When we discuss ambitious goals such as Mozilla’s initiative to “Fix-The-Internet”, we must first ask ourselves if the internet is really broken? And if it is, what can we do to fix it?

When I think of what the internet is for most people, I think of information. Most of what we interact with online, no matter the medium, is some form of information. When you message a friend, they’re receiving information. When you read a news article, you’re receiving information. When you watch a movie on Netflix, it’s entertainment, but it’s also information.

If you can accept that the internet is a means by which we share and distribute information, then the next logical question to ask is where does all that information come from? Well, an enormous amount of the information we read, view, and share come from news media. Why news media? Well, they’re paid to focus on finding new information and bringing it to light. Not all of us have the time to dedicate ourselves to discovering and then publishing previously unknown information, but journalists are on the payroll to do exactly that. So if we can accept that the internet is information and that most new information comes from news media, now we can ask ourselves if news media is broken or not. …