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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/
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Friday June 12 2015, @10:31AM
I do this, reading left-wing and right-wing sources, and get most of what I consider to be traditional reporting from Der Spiegel, Le Monde, and BBC. But still don't feel informed by any of it, because I worked for an American President and know how much the government and the wealthy manipulate the press and how incredibly lazy journalists are about their job. They like telling stories now more than they like reporting facts.
I don't feel "informed" about anything, though, until I come here and see it dissected by Soylentils who have a clue and have thought about things from an angle I hadn't considered.
Washington DC delenda est.