Varied newspaper groups have been spitting blood over social media for some years now. That sharing of links and stories has been described as tantamount to theft of copyright. As a result of which varied countries are now insisting that social media companies must pay the newspapers for those links and headlines.
The social media companies are therefore dropping news as a product. Even, in countries like Canada - with very strict rules about payments that must be due - refusing to allow any news stories to be posted. We’d also suggest that Twitter’s recent change, so that headlines are not shown in such a link, is based upon the idea that if you don’t show any of the copyrighted words then you’ll not be charged for the copyright.
We’ve done our fair share of journalism - OK, writing for newspapers - over the years and this insistence from the newspapers has long puzzled us. Because every editor positively lusts after links from social media sites. But, you know, if money can be gained from shanghaing politicians.
When veteran journalist Campbell Brown stepped down from Facebook-owner Meta last week, it signalled the end of the social media giant’s brief flirtation with news.
Ms Brown, a former NBC and CNN anchor, was hired to much fanfare in 2017, vowing to rebuild relations with the media and oversee a revolution in the sector following a rush of fake news that plagued Donald Trump’s election.
Six years on, her quiet departure underscores how, for boss Mark Zuckerberg, news is no longer top of the agenda.
For ad-funded publishers, particularly those at the tabloid end of the market, the shift in priorities at Meta has been a painful blow. After building their businesses on a wave of social media clicks, digital mass market titles now face a sharp downturn in traffic.
The impact was clear to see in the numbers published by Reach on Tuesday. The publisher of the Mirror and Express newspapers blamed Facebook’s algorithm changes as its revenues continue to fall.
Yes, this does make us laugh. Right drain-like. For the newspapers are now complaining that social media has stopped stealing.
Nothing quite like people getting what they’ve been demanding, is there?