Bonum Certa Men Certa

Why Journalism is Junk

Traditional coverage of Novell deemed untrustworthy

We have consistently been critics of the press, always arguing against blind trust in the integrity of mainstream media, which disregards important issues such as where the publisher's money is sometimes derived from. Occasionally, the press uses sensationalism for profit and sloppiness is seen as acceptable as long as it conforms with 'popular view', i.e. that which aligns with consensus among companies involved.



“...[S]loppiness is seen as acceptable as long as it conforms with 'popular view', i.e. that which aligns with consensus among companies involved.”Among the key issues: parroting of PR, sound bites, daemonisation terms, words from the sponsor and all sorts of self-appointed analysts whose clients often include the companies they comment on.

Richard Stallman encourages people to shun mainstream journalism and instead subscribe to the views and interpretations of trusted blogs. A couple of examples from the past week show just how poor the press can be, but in order to find out for oneself, one must align some sources and lay out the evidence, which we did.

Virtualisation Example



Here's a couple of new 'articles' about PlateSpin, which is a old acquisition target of Novell. The following two items have shown up in the Indian press. One is a press release and the other is a case of very cheap pseudo-journalism. Mind the subtle differences between the two:

Exhibit #1: Novell's PlateSpin tech helps supercomputing leader

Novell today announced that the New Zealand Supercomputing Centre (NZSC) has chosen one of its PlateSpin€® workload management products to automate the management of its on-demand computing infrastructure. Together with partner InterGrid, the NZSC hosts high-intensity computing projects for oil companies, bio-pharmaceutical enterprises, movie production houses and universities.


Exhibit #2: Novell PlateSpin helps in cost-cutting

Novell announced that the New Zealand Supercomputing Centre (NZSC) has chosen one of its PlateSpin workload management products to automate the management of its on-demand computing infrastructure. Together with partner InterGrid, the NZSC hosts high-intensity computing projects for oil companies, bio-pharmaceutical enterprises, movie production houses and universities.


Novell's involvement in supercomputing is also mentioned in the following press release from New Zealand's Webzine, which is identical to Exhibit #1.

Novell today announced that the New Zealand Supercomputing Centre (NZSC) has chosen one of its PlateSpin€® workload management products to automate the management of its on-demand computing infrastructure. Together with partner InterGrid, the NZSC hosts high-intensity computing projects for oil companies, bio-pharmaceutical enterprises, movie production houses and universities.


The 'article' in the middle is actually not very original. Looking at the three items above (especially the opening paragraph, which is just a bite-sized sample representing a broader pattern), what might one conclude? Does it inform the reader?

Since we already know that PR lies, it's too dangerous to just repeat the words of press releases without a single challenge. It's copied almost verbatim. If people conduct research using the Web some time in the future, what message will be taken away?

Love birds
Parroting is not reporting



GWAVA Example



Here is a new press release from GWAVA.

GWAVA Delivers GroupWise Web Access Users More Security and Flexibility



GWAVA, Novell's largest technology partner for GroupWise, announced today the latest version of WASP 2, the leading spam and anti-virus solution for GroupWise WebAccess. This release comes at a time when an increasing number of GroupWise users are enjoying the flexibility of the internet to access their important messaging information. However, with the flexibility comes challenges to filter unwanted content and keep viruses from invading your organization.


One can always rely on TMCnet to rewrite the press release very slightly and then publish it to make pseudo-journalism that merely casts press releases as "articles".

GWAVA's Latest Version WASP Enhanced with More Security and Flexibility



GWAVA, a company focused to provide best solutions to the Novell GroupWise community and to meet the unique needs of GroupWise organizations, has released the latest version of WASP 2, spam and anti-virus solution.


The recipe at TMCnet: copying and pasting press releases, then editing some more. This does not turn a press release into an article. To the best of our understanding, it may be illegal in Japan.

What are the chances of collecting a critical assessment from the press? Heck, who needs reporting anyway? Being cynical, let companies just write the news for the 'mere mortals'. Let us subscribe to the belief that if SCO says Linux stole code, then it must be true. But... we can do better.

"On the same day that CA blasted SCO, Open Source evangelist Eric Raymond revealed a leaked email from SCO's strategic consultant Mike Anderer to their management. The email details how, surprise surprise, Microsoft has arranged virtually all of SCO's financing, hiding behind intermediaries like Baystar Capital."

--Bruce Perens

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Peter Moon's (Computerworld) Interview With Richard Stallman
Stallman: If you want freedom don't follow Linus Torvalds
At What Point Does Outsourcing Constitute Malpractice?
Brett Wilson LLP's new staff page is misleading
From Do Your Own Research to Do Your Own Search
The Web is full of garbage; search engines amplify this garbage
 
Brett Wilson LLP Solicitors (M): Over 99.9% of Our E-mail is Self-Marketing, We Send You 3.5MB E-mails for Less Than 1KB of Text
Why would tech people entrust legal matters to such people?
United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sailing to GNU/Linux, According to statCounter
countries in that region will quickly learn the price of neglecting digital sovereignty
More People Moving to Geminispace?
at age 6+ Gemini Protocol seems to have gained some maturity and it seems like more people use it
Permutation in LLMs Does, Inevitably, Change Meanings and Therefore LLMs Cannot Properly Rephrase or Summarise Texts
LLMs lack actual grasp or comprehension of what they spew out
Links 23/06/2025: Many Security Breaches, Population Declines
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/06/2025: "America at the Crossroads" and OpenWRT Surgery
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 22, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 22, 2025
Pure Dove
Different means different, and sometimes those who "deviate" from "the norm" have a point
Censorship is a Sign of Weakness Which Invites More Censorship Attempts
revolutionaries don't succumb to pressure from bullies
Why It's Unlikely That LLM Slop Will Dominate the Web in the Long Run
Slopfarms will eventually perish (they have no actual value) and "survivors" on the Web will be sites that never depended on search engines and social control media
GNU/Linux in Argentina Now Measured Near 5%
Like in central Europe, they must be seeing an increasingly hostile US
BetaNews is Fake News, Composed by LLM Slop
nothing in BetaNews is written by humans anymore
Links 22/06/2025: Giving Up on Smartphones and 'Jaws' at 50
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/06/2025: Furniture Construction and Bubble for Comments
Links for the day
Links 22/06/2025: Windows TCO Tales and YouTube Getting More Hostile to Users
Links for the day
The FSF Board and FSF Beard
So the FSF's Board has grown
Law Firms Facing the Consequences for Patently Abusive Litigation on Behalf of Microsoft Employees Who Got Arrested for Strangulation and Had Done Even Worse Things
Having spent 1.5 years bullying me with patronising letters on behalf of Microsofters, last week they got served a massive bill and, in effect, lost the Hearing
New Report From the EPO's Staff Representatives in The Hague (LSCTH) Reveals Many Unsolved Issues
Local Staff Committee The Hague (LSCTH) wrote to staff just before the weekend
LLMs Breaking Everything
Computing and the Net became a playground for scammers and "bros", like people who "invented" fake currencies and also try to tell us that LLMs spewing out things will have some real value
Links 22/06/2025: More Slop Lawsuits (Copyrights) and "America’s Oligarch Problem"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/06/2025: Gigantic Toolchest and Annoying Bots
Links for the day
The Calling
Persist and persevere, justice will come your way
So Far Every BetaNews 'Article' is LLM Slop, So BetaNews is Officially Just a Slopfarm
They just don't seem to value what they have
IBM Rumour: Mass Layoffs (RAs) Lists Being Made for Consulting, With Effect in July 2025
Bogus companies with no viable products and no world-leading (in their field) staff are doomed to perish
Links 21/06/2025: Data Breach With 16 Billion Passwords, Dutch Government Recommends Children Under 15 Stay off TikTok and Instagram
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/06/2025: Notes about Typst (and LaTeX) and Opos
Links for the day
Microsoft's Competition Tactics: Sabotage GNU/Linux Installs, Block Chrome
Edge is dying
1989: Free Software as "Open" Software (OSI Didn't Coin "Open Source", It Also Predates Linux)
"One man's fight for Free software"
The Microsoft OOXML Modus Operandi: Throw 1,000 Pages of Other People's Work for a Judge to Read Ahead of a One-Hour Meeting
No time to discuss this - that's the point
Formalities Officers (FOs) at the EPO Are in Trouble, Reveals Internal Report
We already know, based on an HR pattern we saw at IBM and elsewhere, that reallocating roles can be prerequisite for dismissal and those who do so expect many to resign anyway
The Web is Slop and FUD, Let's Go to Gemini Protocol
Lupa sees self-signed capsules at 92.4%
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, June 20, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, June 20, 2025
Links 21/06/2025: Phone Bans for Concerts, Tensions in Taiwan Strait
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/06/2025: Spoilers, Public Yggdrasil Node, Changes to AuraGem Search
Links for the day