Free Cheese
The Russians say there is no free cheese except in a mousetrap. Given the heaps of stuff we get without shelling a cent, like email, a facebook page, messaging, and gobs and gobs of content, it might behoove us to wonder how it is that we actually pay. Because pay, we do. Every bit of data we generate has value, but we’re okay with giving it away for free. Collectively, we are the inventory by which billions are made. We pay in other ways too. Our new-found expectation for free content means that we get what we pay for, with potentially catastrophic implications. Local news, for instance, suffers because the new paradigm doesn’t support the cost of substantive investigative journalism. This diminished check against both public and private sector shenanigans should concern us all. Support journalism. Pay for a subscription.