Lonely Lion

From last night’s Marketplace,

It’s hard for me not to wonder if corporations like Google feel any tug of civic responsibility. After all, their breathtaking success as news aggregators has sprung indirectly from the fruit of professional journalism.

From Andrew Carnegie on down, rich philanthropists who rose from rags have sought ways to give back to America by investing in civic endeavors vital to a healthy democracy.

Few things to me are more vital than journalism practiced according to high standards. Simply put, Google could do much more to protect this public trust: Offer support to journalism education and professional groups dedicated to truth seeking and time-honored ethical values. And assist newspapers directly, just as I think it’s time for newspapers to band together to sue to protect content.

We are experiencing a tragedy that transcends dollars, cents and jobs lost. The truth is this: If newspapers keep bleeding and dying, one day soon we may find on Google News no news at all.

I read a couple of newspapers every morning, none of which I actually pay for, other than looking at advertisements. According to Frontline, the majority of on the ground reporting is done by newspapers, most news reports just regurgitate what was first reported by newspapers. If the newspapers go away, all news goes away. It’s in Google’s own best interest to preserve the sources of one of their big draws, right?

UPDATED: Over on my facebook page, Fuzzyman pointed out that on Google News they don’t provide the full content of the article, just an excerpt. They then link back to the original article. That seems like a good way to actually help out the original content providers…so, really, the above comment, and my reaction to it…not really grounded in reality.