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posted by n1 on Thursday June 11 2015, @11:23PM   Printer-friendly
from the everything-is-awesome dept.

So Apple's got its very own newsreader app, aptly called News. It will come natively installed on its iOS 9 mobile operating system this fall. This adds to the list of third parties that publishers have come to rely upon to distribute their stories. Apple says one of the most appealing things about News is stories will look and feel distinctive, as if they're coming directly from publishers' own sites, creating a sense of independent control over their own content.

And yet.

As with its Podcasts app, iTunes, and the App Store, News is Apple's app, which means Apple is the ultimate arbiter of what appears on it. Shortly after announcing News, the company released a publishing guide. So far, it seems targeted largely at developers testing the app and figuring out how to publish on it ahead of its official release. But the guide does say "channels" will need to be approved by Apple, meaning Apple will determine to some extent what is or is not allowed on News.

And this matters at a time when a few prominent tech companies are becoming the stewards of the news millions of people see, read, watch, and experience each day. Social sites like Facebook and Twitter are the entry point for many readers checking the news daily—not to mention Google News. And each has its own standards for what it will and will not allow to appear. Now that Apple has committed to becoming a publisher, another tech giant will be mediating the news that the public consumes. This means the standards Apple chooses to follow will have a direct impact on what millions of readers see—or don't see.

http://www.wired.com/2015/06/apples-news-app-gives-power-decide-whats-news/


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2015, @12:31AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2015, @12:31AM (#195198)

    I would read TFA but I'm not touching Wired with anyone's ten foot pole. But from the summary, it sounds like the app is intended to be an aggregator from news sources and the fear is that Apple may not aggregate fairly or without any bias. The reader wouldn't be trying to limit themselves to any single news source. There would be multiple news sources, but Apple would ultimately decide who or what is "newsworthy". Imagine seeing nothing but countless "15 things that Android users don't realize until it's too late" articles from Cracked/Wired/Gizmodo every day, and you have the worst case scenario.

  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2015, @12:51AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2015, @12:51AM (#195201)

    Google News is an aggregator, and I don't hear a lot of complaints about bias.

    • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Friday June 12 2015, @01:18AM

      by kaszz (4211) on Friday June 12 2015, @01:18AM (#195216) Journal

      They are "do no evil?" (unless there's shareholders with power)