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

99.99% Uptime in First Half of 2025
Since January there was only one noticeable outage
When People Call a Best/Close Friend of Bill Gates a "Serial Rapist"
Good thing that the Linux Foundation keeps the "Linux" trademark ("Linux Mark") clean
Microsoft Bankruptcy in Russia, Shutdown in Pakistan, What Next?
It seems possible that in 2025 alone Microsoft will have laid off over 50,000 workers
What Matters More Than "Market Share"
The goal is freedom, not "market share"
Credit Suisse collapse obfuscated Parreaux, Thiébaud & Partners scandal
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
UK Media Under Threat: Cannot Report on Data Breach, Cannot Report on Microsoft Staff Strangling Women
The story of super injunction (in the British media this week, years late)
 
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity.com Slopfarm and Slopfarms Propped Up by Google News
"As LLM slop is foisted onto the WWW in place of knowledge and real content, it now gets ingested and processed by other LLMs, creating a sort of ouroboros of crap."
Links 18/07/2025: Weather Events and Health Hazards
Links for the day
Microsoft's All-Time Low in Finland
Microsoft is in a freefall
Security: Shane Wegner & Debian statement of incompetence
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 17, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 17, 2025
Gemini Links 17/07/2025: "Goodreads for Gemini" and Defence of "The Small Web"
Links for the day
Links 17/07/2025: Anger and Morale Issues at Microsoft, Wars and Conflicts Get Digital
Links for the day
CALEA / CALEA2 is the Real Problem, Not Chinese Operatives Exploiting CALEA / CALEA2 (as Any Other Nation Can)
CALEA / CALEA2 is more of a front door than a back door
Nils Torvalds and Anna "Mikke" Torvalds (née Törnqvis) Hopefully Use GNU/Linux by Now
"Torvalds Family Uses Windows, Not Linus’ Linux"
Attack of the Slopfarms
FUD-amplifying bots with slop images, slop text (LLM slop)
Not My Problem, I Don't Care
Context/inspiration: Martin Niemöller
Honest Journalism About the European Patent Office Ceased to Exist After SLAPPs and Bribes to the Media
The EPO is basically a Mafia
Life Became Simpler When I Stopped Driving and I Don't Miss Driving When I See "Modern" Cars
Gee, wonder why car sales have plummeted...
Why I Believe Brett Wilson LLP and Its Microsoft Clients Are All Toast
So far our legal strategy has worked perfectly
EPO Jobs Are Very Toxic and Bad for One's Health
Health first, not monopolies
Response to Ryo Suwito Regarding the Four Freedoms
the point of life isn't to make more money
Microsoft's Morale Circling Down the Drain
Or gutter, toilet etc.
Tech Used to be Fun. To Many of Us It's Still Fun.
You can just watch it from afar and make fun of it all
Links 17/07/2025: "Blog Identity Crisis" and Openwashing by Nvidia
Links for the day
Greffiers and the US Attorney of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft
The lawsuit can help expose extensive corruption in the American court system as well
The People Who Promoted systemd in Debian Also Promote Wayland
This is not politics
Victims of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft, Alex Balabhadra Graveley, Wanted to Sue Him But Lacked the Funds (He Attacked Their Finances)
Having spoken to victims of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft
Links 17/07/2025: Science, Hardware, and Censorship
Links for the day
Gemini Links 17/07/2025: Staying in the "Small Web" and Back on ICQ
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 16, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 16, 2025
Under the Guise of "MIT Technology Review Insights" the Site MIT Technology Review Posts Corporate Spam as 'Articles'
Some of the articles aren't even articles but 'hit pieces' against Free software and some are paid advertisements
Brett Wilson LLP Has Track Record in Scam Coin Cases (e.g. Craig Wright and More), Now It Works for 'Crypto' Scam Purveyors
But wait, it gets worse
Exclusive: corruption in Tribunals, Greffiers, from protection rackets to cat whisperers
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Will Brett Wilson LLP Handle Its Own Winding Up Petition or be Struck Off for Overt Abuse of Process?
Today we sue not only the first Microsofter
Links 16/07/2025: Chip Bans and Microsoft’s “Digital Escort” Program
Links for the day
Ubuntu Becomes Microsoft GitHub, Based on Decision Made by British Army Officer
You're hopeless, Canonical
Revolving Doors: One Day You're a Judge, the Next Day You're an Attorney Paying Public Officials and Working for Violent and Dangerous Microsoft Employees
how the US justice system works
Sharing Code and Recipes
It helps explain the triviality of software freedom
Slopwatch: Noise, Plagiarism and Even Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt/Fear-mongering/Dramatisation
What are we meant to do to prevent a false association or misleading connotations? Game the LLMs? No. Boycott slopfarms.
How Many Women Has Microsoft's Alex Balabhadra Graveley Already Strangled and Where Does That End?
If you too are a victim of this man and wish to share information, contact us
Gemini Links 16/07/2025: BaseLibre Numerical System and Simple Web Browsing with TLS
Links for the day
Links 16/07/2025: Fascist Slop Takes "Intelligence" Clothing, New Criminal Case Against MElon
Links for the day
"We Might Save Somebody's Life"
I follow the example of my father
Why I am Suing the Serial Strangler From Microsoft, Alex Balabhadra Graveley, in the UK High Court This Week
Out of respect to the process and to the Court, I shall not share any pertinent details about the case
Links 16/07/2025: China’s Economy Grows Steadily, France Takes Action Regarding Harm to Children by GAFAM and Fentanylware (TikTok)
Links for the day
It is Not About Politics
Beware the people who try to make this about politics
Good Journalism Saves Lives
a shocking number of women die or get seriously hurt every day due to violence from a partner
Recognition of Women's Contributions to Free Software
Being passive is not an option when bad things are happening
Slopfarms Are Going to Perish Because Public Opinion is Changing
Many slopfarms will simply go offline
19 Years of Standing Up for Justice, Equality, and Truth
This week we shall take it up a notch
Gemini Links 16/07/2025: Tmux and OCC25 Working TLS
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 15, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, July 15, 2025