will lay waste to much of the analog and digital media worlds. A decent
proxy for what will happen globally to the media business is what has
taken place down under, with traditional media being eaten alive by
tech media. In sum, old media isn’t going away; it will just be a shitty
place to work or invest.
A few will hold on. Outfits like the Economist, Vogue, and the New
York Times may benefit, at least for a while, because their weaker
competitors will die. That, and a sudden recognition that “truth” is a
thing again, will give them momentary gains in market share. But the
operative word is “momentary.”
In the meantime, Facebook will steadily neuter traditional media.
The New York Times, for example, gets about 15 percent of its online
traffic from Facebook.^29 The Times agreed to let Facebook post its
articles natively on the platform. That means you can read the whole
article without leaving Facebook and stepping onto the Times’ site.
The quid pro quo was that the Times gets to keep the ad revenues.
Sound familiar?
That may sound good, but the reality is that it leaves Facebook in
control. That means it can increase or decrease its customers’
exposure to the Times as it chooses, and swap in and out other media
content when Facebook feels like it. This reduces what was once one of
the proudest institutions and brands in American media to a
commodity supplier. Facebook decides which content is best suited to
convey advertising, and who will see it. The Times sprayed bullets
across their feet letting Google crawl their data. With Facebook Instant
Articles, the Times and other media firms participating in the program
put the gun in their mouth. We have learned nothing. In late 2016, the
Times pulled from the Instant Articles program, as the revenues were
immaterial.^30 So, the Times was (again) willing to sell its future, but
fortunately the bid wasn’t compelling.
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