Mark Zuckerberg’s welcome embrace of journalism

[Commentary] While a majority of Americans are spending more time consuming news on social media platforms, the leaders of these companies have until recently declined to accept their role as the most important publishers of our time. They have shown scant interest in judging wheat from chaff while chasing market share. The good news is that’s changing, and Zuckerberg is leading the way. He and others in Silicon Valley would be well served by turning to Jack Knight’s core values for guidance. In our digital age, it may seem counterintuitive to look to a man who had ink in his veins for advice. But the basic principles about the role of information and the media in our democracy that Knight embraced remain critically important:
First: get the business model right.
Second, the product has to be demonstrably true to be believed. Knight wrote, simply, “get the truth and print it.”
Third, use technology to engage the reader.

[Alberto Ibarguen is the president and ceo of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation]