Laurene Powell Jobs ready to invest more in journalism, says democracy at risk

“Laurene Powell Jobs, billionaire philanthropist and wife of late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, on Friday said she is willing to sink more money into journalistic endeavors in an effort to protect democracy,” Mikey Campbell reports for AppleInsider. “Speaking to Recode‘s Kara Swisher at the Lesbians Who Tech conference in San Francisco, Powell Jobs said journalism is as important to maintaining a healthy democracy as education, immigration and the environment, reports CNET. Powell Jobs’ the Emerson Collective dabbles in each of those areas through a series of strategic investments.”
Laurene Powell Jobs
“The Emerson Collective holds majority stake in The Atlantic, Pop-Up Magazine and Axios, and Powell Jobs is primed to invest more,” Campbell reports. “‘The lack of ability for people to actually find relevant local news is putting our democracy at risk, putting our ability to converse with each other at risk putting our ability to understand each other at risk,’ Powell Jobs said.”
“While the U.S. has traditionally been a bastion for news media, both liberal and conservative, that standing is now threatened by an unrelenting stream of criticism from President Donald Trump,” Campbell reports. “‘It’s right out of a dictator’s playbook,’ Powell Jobs said of Trump’s constant bashing of — typically left-leaning — media outlets. ‘If you look at polls about the degree to which people trust any news source and even credible fact checking organizations is at an all time low.'”
Read more in the full article here.
“As one of the world’s richest women, worth an estimated $19 billion, she has been investing in journalism through her efforts at the Emerson Collective,” Ian Sherr reports for CNET. “The organization, which has been described as equal parts think tank, foundation and venture capital fund, acquired a majority stake in The Atlantic, Pop-Up Magazine and Axios. Powell Jobs said she’s willing to invest more.”
MacDailyNews Take: Freedom of the press is limited to those who own one. ― A.J. Liebling

“What’s driving her interest is the ongoing collapse of the news industry, she said in an interview with Recode’s Kara Swisher at the Lesbians Who Tech conference in San Francisco late Friday. That and the attacks on it from people like President Donald Trump,” Sherr reports. “‘It’s right out of a dictator’s playbook,’ she said. And, it’s working. ‘If you look at polls about the degree to which people trust any news source and even credible fact checking organizations is at an all time low.'”
MacDailyNews Take: We include both reports because its illustrative of how a reporter can influence the reader. Note Campbell’s inclusion of “typically left-leaning” vs. Sherr’s report which leaves the impression that Trump bashes all media. You decide which report is closer to the truth.

“In her talk she also shared a story about meeting with Trump. She’s spoken with him in an effort to save President Barack Obama’s 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protected up to 800,000 people illegally brought to the US as children from deportation. Trump ultimately said he’d end DACA, drawing criticism from around the tech industry. (His move is being challenged in court),” Sherr reports. “At the end of the meeting with Trump, Powell Jobs recounted that he said, ‘I really like your dress,’ rolling her eyes after repeating the comment. The crowd booed and hissed, to which Powell Jobs responded, ‘I know. And I thought, ‘The things I will do,’ y’know?'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: “News” is a funny thing. Perceptions of events can be bent to the will of those conveying the information. This includes Powell Jobs’ recounting of what might have been taken by some as an innocuous compliment from the father of a daughter who was at the time a fashion designer of, among other things, dresses. Or the U.S. President could have been hitting on Steve Jobs’ widow. Certainly, there’s a wide range of possible interpretations.
The reports above offer only one possible interpretation, cemented by the crowd reaction at the Lesbians Who Tech conference and by Powell’s reaction and response. Again, the point here is that different people will have different perspectives on the comment. We’re not saying which reaction is correct or what Trump’s intent was, as we cannot read minds. Had the other person involved in the conversation recounted/framed the “I really like your dress” exchange in front of a CPAC crowd, the reaction and retelling would have very likely left a different impression.
We assume Powell Jobs included that little anecdote, at that venue and with her reported eye roll, for a reason. We’ll leave it to you to decide why she included it. We can’t imagine how Powell Jobs would have reacted if former President Bill Clinton had remarked to her, “I really like your dress”, although surely some people could imagine him saying it.