Is Google a media company?

Marketing Facts pointed me in the direction of two interesting videos which are definitely worth watching. It seems there were two regional economic forums taking place this past week. One in South Africa, the other in California. The one in the US included a very interesting interview with Eric Schmidt, CEO Google done by Pat Mitchell, who President and CEO of the newly renamed Paley Center for Media. Schmidt talks about a number of issues, such as Viacom, the length of time cookies remain valid on your PC and privacy issues. Schmidt comes across as a really nice guy. But what is in place to keep Google a nice company in the future, especially when it is becoming so important to deciding who gets access to what information? There's already censorship in China. Google is not a content-production company, they say, although You-tube is certainly making a lot of money with content. It is not only a discussion about individual privacy, but also "public" access.