To the editor: George Skelton's column warning about Big Tech stealing news from journalists and newspapers across the country, leaving them out of work and out of business, with no punishment or compensation, was excellent.
Payment for such theft should also extend to those who create literature, art, film, scholarship and knowledge, and whose work is also stolen for sale on the market by AI thieves.
And what about all of us, whose personal data is taken daily by Google, Facebook, X and others, who then sell that data to companies that market their products and services on the Internet and make huge profits? We should also be compensated.
Yes, we all have to pay a good sum. Big tech companies have to pay a good sum.
John Wagner, Irvine
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To the editor: My first job after graduating from high school in 1959 was at a fledgling newspaper, the Pennsville Progress in New Jersey. There I learned firsthand what it took to report local news.
I was saddened that the Progress, Penns Grove Record and Salem Sunbeam were purchased by a news group that now publishes little news about Salem County.
The same thing happens here in Riverside County, and we are all poorer for it.
Maria Ana Vicente, Crown
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To the editor: I share Skelton's concerns about the decline of our national press corps, and like him, I believe that a strong and free press is vital to our democracy.
But before Skelton finishes taking a bow on behalf of the press for forcing President Biden to withdraw from the 2024 election, I would like to ask him to seriously explain why the same standards have not been applied to former President Trump.
I don't see the same calls for impeachment for Trump's egregious mistakes, his outright lies, his failure to answer questions honestly, his calling journalists stupid and obnoxious, and his outright making up of things, like endorsing Taylor Swift. If Biden had done that, imagine the response from the press.
Trump’s conduct has been duly reported, but where is that equal judgment about basic ability to do the job? Is Skelton demanding that Trump step down? Is the New York Times doing so? Is this paper?
Skelton and many others need to honestly face the reality that they have let Trump get away with it while others have had to live up to traditional standards for our politicians. That may have contributed to the decline in loyal, paying readers of their publications.
Melissa Walsh, West Hills
