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Zuckerberg Doesn't Care About Publishers; Media Firms That Don't Work With Us Will End Up 'In Hospice': Facebook Executive (theguardian.com)

Olivia Solon, writing for The Guardian: A senior Facebook executive told Australian media companies that if they didn't cooperate with the social network, their businesses would die. According to a report by The Australian, Campbell Brown, Facebook's head of news partnerships, told a group of more than 20 broadcasters and publishers that she wanted to help media companies develop sustainable business models through the platform. "We will help you revitalise journalism ... in a few years the reverse looks like I'll be holding your hands with your dying business like in a hospice," she said, in comments corroborated by five people who attended the meeting in Sydney on Tuesday.

The Australian also reported that Brown said that Facebook's chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, "doesn't care about publishers but is giving me a lot of leeway and concessions to make these changes," although both Facebook and Brown vehemently deny this comment was made, referring to a transcript they have from the meeting. Facebook would not release the transcript from the meeting.

15 of 93 comments (clear)

  1. Pride comes before the fall. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If such remarks don't indicate that Facebook is a cancer on humanity, I don't know what will !

    1. Re:Pride comes before the fall. by DarkOx · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Many would argue NOTHING of value will be lost. In fact I will argue that. Our society produces entirely to much media. It does so because of artificial market tampering thru long copyrights and hidden subsides. What other industry besides perhaps bio-med enjoys the level of cooperation from law enforcement and regulators protecting its intellectual property; or even actual property for that matter?

      We live in a society that produces far greater entertainment media and news media than anyone can consume. We have even for the most part left the realm where one person can be starved for content on a preferred genre or subject.

      I think we could even argue that the fact we are not all reading the same books and discussing the same events anymore is harming the social fabric, and retarding the analysis and advance of ideas - rather than facilitating it. The diversity of ideas is now so large there are simply to many to discuss and the truth is most of them are stupid.

      I am not sure facebook is the answer by any means but capitalism isn't being chaotic here its potentially purging a mixture of dinosaurs and "clickbait-spewing" crapola we have no need of and might be best compared to an algae bloom. I mass of toxic crap we should all rejoice in dying off and it only exists because we tampered with markets in the first place.

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      Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
  2. Not exactly vehemently by Aighearach · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They haven't even convinced me that they've denied saying it. It sounds more like they're arguing about the wording, or if the comment was intended to be anonymous.

  3. Our media is already dead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The only reason much of our media is currently functioning, is because Rupert Murdoch keeps it as his propaganda arm. "The Australian" - one of our largest newspapers currently runs a loss of $80 million a year. Meanwhile his other news papers constantly switch from full pages covers: "Australia NEEDS (this candidate)" to the next day, literally photoshopping the oposing candidate into a Nazi.

  4. Grr... by rnturn · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The leaches at FB should be the ones in a hospice.

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    CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
  5. Gov't mandate may be needed by Spy+Handler · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I like libertarian ideas as much as the next guy, but this seems to be one of those cases where gov't mandating open access may be needed.

    A comparable situation I believe was when then the gov't mandated that phone carriers allow customers to take their phone numbers with them when they switched to a different company. This was because consumers found it extremely difficult to switch while the greedy phone company was holding their phone number hostage. And I think it worked out well, it's one of those instances where a consumer protection law worked in the public interest.

    Facebook is evil and greedy and a detriment to the public good, I think most people will agree. It would be a good idea to develop open standards and protocols for social networks so that anyone on one social networking platform can exchange posts and info with people on any other social network. And pass a consumer protection law requiring that all social networks follow this rule. It would not be any more draconian or authoritarian than requiring all automobile manufacturers to comply with current (and arbitrary) crash safety and smog guidelines.

    1. Re:Gov't mandate may be needed by DogDude · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Facebook is nothing like the phone company. There are a ton of alternatives to Facebook (including no social media at all). Facebook is just an entertainment/data mining web site. It's not important.

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      I don't respond to AC's.
    2. Re:Gov't mandate may be needed by iMadeGhostzilla · · Score: 3

      I ran a Chrome extension ("Social Book Post Manager") that used the FB Activity Log to uncomment, unpost, unlike everything I've ever done on FB. (I've downloaded all the data first.) I've made my FB account effectively stateless -- all that is left is my contact list without losing any of the benefits of FB.

      I'll admit I don't know what exactly that accomplishes but it feels like I have taken leverage away from FB. They can't hold me hostage through my data since it's gone. I don't care if I lose my account, I can recreate my contact list from a new account if I need to. The deleted data is probably not accessible to 3rd parties, and I will look for a way to autogenerate tons of posts that I'll delete in the same way. A script that uploads photos of generic faces and tags me in them, then deletes everything would be next.

      So maybe I can use the service without being the product. And if everyone does it and that kills the service -- good riddance.

    3. Re:Gov't mandate may be needed by bobstreo · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I ran a Chrome extension ("Social Book Post Manager") that used the FB Activity Log to uncomment, unpost, unlike everything I've ever done on FB. (I've downloaded all the data first.) I've made my FB account effectively stateless -- all that is left is my contact list without losing any of the benefits of FB.

      I'll admit I don't know what exactly that accomplishes but it feels like I have taken leverage away from FB. They can't hold me hostage through my data since it's gone. I don't care if I lose my account, I can recreate my contact list from a new account if I need to. The deleted data is probably not accessible to 3rd parties, and I will look for a way to autogenerate tons of posts that I'll delete in the same way. A script that uploads photos of generic faces and tags me in them, then deletes everything would be next.

      So maybe I can use the service without being the product. And if everyone does it and that kills the service -- good riddance.

      You're doing it wrong. You should be uploading TB of images and videos of unidentifiable road surfaces, strangers in the street, streams and floors. (with the EXIF data scrubbed.)

    4. Re:Gov't mandate may be needed by serviscope_minor · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Facebook is nothing like the phone company. There are a ton of alternatives to Facebook (including no social media at all). Facebook is just an entertainment/data mining web site. It's not important.

      The first part of what you say is true. But to deny it's important seems at odds with reality. It's one of the richest and most influential companies in the world right now. It's important alright, arguable for stupid reasons, but important nonetheless.

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      SJW n. One who posts facts.
  6. Gee, you want to pick a fight with the media? by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 3

    How many investigative stories chronicling all the privacy invading shit Facebook does will Facebook withstand. Cause it would be trivial to have a month-long news cycle "discovering" and announcing new policies.

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    Your ad here. Ask me how!
  7. Re:...is FB wrong, though? by AHuxley · · Score: 3

    People still have the freedom to read a newspaper review, watch a movie review on TV, the internet.
    The only review that will be allowed on social media will be the positive once approve by the studio and the actors.
    Write the "wrong" review on social media and expect a ban, shadow ban? Reported?

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    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  8. Sherman Act by sdinfoserv · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If such comments don't indicate the need to evoke the Anti-monopoly Sherman Act against a strong arm bullying Corporation, then our legislators are bought and pwned by the Oligarchs. oops.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  9. Facebook as the model?? by markdavis · · Score: 3, Funny

    I have no love of the "big media"/"mainstream media", most of which is horribly slanted, all of which is sensationalist and becoming more absurd each year.

    But Facebook, of all organizations, being the one to throw crud at the "mainstream" media, claiming THEIR business model is obsolete and should die.... and that Facebook as the answers..... well, that has to be the funniest thing I have heard in many months.

    If Facebook is the alternative to the mainstream big media, then heaven help us all.

  10. Only Proper Response by Scarletdown · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The only right response from all the Australian media companies should be a collective and unanimous PISS OFF to both Zuck and Facebook; and sentence Fuckerman to The Boot.

    Or is Piss off too British? Bugger off? Fuck off? Someuntranslatablemumblyword off? :D

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