The reader’s response on the Reg has been interesting too. You can read them here. Among them are:
Why is Google shooting itself in the foot?
In providing information, credibility is everything. Any source, whether of raw information or an index of it (like Google), loses mightily as soon as it’s known to be biased. Google has already caved more than once to provincial interests (e.g. mainland China), and as soon as it adopts a policy of sourcing news from special interests, it won’t be news any more, but just hands-off propaganda.
The only way to preserve an even-handed reputation would be to source ONLY real news sources (including anti-Western ones like Al-Jazeera), or to include ALL press releases (including those from North Korea, Greenpeace, and anti-war foundations).
But I’m not holding my breath. My guess is that Google is lazy, and they want to accept stories from big (i.e. rich and mainstream-Western) outfits which don’t threaten their advertising revenue. So until I start seeing a wider diversity in their highest-ranking stories, I’m going back to something whose biases I’m familiar with, like the New York Times.
Forget Google News.
Bill Softky