Layoffs indicate how reliable tech is as a partner for journalism
date
Mar 8, 2024
slug
2024-layoffs-indicate-how-reliable-tech-is-as-a-partner-for-journalism
status
Published
tags
journalism
tech industry
layoffs
type
Post
summary
Help desperately needed from tech companies won’t come to save journalism because the priorities are not - and won’t be - aligned.
Since technology emerged to play a decisive role in how news is consumed, traditional news companies and their old business models began to decline and have not stopped since. The industry had placed too much emphasis on the "quality" of their product as their main selling point, when in reality, distribution was the competitive advantage - lost forever in the digital realm. Assistance from Google, Meta, and Apple was always implied, but at best, it was like humanitarian aid for an industry in disarray, like the fact-checking teams or other anti-disinformation operations - all abandoned not because they didn't work, but because they were irrelevant to their business models. The staggering tech layoffs are the latest signal that the relationship between news and tech will never be a friendly one unless there are structural changes.
The lack of transparency on major platforms, ranging from Twitter to TikTok, makes it challenging to estimate the percentage of news content circulating in digital channels. However, a 2020 survey by the Pew Research Center found that more than eight-in-ten U.S. adults (86%) often get news from a smartphone, computer, or tablet. This statistic illustrates how walled gardens leverage the importance of news to generate advertising revenue. If news distribution is controlled to such an extent, it's unlikely that substantial partnerships can be formed.
Consider the layoffs in the tech industry that began last year and continue today. In 2023 alone, more than 260,000 jobs were cut in tech companies, and another 50,000 were lost before the end of March. This situation suggests several things. First, AI is enhancing company capabilities, and shareholders appreciate seeing increased revenue per employee - something layoffs can directly accomplish. It also exemplifies the often criticised yet undeniable Marxist idea that capital acts to protect itself. With the current economic uncertainties, the most vulnerable often bear the consequences. Perhaps most significantly, it highlights that these companies seek profits, not societal needs.
Massive productivity increases driven by AI are certainly a factor in the layoffs, and the trend is only beginning. The only cause unrelated to the selfish mindset of profiteering is that tech companies will always lay off a percentage of their workforce every year to compensate for the employees absorbed by the companies during acquisitions. Workers in companies that have been bought have already received some kind of compensation during the process and more or less expect that to happen (even if they don’t realize that as they grow older, their chances to find similar jobs dwindle, but that’s a different problem). However, we are talking about marginal numbers, not percentages close to or greater than two digits.
Tech platforms can handle numerous tasks to improve the quality of news, particularly regarding disinformation and revenue models. Facebook, Google, and Twitter possess sufficient information to significantly limit the spread of disinformation. However, that would require hiring more staff for non-profit aligned goals and alienating customers who purchase ads to spread false information. Instead, these platforms tend to limit traffic to news companies unless they pay for their content to reach potential audiences. Essentially, the system favors those who can afford to pay for ads, putting news outlets at a disadvantage due to their limited budgets. This demonstrates that distribution, not content quality, has always been the key strength of major stakeholders.
The silver lining here is the understanding that peaceful coexistence, let alone collaboration, cannot happen between two parties with disparate priorities and an imbalanced distribution of power. While major news outlets like the NYT, CNN, and BBC often make headlines with their projects and initiatives, it's the smaller organizations and local or niche outlets, which lack large marketing or sales departments, that form the backbone of the news industry. These outlets are a crucial part of the ecosystem, yet major tech players often overlook them. This imbalance calls for a Parabellum state, encouraging audiences, society, and tech companies to view reliable news as a necessity rather than entertainment. Journalism and journalists have engaged in peaceful dialogue for too long - it's time to prepare for a fight.