NY Times: "All the News That Mark Zuckerberg Sees Fit To Print"?

theodp writes Two years ago, Politico caught Mark Zuckerberg's soon-to-be launched FWD.us PAC boasting how its wealthy tech exec backers would use their companies to 'control the avenues of distribution' for a political message in support of their efforts. Now, the NY Times is reporting that Facebook has been quietly holding talks with at least half a dozen media companies about hosting their content inside Facebook, citing a source who said the Times and Facebook are moving closer to a firm deal. Facebook declined to comment on specific discussions with publishers, but noted it had provided features to help publishers get better traction on Facebook, including tools unveiled in December that let them target their articles to specific groups of Facebook users. The new plan, notes the Times, is championed by Chris Cox, the top lieutenant to Facebook CEO Zuckerberg and a "major supporter" of FWD.us. Exploring Facebook's wooing of the media giants, the Christian Science Monitor asks if social media will control the future of news, citing concerns expressed by Fusion's Felix Salmon, who warns that as news sites sacrifice their brands to reach a wider audience, their incentives for accuracy and editorial judgment will disappear.

Comments

New boss - same as the old boss

[rleesBSD]

There was a brief moment in time (sorry Stephen) when I thought the internet would break up the gate keepers. That moment has passed.

Re:New boss - same as the old boss

[Archangel Michael]

Not a troll. They are ALREADY trying to figure out how to stifle free speech. Net Neutrality the concept is great. Net Neutrality as defined by Politicians and the current laws is so screwed up as to be dangerous.

And with the President's penchant for "executive orders", just imagine how the next one will screw it up even more.

Re:New boss - same as the old boss

[ShanghaiBill]

Meh. Didn't AOL / Time-Warner try this crap, too? Look how that ended.

AOL failed at a lot of things. Facebook is unlikely to make the same mistakes.

Info wants to be free and all that jazz. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Anyone willing to make an effort will still be able to find other sources of news. But many people won't bother, and those people can vote.

Re:New boss - same as the old boss

[spire3661]

It was dead either way. Either ISPs were going to go all cowboy or the gov was. I would rather have the gov do it after seeing how long and hard the ISPs fucked us. At least the you can get the gov to tie its own hands once in a while.

Re:New boss - same as the old boss

[thedonger]

It was dead either way. Either ISPs were going to go all cowboy or the gov was. I would rather have the gov do it after seeing how long and hard the ISPs fucked us. At least the you can get the gov to tie its own hands once in a while.

On the other hand, when the government goes "all coqboy" they can literally tie our hands as they wield the full weight of the law.

LOL @ last part

[rodrigoandrade]

"their incentives for accuracy and editorial judgment will disappear."

Have there ever been any?????

Re:LOL @ last part

[ralphsiegler]

Have you seen U.S. "news" sites today, they're 75 percent sentimental slop human interest stories. Really not much different than the tabloid trash rag rack at the supermarket checkout. Pandering to morons is profitable

Internet - lite

[gurps_npc]

What exactly does Facebook have to offer the New York Times?

The NYT already has a website, and as bad as it is, it still is ten times better than Facebook? Basically the advertisement for Facebook should read:

Do you have no idea how to make your own web page - even using squarespace?

Can you not figure out how to mass email your friends?

Are you clueless about how to find free free games on the internet?

Does the idea of signing up for a blogging site scare you?

Does the laborious process of signing into and out of websites bore you?

Does the idea of locking yourself into a relationship with a company excite you - particularly because all your friends use the same company and they force outsiders to have an account before they let them see your stuff?

Then FACEBOOK IS FOR YOU For the low low price of your giving up privacy, you too can simulate the basic internet skills that every single American should be taught in High School.

Re:Internet - lite

[PraiseBob]

What exactly does Facebook have to offer the New York Times?

Eyeballs. Ad Revenue.
New York Times has a pretty big distribution, 2.3 million people per day.
Facebook has 890 million users per day.

Who TF is still on Facebook?

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

Seriously - the only people I know who are still on Facebook daily are soccer moms busy shuttling kids seven different ways. That's a pretty powerful demographic in terms of household purchasing power, but to say that it's key to media domination...misses the fact that there's Twitter and whole webs of social media that people over 25 don't even see. (I "borrow" my kids tablets and phones once in a while just to see how far they and their classmates are off mainstream social media grid.)

Re:Who TF is still on Facebook?

[Anonymous Coward]

Anecdotes aren't data. FB has 1.3 billion *active* users. That is, users who use the site at least once a month. FB also has 775 million daily users. So thanks for your pointless post.

AOL

[jgtg32a]

So like AOL back in the day?

Death of media ...

[gstoddart]

I can guarantee you that any media which starts hosting their stuff in Facebook will be immediately deemed a useless source of information and blocked.

I have most of my browsers set to block anything from Facebook, because I'm tired of the sheer number of web pages which have their crap embedded.

Screw off and die, Zuckerfuck. I trust you and Facebook not at all.

How he's managed to convince actual news companies to let him in the door I have no idea. That just sounds like idiots being hoodwinked by assholes.

This is on Slashdot ?????

[lengel]

"who warns that as news sites sacrifice their brands to reach a wider audience, their incentives for accuracy and editorial judgment will disappear"

Wow, and this quote is on a Dice owned property?

Like AOL today

[tomhath]

AOL owns Huff Post.

Same as Facebook and NYT, and no doubt the same slant on the "news"

Re:Fuck the NYT; And Fuck Slashdot

[kuzb]

"At least Zuckerberg does not fucking pretend to be a reputable media publication with journalistic standard"

Now if he'd just stop pretending to be an honest business man who has his user's interests at heart we'd be getting somewhere.

Re:Fuck the NYT; And Fuck Slashdot

[random coward]

I wish there were a rant+1 mod for this.

Tax Net Assets, Not Actions

[Baldrson]

The primary function of government is protection of property rights. Early anarcho-capitalist Lysander Spooner described all legitimate government as a mutual property insurance company. Guys like Gates, and now Zuckerberg, should be taxed on their net assets, not on their actions (ie: not on income, capital gains, sales, value added, inheritance, etc...) as that is the closest thing to a property insurance premium.

Re:Tax Net Assets, Not Actions

[Baldrson]

The primary barrier to entry to the upper classes is the debt people carry. Virtually no one in the middle class has positive net assets -- particularly during the crucial early years of family formation and child rearing.

Sneakers keeps becoming more and more real

[smooth wombat]

There's a war out there, old friend. A world war. And it's not about who's got the most bullets. It's about who controls the information. What we see and hear, how we work, what we think... it's all about the information!