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Keepers of the Big Gate in the Sky
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[...] Don Graham's grandfather, Eugene Meyer, spoke of his new duties with solemn obligation:
The newspaper's duty is to its readers and to the public at large and not to private interests of its owners. In the pursuit of truth, the newspaper shall be prepared to make sacrifices of its material fortunes, if such a course be necessary for the public good. The newspaper shall not be the ally of any special interest, but shall be fair and free and wholesome in its outlook on public affairs and public men.
on the history of the Washington Post. such were the days :')
(the alliance was always uneasy and fraught with danger from the profit motive, but it managed to be held at bay for a while, until the technology caught up ...)
[...] Don Graham's grandfather, Eugene Meyer, spoke of his new duties with solemn obligation:
The newspaper's duty is to its readers and to the public at large and not to private interests of its owners. In the pursuit of truth, the newspaper shall be prepared to make sacrifices of its material fortunes, if such a course be necessary for the public good. The newspaper shall not be the ally of any special interest, but shall be fair and free and wholesome in its outlook on public affairs and public men.
on the history of the Washington Post. such were the days :')
(the alliance was always uneasy and fraught with danger from the profit motive, but it managed to be held at bay for a while, until the technology caught up ...)
scabrous
(en)
(adjective) difficult knotty / (adjective) ; rough to the touch; as / (adjective) having small raised dots, scales, or points / (adjective) covered with raised, roughened, or unwholesome patches / (adjective) dealing with suggestive, indecent, or scandalous themes; salacious / (adjective) squalid
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[...] let's not confuse Amazon with a utopian experiment in participatory democracy. Amazon always gives better treatment to some artifacts than others--promoting them in email, on its home page, and through its recommendation algorithms. This is tremendous cultural power, especially given how so many of Amazon's competitors have melted in the face of its size and prowess.
[...] let's not confuse Amazon with a utopian experiment in participatory democracy. Amazon always gives better treatment to some artifacts than others--promoting them in email, on its home page, and through its recommendation algorithms. This is tremendous cultural power, especially given how so many of Amazon's competitors have melted in the face of its size and prowess.
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Old gatekeepers might not always have been worthy of praise, but at least there were a lot of them. And in that multiplicity there was the basis for democracy. In Amazon's vision of the future, there's just one gate. And while Jeff Bezos may wave everyone through, the health of the book business has already come to depend on the whims of one company. Even if he were a benevolent monopolist, that would be a terrifying process.
I think he misses the point a bit here--the problem isn't necessarily in the number, it's in the accountability. one gatekeeper could be a lot better than a million if that one isn't driven by desire for greater profits
Old gatekeepers might not always have been worthy of praise, but at least there were a lot of them. And in that multiplicity there was the basis for democracy. In Amazon's vision of the future, there's just one gate. And while Jeff Bezos may wave everyone through, the health of the book business has already come to depend on the whims of one company. Even if he were a benevolent monopolist, that would be a terrifying process.
I think he misses the point a bit here--the problem isn't necessarily in the number, it's in the accountability. one gatekeeper could be a lot better than a million if that one isn't driven by desire for greater profits