Silicon Valley has a solution for everything, but who do its ideas really serve? Every Thursday, Paris Marx is joined by a new guest to critically examine the tech industry, its thought leaders, and the worldview it spreads. They challenge the notion that tech alone can drive our world forward by showing that separating tech from politics has consequences for us all, especially the most vulnerable. But if tech won't save us, what will? This podcast isn't simply about tearing tech down; it also presents radical ideas for tech designed for human flourishing instead of surveillance, acquisitions, or to boost stock prices. A better world is possible, and so is better technology.
Google and Meta Are A Threat to Journalism w/ Matt Pearce
Paris Marx is joined by Matt Pearce to discuss how Google sidestepped two California bills aimed at funding journalism and how major tech companies are transforming the web to make hyperlinks less relevant.
Matt Pearce is the President of Media Guild of the West and a former reporter at the Los Angeles Times.
Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.
The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.
Also mentioned in this episode:
- Matt wrote about the disingenuous arguments against the California Journalism Preservation Act and the changing nature of hyperlinks online.
- Google sidestepped the two California bills to carve out a separate deal that includes funding for an AI initiative.
- When you compare per capita public broadcast funding across wealthy nations, Canada is near the bottom, but the United States is barely on the chart.
- Google will distribute $100 million to news publishers in Canada after a bargaining process there.
- Digital media companies have been doing layoffs and shutting down in droves.
- The New York Times used AI to assist in identifying the deadly weapons Israel is using against the people of Gaza.
- The Media Ecosystem Observatory looked at the effects of Meta's news ban on its platforms in Canada.