• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, June 26, 2015

While a number of publishers have already struck deals with Facebook to host their content directly on the social network’s platform, not everyone is so enthusiastic about the idea.

Dow Jones CEO Will Lewis said he is leery of big technology firms like Facebook, Apple and Google pushing their way into the content business. He cautioned publishers not to give away too much in their deals with the Internet giants.

Lewis made the statements in a panel discussion at Cannes reported by Britain’s Daily Telegraph.

According to the Telegraph, Lewis expressed skepticism about the value of partnerships like Facebook’s Instant Articles in light of previous missteps: “The issue for us, and I think the broader industry, is do we run headless chicken-like toward offers from companies like Apple and Facebook to put our content in their walled gardens? Or do we pause and think together about what the most appropriate way of dealing with these opportunities are and make sure that we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past?”

Among other pitfalls, Lewis warned that serious news organizations put their reputations and business at risk by sacrificing quality and editorial mission in the quest for sheer audience size.

“Somehow in this world the importance of the story and the deep connection between the editor and his or her readers is getting a little bit lost. If it is all about cats on skateboards … then none of this will work,” he said.

Lewis also said that the new partnerships will need to accommodate publishers’ business strategies, which are increasingly reliant on subscriptions for digital content: “Are you going to respect and help us grow our models which have to be cross-revenue models? Advertising is not going to be enough.

"It is no secret, we are in talks with Apple, Facebook, Snapchat about doing exactly this. And some seem to be giving clearer indications about respecting the need for subscription revenues than others. Those that do that we are probably more likely to play with.”

Despite these concerns, Facebook’s Instant Articles seems to be gaining traction with major news publishers. Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that The New York Times will soon begin publishing up to 30 articles per day on Instant Articles.