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Join TSPR for a weekly conversation about media issues. News Director Rich Egger and expert panelists discuss what’s in the news about the news business.

Aggregation Plan Doesn't Benefit Local News

A commentary on CNN's website examines Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's announcement that he will start Facebook News. Zuckerberg said it will curate "high quality" news and information, and will pay some publishers millions of dollars a year for access to their journalism. Those sources of journalism will include NPR, CNN, BuzzFeed News, the Washington Post, and many others.

Heidi Legg wrote the commentary. She is the Director of Special Projects at the Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center. CNN said the opinions expressed in the commentary are her own.  And what Legg has to say is that Zuckerberg’s plan will likely obliterate local news.

She said aggregation in the journalism industry largely boosts national and international brands.  And she wrote that the digital transformation has slaughtered local journalism.

The Shop Talk panelists discuss the commentary and share their own thoughts about Zuckerberg’s plan.

Shop Talk is a weekly panel discussion about journalism issues.  This week’s program featured Will Buss, who teaches in the Department of Broadcasting and Journalism at Western Illinois University and advises the student editors at the Western Courier, the students at student radio station The Dog, and the WIU chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists; Rajvee Subramanian, who teaches in the Department of Broadcasting and Journalism at Western Illinois University; and TSPR News Director Rich Egger.

Rich is TSPR's News Director.