Journalism and technology: Why Elon Musk is not media's Enemy No 1

Good journalism has a place and purpose. If every X user is the media, who ensures the facts?

Iridium was a satellite phone company in the 1990s that wanted to connect the earth with dozens of low-orbit satellites. Not too many sampled its service, but millions admired its advertising line: “Geography is history.”

 

In the late 1990s, a colleague of mine took a fly sheet of the Iridium ad, struck out “Geography”, wrote “print media” above it, and pinned it in our workspace.

 

It struck terror in my heart. This colleague of mine was a hotshot reporter, a regular on the front page. He had shirts in every shade of blue. He used a laptop when the rest