Healthy Information Diet (6/6): Ethics

This posting concludes our series of six articles, intended to be a practical help in maintaining a healthy information diet. We’ve started with “variety” and “diversity”, “bias-consciousness” and “judgment” before we looked at “budgets”.

Ethics: Supporting Journalism for a Free Society

At the core of a healthy information diet lies the ethical consideration of supporting the work of journalists in their mission for free societies. This blog post delves into the importance of fair compensation for journalists and the critical awareness that if something appears to come for free, the consumer often becomes the product.

Journalists play a pivotal role in sustaining free societies by uncovering truths, holding power accountable, and providing citizens with reliable information. Ensuring fair compensation for journalists becomes an ethical imperative, acknowledging the value they bring to society. Kompreno aligns with this principle, emphasizing the importance of supporting quality journalism through its subscription-based model.

The adage “if something appears to come for free, then you are the product” underscores the ethical dilemma surrounding free content. Many platforms that offer free content often rely on user data as their primary commodity, potentially compromising user privacy and autonomy. In democracies, it creates problems if they contribute to polarization by promoting extreme, unbalanced viewpoints (because they rely on “eyeballs” to monetize). By contrast, kompreno‘s commitment to a subscription-based model emphasizes you, the reader, as a valued customer rather than a commodity.

Tips and Tricks:

• Support Subscription Models: Opt for subscription-based services to contribute to fair compensation for journalists and ensure a commitment to quality content.
• Evaluate Advertising Impact: Be discerning about the sources of free content, as advertising-driven models can lead to exaggeration, polarisation, and click-bait.

In conclusion, ethical information consumption involves recognizing the societal importance of journalism and supporting fair compensation for journalists. Choosing subscription-based models over “free” content contributes to a healthier information ecosystem, protecting users from being treated as products and ensuring a focus on quality, unbiased reporting. By making informed choices, users actively participate in sustaining the ethical foundation of journalism for the benefit of free societies.

This posting concludes our series on maintaining a healthy information diet. We hope we could give you some practical tips, while also outlining the guiding principles for designing kompreno.

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