[News] Around The Rest of World

A posting place for news from places around the globe, outside of the US/Europe.

Craigslist may have fired the opening salvo but the big ad tech companies came through and carpet bombed.

Online papers do not have their own ad platforms so Google Facebook Twitter Outbrain Taboola etc are boning them from both ends. They own the ad platforms that run ads on a publisher's site and then are the primary sources of traffic to those publishers' sites. As Chris stated the tech bros get the majority of ad revenue, leaving smaller publishers fighting for scraps, which is why their sites are now riddled with sketchy as hell ad space sold to the lowest common denominator, as well as click bait article trash.

The big ones can afford the traffic drop of a subscriber model, and maybe a couple of ProPublicas can survive on donations, but Dinky Town Gazette definitely cannot.

Malor wrote:

Spain. Google pulled out of Spain, and the local newspapers saw an enormous drop in traffic.

So f*cked -> more f*cked?

Really, this is a very capitalist approach to solving the problem. Perhaps Google would prefer higher taxes on big tech and government subsidies available to news organisations (ideally priority based on (smaller) size and areas where coverage is lacking). I think I'd prefer it.

Mr GT Chris wrote:

Google/FB get 80% of the ad revenue but contribute basically nothing to cost of running the news organisation.

Huh. Didn't realize the split was that bad. That does put a different light on it.

But at least in the US, the smaller papers have been, or are in danger of, being bought by conglomerates that lay off local staff and close offices, then use wire reporting and stringers to put together cookie-cutter local papers that are just revenue generators (and pitiable ones at that).

Sounds like we need a new system of news gathering for local news.

Robear wrote:

But at least in the US, the smaller papers have been, or are in danger of, being bought by conglomerates that lay off local staff and close offices, then use wire reporting and stringers to put together cookie-cutter local papers that are just revenue generators (and pitiable ones at that).

Sounds like we need a new system of news gathering for local news.

That or you simply have websites for non-existent local newspapers pop up, only to find they're really just a front for politicians or companies to spread their propaganda:

NYT wrote:

...

Maine Business Daily is part of a fast-growing network of nearly 1,300 websites that aim to fill a void left by vanishing local newspapers across the country. Yet the network, now in all 50 states, is built not on traditional journalism but on propaganda ordered up by dozens of conservative think tanks, political operatives, corporate executives and public-relations professionals, a Times investigation found.

The sites appear as ordinary local-news outlets, with names like Des Moines Sun, Ann Arbor Times and Empire State Today. They employ simple layouts and articles about local politics, community happenings and sometimes national issues, much like any local newspaper.

But behind the scenes, many of the stories are directed by political groups and corporate P.R. firms to promote a Republican candidate or a company, or to smear their rivals.

So this happened. A child expelled because she said she had a crush on another girl. It left a pit in my stomach...

I read the title and my first thought was that she is lucky she got out of a Christian school.

I graduated from a Christian highschool and one of my friends got pregnant when she was a senior. They told her as long as she denied that she was pregnant they would let her graduate and just hope she wasn't showing too bad. She said she wasn't going to lie and tell people she wasn't pregnant, so they expelled her for un-Christian behavior. So yeah, not surprised here.

The implication being, of course, that lying is Christian behavior. Refusing to lie is un-Christian.

That certainly explains a great deal about the state of this country.

Malor wrote:

The implication being, of course, that lying is Christian behavior. Refusing to lie is un-Christian.

That certainly explains a great deal about the state of this country.

I think the un-Christian behavior in question is "admitting that you did something wrong". Never mind that God supposedly sees everything, and that you're supposed to confess your sins instead of covering them up. But the whole thing reminds me of this:

George Carlin wrote:

Swearing to God is kid's stuff. You remember when you were a kid, you told another kid something he didn't quite believe, he'd say "You swear to God?" I would always say, "Yeah, I swear to God!" Even if I was lying! Why not? What's gonna happen if I lie? Nothing! Nothing happens if you lie! Unless you get caught, and that's a whole different story.

Remember the 0th commandment: Thou shalt avoid the appearance of impropriety at all cost.

All the others are negotiable when they conflict with the first.

Mixolyde wrote:

Remember the 0th commandment: Thou shalt avoid the appearance of impropriety at all cost.

PROTECTETH DICK JONES

H.P. Lovesauce wrote:
Mixolyde wrote:

Remember the 0th commandment: Thou shalt avoid the appearance of impropriety at all cost.

PROTECTETH DICK JONES

Pretty sure I knew the reference but I did a Google search to verify.

That’s when I read that a prequel series is in development focusing on a young Dick Jones. Hahahaha. What the hell?!

Get the same actor to do a Total Recall prequel, too.

Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi 'detained by military', NLD party says. I bet their coup people don't look like doofuses.

Well, they also had the actual military on their side. Or at least, enough of it.

Still amazes me to look back and be like "Remember when Aung San Suu Kyi was an international hero?"

Gave her some power and sh*t went south fast.

She's a woman of the people! Just, not, you know, those people.

Before we start throwing the lady under the bus, please consider that the country still wasn't a full democratic republic before this coup. The military still held on to key positions inside the government and is probably the most (if not the only) responsible party for the genocide. One person, a general, was identified by several nations as taking a major part in this, got sanctions for it, and guess what, he's the leader now.

One year in a state of emergency. Yeah, I seriously doubt that...

Navalny was declared guilty of "something" in Russia. What a surprise.

Surviving, probably. They'll probably charge him for the wasted Novichok.

slazev wrote:

Navalny was declared guilty of "something" in Russia. What a surprise.

Worse, he was arrested when he returned to Russia for violating the terms of his probation which forbade him from leaving Russia. Of course he only left Russia because the Russian government poisoned him and he needed emergency medical treatment in a country that wasn't actively trying to kill him.

His conviction now was a suspended sentence from a 2014 money laundering case that the European Court of Human Rights found to be bullsh*t.

"Government officials in China believe that boys are getting more effeminate and want to toughen them up."

From female teachers to male artists. There's enough blame for everyone.

Following on from earlier discussion about the proposed media laws here in Australia: I am no longer able to share articles such as this on Facebook. You would also be unable to share it, because it was written here in Australia. Interestingly on our end, this means I can no longer see posts from, for instance, Rock Paper Shotgun, and other sites that you might not immediately think of as news sites.

I've been watching news of this proposed law for a while, and while I understand the criticism of it, it's reactions like this from the big tech companies that really make me just think "f*ck 'em". Facebook especially, what a nightmare of a company.

I am remiss to have not noted that they're really, really protesting out in Myanmar.

A campaign on social media calling for protesters to deliberately block roads in the country's main city started gaining traction early on Wednesday. Its aim was apparently to stop civil servants from going to work and hinder the movements of security forces.

Dubbed "Road Blocking Day", it saw many posting pictures online of vehicles with raised bonnets and boots parked across key roads, making the streets impassable to traffic. A BBC Burmese reporter saw a number of public buses stop and block junctions in Yangon.

The protest is the latest in a mounting civil disobedience movement, which has also seen strikes by doctors and teachers, and boycotts of products and services owned by the military. The aim is to cripple the functions of government and undermine the new regime's legitimacy.

Prederick wrote:

A campaign on social media calling for protesters to deliberately block roads in the country's main city started gaining traction early on Wednesday. Its aim was apparently to stop civil servants from going to work and hinder the movements of security forces.

We've seen this before. It starts as road-blocking and civil disobedience. It ends with Tiananmen Square. Protesters will always lose to those with with more ammunition than scruples when push really comes to shove, and I say that as a guy with a framed picture of "tank-man" on my wall as a reminder of the personal courage of those seeking freedom. I wish the protesters every success, but it will be international pressure that promotes change, not blocking roads.

Blocking the roads may, however, generate that pressure.

Yeah, but international pressure won't ever be applied if there are no protests to make them aware of the problem. Not that the international community will necessarily step in out of empathy or compassion for the people, but because disruptive protests are bad for business.

Facebook blocks Indigenous health groups, regional media as COVID vaccine rollout nears

Facebook has blocked the feeds of Australian news companies on its site and is preventing users from sharing Australian news content.

The tech giant is pushing back against the federal government's plans to make it and Google pay for publishing Australian news content — a world-leading initiative the companies have fiercely resisted.

But the effect of Facebook's ploy has extended well beyond major media companies.

Several Aboriginal community-controlled health services have had their posts blocked.

They include organisations such as the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance NT, Central Australian Aboriginal Congress (CAAC) and Danila Dilba Health Service.

CAAC, a community-controlled primary health care provider, vented its frustration on Twitter at the timing of Facebook's move, given the impending COVID-19 vaccine rollout to Indigenous communities.

"A primary vehicle for health promotion, disabled at a crucial time," it tweeted.

Yay FB!

You get what you pay for.