One of the topics of discussion at the 2010 International Symposium on Online Journalism at UT Austin was producing news products for Apple’s iPad. The interest came with a condition attached: Apple decided what appeared in the iTunes store, and therefore what could reach the device. Dan Gillmor had already expressed concern about a hardware company holding that power over what publishers ship.
Ethan Zuckerman of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, a co-founder of Global Voices, was asked for his assessment of the question. The framing belonged to one new device; the issue underneath it — a platform owner deciding which journalism reaches an audience — outlasted the device by a long way.