The difference between Rappler and other newsgroups in the Philippines is that journalists control Rappler both editorially and commercially. We make decisions that are bad for business but protect the public sphere.
Maria RessaRead
The social media platforms have taken over the distribution of news globally. They treat a lie the same way you would treat a fact.
Interpretation
Social media has a significant impact on how news is shared and received, often blurring the lines between truth and falsehood.
Maria Ressa's quote highlights the profound effect of social media platforms on the dissemination of news around the world. In an age where information spreads rapidly, these platforms can treat misinformation with the same level of visibility and engagement as factual news, leading to a distorted understanding of reality and challenging the public's ability to discern truth from falsehood.
In practice
In a keynote speech at a media conference, one could use this quote to emphasize the challenges journalists face today.
The difference between Rappler and other newsgroups in the Philippines is that journalists control Rappler both editorially and commercially. We make decisions that are bad for business but protect the public sphere.
If you want to rip the heart out of a democracy, you go after the facts. That's what modern authoritarians do. You lie. All the time. Then, you say it's your opponents and the journalists who lie.
Embrace your fear. Imagine what you're most afraid of, touch it and hold it so that you rob it of its power.
Let me go back to a fundamental thing we all used to agree on: information is power. That's why we became journalists in the first place.
Technology enabled Rappler's fast growth starting in 2012, but we were also among the first victims when social media was weaponized in 2016.
In 14 months, my government, the Philippine 2 government, has filed 11 cases. I posted bail eight times, I've been arrested twice in five weeks, detained once, and the only thing I've done, my only crime is to be a journalist, to speak truth to power.
One thing about open source is that even the failures contribute to the next thing that comes up. Unlike a company that could spend a million dollars in two years and fail and there's nothing really to show for it, if you spend a million dollars on open source, you probably have something amazing that other people can build on.
As you start building the product, don't assume that you know all the answers. Listen to the community and adapt. We had a lot of our own ideas about how the service would evolve. Coming from PayPal and eBay, we saw YouTube as a powerful way to add video to auctions, but we didn't see anyone using our product that way, so we didn't add features to support it.
With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon. You know all those stories where there's the guy with the pentagram and the holy water, and he's like, yeah, he's sure he can control the demon? Doesn't work out.
The thing about the Internet is that you can write something... for a very narrow audience and make a living at it.
The space shuttle was often used as an example of why you shouldn't even attempt to make something reusable. But one failed experiment does not invalidate the greater goal. If that was the case, we'd never have had the light bulb.
C is quirky, flawed, and an enormous success.
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