Watching the slugging match between the legacy media and the Big Tech is somewhat akin to watching a 1970s kaiju movie play out in real-life. It’s Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla as the lumbering, old-media behemoth faces off against the shiny tech giants.
The only question is, will the victorious monster save or destroy the millions of people desperately scurrying for shelter? Or will a new guardian arise to save the day?
Heavyweight international publishing groups have warned tech titans that the world is viewing the debate over the proposed news media code in Australia as a “dress rehearsal” for similar deals across the globe, and rubbished Google’s “silly” threat to exit certain markets if it is forced to pay for news content.
In the battle between the media dinosaurs and the tech gargantuas, truth is certainly not the winner.
News Media Alliance — the largest media trade organisation in the US, which counts The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times as members — said Australia was leading the global charge against the bullying tactics of Google.
“Misinformation is a plague on civic society and the Australian government is a leader in understanding that the first step to addressing the problem is ensuring that quality news and information can live online.
“Professional journalism is, in all respects, an antidote to misinformation and hate speech,” said David Chavern, the group’s chief executive.
Surely, this is the comic relief of our media disaster movie?
For the past five years or more, “professional journalism” has been the main conduit of “misinformation and hate speech”, endlessly shrieking “Orange Man Bad!” and peddling the most blatant lies, from fabricating non-existent gang-rapes to “peaceful protests”. Big Tech, where Facebook has live-streamed murder, torture and rape, Twitter gives a platform to child molesters and YouTube hosts snuff movies, is even worse.
So, the idea that either of these two greedy liars deserves to win is an egregiously false dilemma.
That’s not to say that media shills are wrong about everything.
Angela Mills Wade, executive director of the European Publishers Council, a high-level lobby group of chief executives of leading European media groups, also dismissed the idea Google would ever seriously consider exiting a market as lucrative as Australia. “I think (the threat) is self-defeating. Nobody reacts well to threats, least of all democratically elected governments, and it is only possible because Google enjoys a near total monopoly of search (95 per cent in Australia),” she told The Australian.
“Such a threat is the ultimate display of a monopolist setting themselves above the law and normal business conduct, and won’t go down well at all.”
She said it was a hollow threat regardless, as Google wouldn’t want to leave the door open for its competitors to fill the void.
“They wouldn’t want to see alternative providers — not only filling the large space they would leave behind, but flourishing as competition would thrive once the dark shadow of a monopolist is lifted.”
The Australian
Right back at ya: the legacy media are no better. They’re just as desperate to fight off competition from new media upstarts who are attracting audiences in droves. That’s why CNN is openly agitating to ban new media channels. The legacy media have dug their own grave and they know it.
A zombie movie is no more fun for the extras to live through than a monster disaster.
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