn’t get tweeted or followed on Instagram. No one made a YouTube video about it. You couldn’t tell your friends on Facebook or TikTok about it. You also could not scroll through it on your cellphone, send a text about it, or “own” a copy as an NFT.
It’s true that earlier in the 20th century, another form of electronic technology, radio, had disrupted the publishing industry, followed by a few decades its close cousin television, but the federal government had regulated both of those much more tightly than print — largely to minimize the potential for authoritarian abuse.
The initial regulatory structure for the airwaves was established in the 1920s and led by Herbert Hoover, who was the leading voice for how to preserve free speech while managing the anti-democratic threat posed by radio. The Communications Act of 1934 codified these principles and extended them to telecommunications.
But by the time web browsers came along in the last decade of the century, the traditional regulatory structure could not be reasonably extended to the Internet without stifling the growth of a lucrative new industry.
Congress debated what to do and the result was Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. That regulation essentially guaranteed the freedom of web-based companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple and (soon) Google, Facebook, and Twitter to host user-generated content without being liable for its accuracy or fairness.
This instantly put both print and broadcast media outlets at a major disadvantage, one from which they have never recovered. What it actually meant in practice is that anyone could now call himself or herself a journalist and attract an audience for their claims, however bizarre and undocumented they might be.
Millions of people quickly took advantage of that opportunity and new websites popped up everywhere. Among them were a handful, like Wired, Salon and Slate in the early years, that attempted to preserve the quality standards of traditional journalism during the transition to this new interactive digital world, with varying degrees of success. (I was at both Salon and Wired during this period.)
But the traditional media and new media alike were quickly overwhelmed by the sheer volume of new information sources. Very rapidly, the existing world of media began to crumble into ruins.
A lot has happened between those days and now in the world of media, very little of it good. But I will leave that part of the story for another day…
LINKS:
Ukraine dam destroyed, transforming front lines (Reuters)
Biden ‘knew of Ukrainian plan to attack Nord Stream’ three months before explosion (Guardian)
As Ukrainian Attacks Surge, U.S. Officials See Signs of Counteroffensive (NYT)
Ukraine’s counter-offensive has begun, and it’s not what the West expected (Economist)
The war in Ukraine is deepening the climate crisis at a time when global greenhouse gas emissions are already running at a record high, according to a report by carbon accounting experts. (Reuters)
Canadian wildfire smoke updates: East Coast skies engulfed in dangerous haze (ABC)
Texas sheriff files criminal case over DeSantis flights to Martha’s Vineyard (Guardian)
California law enforcement intercepted a second plane in Sacramento carrying relocated migrants, as DeSantis remains mum about his involvement (Business Insider)
Gavin Newsom: Florida officials committed crimes sending migrants to California (NBC)
Chris Christie Enters GOP Presidential Race as Chief Trump Antagonist (WSJ)
Unlawful southern border entries down 70% from record highs since end of Title 42 (ABC)
Atlanta lawmakers approve funds for police training center despite fierce opposition (NBC)
US judge blocks Florida ban on trans minor care in narrow ruling, says ‘gender identity is real’ (AP)
We’re All Bad Neighbors Now (TNR)
CNN Chairman and CEO Chris Licht is out (CNN)
The Murder Rate Is Suddenly Falling (Atlantic)
Apple Ghosts the Generative AI Revolution (Wired)
High-Paying ChatGPT Careers: 30% Of Companies Seek Nontech Professionals For $300,000+ Salaries (Yahoo)
AI Is the Technocratic Elite’s New Excuse for a Power Grab (WSJ)
Biggest threat to humanity isn’t AI but US-China hostility leading to war (SCMP)
New ChatGPT Attack Technique Spreads Malicious Packages (InfoSecurity)
Massive Turing test shows we can only just tell AIs apart from humans (NewScientist)
Why AI won't be the burnout cure we've been waiting for (BBC)
He Barely Escaped the Taliban. Now He’s Opened an Afghan Restaurant to Help Other Refugees. (Washingtonian)
In a new study, scientists found that the climate milestone could come about a decade sooner than anticipated, even if planet-warming emissions are gradually reduced. (NYT)
Webb telescope detects organic molecules in distant galaxy (CNN)
New Zodiac Killer clue in the Sierra? Here’s what led one sleuth to Hell Hole Reservoir (SFC)
UFO ‘whistleblower’ says government has ‘intact’ non-human craft (Independent)
Frightened Man Momentarily Forced To Engage With Reality In Between TV Episodes (The Onion)
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