News Then, News Now: Journalism in a Digital Age – Richard Gingras – Medium

From a digital + journalism reality check by Google's Vice President, News

"In open societies it is the epitome of free expression as recognized by the European Charter. It changed how we communicate, how we learn, how we shop, how we sell, how we are informed of the issues of the day and how we form opinions about the issues of the day. The Internet exponentially expanded both the marketplace for ideas and the marketplace for information. It has brought extraordinary value to our societies and introduced new challenges — to our institutions, to our politics, and yes, to journalism itself.

At an existential level it poses the paradoxical question: how can democracies survive and thrive in an environment of unfettered free expression? Democracies succeed by their ability to achieve consensus between different views. How do democracies thrive in an environment that requires bridging gaps between alternate realities? How can we bridge that gap with an abiding structure of commonly-accepted facts from respected sources? Facts matter. The profession of journalism matters.

For us who are involved in the pursuit of journalism, can we evolve new approaches in quest of commonly-understood facts and not fall prey to amplifying our divisions?"

News Then, News Now: Journalism in a Digital Age – Richard Gingras – Medium