Journalists Unhappy with the Capitalism Thing
December 9, 2021
I read “Google, Facebook Being Sued by Over 200 Newspapers for Hogging Ad Revenue.” I want to point out that I worked for Barry Bingham Jr, who owned the Courier Journal, a printing outfit which cranked out the New York Times Sunday magazine, a mail order ham outfit, a door knob advertising company, the number one AM station in Louisville, the number one TV station in Louisville, and a bunch of other businesses like one of the leading online information companies in the world. I liked working there. I loved being part of a newspaper monopoly which was permitted to operate through some legal wizardry crafted by Barry Junior’s predecessors. Being an ambassador to England was a good deal I concluded.
Now 200 newspapers who would love to be like the now late and much lamented Courier Journal want lawyers help fix up some of the broken gears in capitalism. The write up states:
e newspaper companies are accusing the Big Tech players of “unfairly manipulating the advertising market,” which has caused direct damage to their publications as a whole. Thirty different companies are involved in the suit, which is being handled by a group of lawyers and law firms.
The issue it seems is that monopolies are okay as long as it is the traditional publishers who can have one. Yep, I miss the Courier Journal, but business has evolved into technology centric monopolies. I am not sure legal eagles, even those noted for their prowess with Microsoft Word, can do much about the present state of affairs.
And capitalism? Wow, it seems like a downer for some.
Stephen E Arnold, December 9, 2021
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