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Letter from the Editor Dear Reader, Do you ever get the feeling, when you’re on Facebook, that you’re dancing with the devil?
Do you ever notice, after a fruitful search using Google, that its bots are following you around in every aspect of your internet life for the next month?
Do you ever feel that for all you’ve gained in convenience from that ubiquitous smartphone in your hand, that maybe you’ve lost something, too?
I get it. My news company, MLive, gets it, too. And that’s why, when you’re rooting around on social media or the internet in coming weeks, you may see a campaign we’re a part of called #WeAreLocalMedia.
Started and promoted by the News Media Alliance, the effort has two aims.
The first is to remind and reinforce that in this fast-paced, commoditized internet era that the news and information you can rely on most is produced by professional journalists who live and work in your community. The closer the journalists are to where you live, the more they will be responsive to you – in both accountability, and relevance.
MLive’s DNA is from the eight local newspapers that have operated continuously for as long as 180 years: The Ann Arbor News, The Bay City Times, The Flint Journal, The Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle and The Saginaw News.
Second, the News Media Alliance – which represents 2,000 mainstream news-producing organizations in the U.S. – is leading our industry’s lobbying to gain support in Congress for the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act.
In short, the so-called “Safe Harbor” bill would allow the news organizations that you count on for credible local and state news to collectively negotiate with tech giants like Google and Facebook. The aim would be to restore competitive balance in the online marketplace; currently, antitrust regulations prevent news companies from coming to the table as one.
MLive and peer news companies live on both sides of that uneasy business dynamic.
With nearly 90 percent of Americans accessing news through phones, computers and tablets, we get millions of readers a month through Google search and Facebook reads and shares. That in turn generates ad revenue we vitally need to maintain news operations. And in the best-case scenario, introduces new readers to our content who may, in turn, buy a digital subscription.
Both of those companies can turn dials to suit their own business objectives, causing drop-offs in search returns or views in people’s social media feeds. Our journalism is the grist for their mill, but we don’t get to set the price, nor sell the bread.
“Newspapers are locked in a life-or-death struggle with tech giants like Google and Facebook, and it’s not a fair fight,” said U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, (R-LA), one of the cosponsors of the legislation. “Local papers have continued to deliver news despite declines in circulation, but readers are losing out at as their options for news coverage evaporate.”
You can read more about the legislation, the benefits it would provide for local news providers and communities, and how to help lobby your representative at this link.
You may not think often, or much, about the local news you get from us because the newspaper brands that make up MLive’s core journalism have been around for generations.
But the next time the internet gives you a queasy feeling, think about what – and who – has been reliably there for you, and how an investment in that trusted news source will continue to pay dividends.
#WeAreLocalMedia, and we were born in your town.
### John Hiner is the vice president of content for MLive Media Group. If you have questions you’d like him to answer, or topics to explore, share your thoughts at editor@mlive.com.
Editor's note: I value your feedback to my columns, story tips and your suggestions on how to improve our coverage. Let me know how MLive helps you, and how we can do better. Please feel free to reach out by emailing me at editor@mlive.com.
John Hiner Executive Editor Vice President of Content Mlive Media Group
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