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Google Goes for the Kill

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  May 16, 2024
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

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Anti-Social Media – GOOGLE

While we watch the constant stream of media outlets conducting layoffs (when they are not shuttering outright), there has been the looming dark specter on the horizon of artificial intelligence (AI) to add to the nightmare scenario. It has been long suspected that AI poses a particular threat in that it would scrape passages from outlets and present the acquired content in a generic format presented as original.

Well, Google has come out to show this threat is now at the doorstep. At its annual developers conference, the search engine monolith is announcing the rollout of its Search Generative Experience, what it dubs "AI Overviews." What this will deliver for users is a compilation of text, based on the search criteria, that serves as a digest form of an answer, and supporting links will appear at the base of their AI rundown.

So, if you were to type in a search for an item in the news, the response would not be a series of linked articles at the top, but instead deliver a multi-paragraph synopsis. This is certain to impact traffic normally driven to outlets as it will more often deliver the desired information without requiring one to click through to the sources of the content.

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Reporting on the Mirror – THE NEW YORK TIMES

  • Ignore the executives at the asylum, just go straight to the inmates.

The New York Times has, for years now, been exposed as being a dysfunctional hive where the employees have an elevated sense of worth and power, and it is something of a reality given management's tendency to buckle when faced with complaints from the privileged rabble. There was internal hysteria from the Senator Tom Cotton editorial, and several prominent writers and editors were dismissed following a staff uprising citing issues such as being made to feel unsafe in the workplace.

The Times' Executive Editor Joe Kahn has spoken on this entitled mindset that the new hires at the outlet exhibit in his newsroom:

Kahn weighed in on President Joe Biden's criticism of the Times' reporting on his administration and campaign. But the executive editor also raised what he saw as some of the challenges of hiring younger journalists, who he said are not 'fully prepared for what we are asking our people to do, which is to commit themselves to the idea of independent journalism. Young adults who are coming up through the education system are less accustomed to this sort of open debate, this sort of robust exchange of views around issues they feel strongly about may have been the case in the past.'

Predictably, this has triggered the very workers he was speaking about in his quotes. They have drafted a letter to express discontent with Kahn's opinion, while also stating there is not enough openness to their opinions and little tolerance for dissent. He would be wise to stand in the middle of the newsroom and tell them they are correct, as he shreds their letter into confetti.

Artisanally-crafted Narratives – MSNBC

  • Has anyone performed a wellness check on Uncle Larry lately?!

Last week, we deeply enjoyed one of this year's oddest displays in primetime news punditry when Lawrence O'Donnell delivered his turgid rendition of what he experienced when Stormy Daniels walked into the courtroom. It is a hilarious and disturbing window into his fantasy mind as he envisioned the former adult film star in a variety of vignettes.

O'Donnell was back at it, though in a less salacious form. This time, he addressed looking at Donald Trump and noticing the man's eyes were closed while seated in the courtroom. This sends the MSNBC pundit into a bout of tortured prose that sounds like an undermedicated real estate agent trying to build up the description of a den into a sprawling well-appointed airline hanger:

Trump leaves his face, with his eyes closed, in tortured elderly shapes when he drifts off into his closed-eye space, his mouth shifts from its preferred scowl to the look of a collapsing old building. The mouth loses all shape, the lips become unrecognizable by the wrinkled curves that they take under those closed eyes that stay, closed today longer than they have ever stayed closed in that courtroom.

What the hell, Larry?! This is not some tableau from a Dr. Seuss tome in need of your prolix account, it was a guy with his eyes closed.

Stealth Story Evolution – POLITICO

  • Leave it to a Republican to want to steal history away from a black woman.

The recently held Maryland primary concluded, and on the GOP side of the Senate seat,former Governor Larry Hogan took the nomination. He will be running against Democrat Angela Alsobrooks. Politico was under the assumption that Hogan being a Republican (barely), and a white male, is automatically cast as the villain in this particular election, given Alsobrooks is a black female. From the sounds of the unbiased and neutral non-partisan outlet, Hogan should just step down and allow history to take place.

But Politico recognized it was getting called out for the deeply slanted approach to the results, given it quietly went ahead and altered the headline, lest it catch any more grief.

Presentation Paradox – ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT

  • His agreeing to terms was a sign of aggression, we are led to believe.

At ABC News, they are greatly excited about the announcement from Joe Biden that he will participate in presidential debates after all with Donald Trump, and why shouldn't they be?! After all, the network agreed to the list of restrictions and requirements from the Biden campaign to be the host network of one of these debates.

In reporting on this development involving Biden, the dependably favorable Mary Bruce made a contradictory claim, describing it as "Biden with this surprise challenge." Well, to a degree, she was correct; it was a bit of a surprise, given the campaign has long said it would not enter a debate. But to say that this was a "challenge" from President Silveralert is remarkably off base, considering that Bruce herself had just previously mentioned how it was that Donald Trump "was pushing for debates for months."

Low-Octane Gaslighting – MSNBC

  • Republicans outside the courtroom are WORSE than Democrats inside the courtroom?

Add the ostracized media analyst Brian Stelter to the list of people bothered that Republicans appeared outside of the Manhattan courthouse in support of Donald Trump. He appeared with Ari Melber to discuss the show of solidarity and he was clearly critical of the display from the GOP members.

We note there was no concern or condemnation over the fact that Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman has asserted that he is working directly with Michael Cohen on his testimony against Donald Trump inside the courthouse. No, just those positioned outside and giving their opinions.

But as Brian looks ahead at the behavior that might take place at those upcoming trials, we try to imagine a fraction of the media showing up outside those courthouses compared to the media army seen in Manhattan.