Friday February 14, 2020 ~ VANCOUVER ISLAND, BC
by Mary P Brooke ~ West Shore Voice News
West Shore Voice News has decided to not use Facebook for our regular news posts. For some of you, that will mean missing some immediacy of our posts. Yep, you’ll have to bookmark www.westshorevoicenews.com and come directly to this website.
This shift comes in light of yet another attack by social media in general but Facebook in particular, against the value of and need for reliable professional journalism in today’s complex information environment and fast-changing society.
It will be no surprise to any of our long-time readers that for years we have been openly against the intrusion that Facebook makes into the privacy of everyone’s lives. It would be one thing if they had initially been open about it, but the world got sucked in as Facebook in the name of unchecked capitalism robbed users of personal information and went headlong against the professional news media industry for the advertising revenue which is our lifeblood. [We’ve been writing editorials about all that for years.]
Yes, for a few years we have used Facebook — just as any of you do to post your newsy bits. But a new round of business strategy must have happened at Facebook headquarters recently, because now they are deliberately limiting the posts of professional news services unless we pay to use their platform. That’s kind of like being pressured to pay the thief so they can rob you further.
This is not exactly the pot calling the kettle black. Obviously we sell ads (and subscriptions) to maintain this news service as a business, and we believe this is a valid and valuable service to deliver your business or promotional messages to our established and growing audience. Thank you to our many advertisers in what is now over 10 years publishing local news by our company Brookeline Publishing House Inc in the west shore region (MapleLine Magazine (colour glossy insight magazine which got the ball rolling), Sooke Voice News (weekly local newspaper for that community 2011-2014), and currently West Shore Voice News (full-on journalism in the broader west shore and South Vancouver Island, 2014-present), and soon also All Things Beautiful (colour magazine for the summer tourism season).
However, Facebook (and other tech giants, combined in some cases with the impact of the Great Recession last decade) have grabbed the news ad world in a stranglehold — and in so doing they have held the free press for ransom, hobbling even some of the largest and most reputable news services to their knees.
As well, municipalities, small organizations and non profits have also played into the challenges that impact news services … posting on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and thinking that’s the same as informing people. It’s promotion and marketing (in addition to corporate websites), which is all good, but it’s not news and is not intended to reach beyond the known sphere or pre-identified target audience.
Stuff on social media might reach your current audience to attend an event but it’s your promotional stance and readers know that. Real news is something else, and despite the pressures for everyone to conform in the hyper-surveillance age we find there are still people who enjoy the fresh air of an honest voice. Note, that in-depth articles and well-reasoned editorials take time; we won’t often be the first out with the news, but hopefully our contributions make a difference.
In the face of great threat to journalism which in turn is a threat to democracy, the lack of commitment to local journalism even by local organizations that are nevertheless written about and promoted by local news services is partly a sign of economic distress across the board, but does call for an awakening.
Anyhow, readers coming to our news website (or any media service’s website or platform) is how it should be working anyhow. As we depart by choice from regular use of Facebook, we hope you will add www.westshorevoicenews.com to your browser bookmarks on your phone or computer.
We will still post on Twitter at @WestShoreVOICE and @VancIslandVOICE with links back to our website.
To support this journalism venture that serves an attentive audience with interest in the west shore, Greater Victoria and South Vancouver Island footprint, please consider being an advertiser (print/PDF edition or on this website) or becoming a digital subscriber (we send the weekend PDF to your email).
We also encourage you to donate or subscribe to other news services, in particular the ones who still post all their news for anyone to become informed by. Some of the world’s largest newspapers — such as The Guardian in the UK — also state this as their philosophy, i.e. news is for everyone and donations or subscriptions are welcome. While Wikipedia is not a journalism service, it also is open to all and widely accessed, and accepts donations.
Just by reading real news by professional journalists you are keeping the process of the right to factual current news alive, and hopefully with valuable insights along the way. Thank you for following.