Die Zentristen können nicht halten: Kundenjournalismus und unsere „Concierge-Medien“ bedrohen die liberale Demokratie

By Peter Jukes:

*[…] The British press was already much more partisan than the US newspaper market and, with hedge fund owner and GB News backer Sir Paul Marshall’s takeover of The Spectator this year, it has shifted significantly to the right.*

*[…] Meanwhile, the sale by the Guardian’s Scott Trust of its 253-year-old Sunday newspaper, the Observer to the small and relatively unknown company, Tortoise Media, is another worrying sign that the centre cannot hold against the onslaught of right-wing populism. The deal was rushed through by the trust, despite protests from nearly all its previous editors and strike action by Observer and Guardian staff.*

*[…] Ever since tech giants such as Google and Facebook hoovered up the ad revenues which made independent journalism viable, the reliance on funding of high net-worth individuals and big corporations has compromised journalism’s ability to hold them to account.*

*The commercial realities of media mean, as Observer journalist Carole Cadwalladr has exposed in these pages, that his existing media operation, Tortoise, which lost £4 million last year, seems to be overly reliant on corporate partnerships – especially with connections to fossil fuels and international business.*

*We are in danger of returning to a form of captive concierge media, which has more in common with paid-for lobbying or public relations, laundering reputation and policy through its pages – seeking to influence readers rather than represent them.*

*[…] Murdoch’s Newscorp is valued at $16 billion while Elon Musk burned at least double that amount by purchasing Twitter – the foremost journalist social media platform in the world – and turning it into a propaganda weapon to help re-elect Donald Trump, secure a major place in his administration, and turn his focus to Europe where he promotes the activities of the far-right in the UK and Germany.*