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Brief video about news in 2019, click on the link below
Want to Stop Fake News? Pay for the Real Thing
By David Chavern, News Media Alliance
Facebook and Google have been brutal to the news business. But this primarily reflects a failure of imagination. The tech giants are the world’s best distribution platforms and could be an answer for journalism instead of a grave threat.
As readers have shifted to digital sources, the two companies have taken a large majority of online advertising revenue. More important, the platforms now act as “regulators” of the news business — determining what information gets delivered to whom, and when. With the flick of an algorithmic finger, those two companies decide what news you see and whether a publisher lives or dies.
The impact on journalism has been clear. Just within the past week, we have seen over 1,000 planned layoffs at Gannett, BuzzFeed and HuffPost, and no one thinks we are anywhere near the end. Facebook and Google’s answer so far has been to pledge to spend $300 million each over the next three years to help journalism. But that money will be dribbled across a huge news landscape, and much of it will undoubtedly be used to encourage further use of Facebook and Google products.
But such investments amount to charity, and charity will never be the answer. What news publishers really need are active partners who are willing to embrace the idea that quality journalism sustains our civic society and that the answer to bad information is more good information.
Read the full op-ed in the weekend News.
Runoff from the ongoing spring rains are bringing great benefits for Montague County lakes as they continue to slowly rise.
Lake levels
Amon G. Carter
May 7 – 100% full,
920.86 msl
April 30 – 100% full,
920.68 msl
Lake is full at 920 msl
Lake Nocona
May 7 – 83.7% full,
824.79 msl
April 30 – 73.1% full,
822.91 msl
Lake full at 827.5 msl
Members of the Montague County Commissioner’s Court face a lengthy agenda when they meet at 9 a.m. on May 13.
An executive session is listed for deliberation on pending litigation. The court also will begin the preliminaries of budget planning with a workshop.
The court will review an engagement letter with Edgin, Parkman, Fleming and Fleming to conduct the annual outside audit.
The sheriff’s office staff will submit several items lead by a request to purchase a radio console for dispatch, along with a memo of understanding between Flock Safety and the SO and an application for participation with the Law Enforcement Support Office.
Commissioners will finally close out the Federal Emergency Management Agency project 4223 for county flood damage during the spring of 2015.
Read the full story on all the agenda topics in the mid-week Bowie News.
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
Bowie Independent School District trustees said they wanted a mandate one way or another in regard to the $65.8 million bond proposal, which was one of multiple reasons it went back on the ballot.
While voter turnout out was smaller than the Nov. 7, 2023 election, the mandate was clear as 73.28% of voters said no to the bond. Trustees had hoped a massive education campaign and a single issue election would boost voter turnout, however, that was not the case.
BISD asked voters to reconsider the same $65.8 million proposal that failed 855-1,079 last November. In that Nov. 7 election 1,934 people voted.
On May 4 there were 1,785 total voters, 149 less than in the fall. There were 477 votes supporting the bond and 1,308 saying no. The bond failed by 831 votes with only 26.72% saying yes.
Forestburg ISD asked voters to consider a pair of infrastructure centered bonds and the results were close. The most recent bond election for FISD was in 2018 and it failed 301-195.
Read the full story in the mid-week Bowie News.
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