Media Bits and Bytes - The Next Sound You Hear Edition

Free Speech vs Democracy?; Nothin’ but net (neutrality); Prez’s morning advisors; New low in race-splaining; Hearing voices; Those darn Trump voters

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  • It's the (Democracy-Poisoning) Golden Age of Free Speech - Zeynep Tufekci Wired)
  • On Net Neutrality, Thune Can't Read the Writing on the Wall ... or in His Local Newspaper - Timothy Karr (Free Press)
  • How “Fox & Friends” Rewrites Trump’s Reality - Andrew Marantz (The New Yorker)
  • Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Breaks Out Into Civil War Over Appalling MLK Day Editorial - David Uberti (Splinter)
  • Alexa, Google Assistant Want To Be Everywhere in 2018 - Ben Fox Rubin (CNET)
  • I’ve Been Asking Trump Voters Every Couple Seconds If They Still Support the President - Dan Hopper (McSweeney’s)

It's the (Democracy-Poisoning) Golden Age of Free Speech

By Zeynep Tufekci
January 16, 2018
Wired

In the 21st century, the capacity to spread ideas and reach an audience is no longer limited by access to expensive, centralized broadcasting infrastructure. It’s limited instead by one’s ability to garner and distribute attention. And right now, the flow of the world’s attention is structured, to a vast and overwhelming degree, by just a few digital platforms: Facebook, Google (which owns YouTube), and, to a lesser extent, Twitter.

On Net Neutrality, Thune Can't Read the Writing on the Wall ... or in His Local Newspaper

By Timothy Karr
January 11, 2018
Free Press

The senator certainly hasn’t been listening to his constituents in South Dakota, who have joined others across the country to write dozens of letters to the editors of local newspapers urging elected officials to support Net Neutrality, or else.

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How “Fox & Friends” Rewrites Trump’s Reality

By Andrew Marantz
January 15, 2018
The New Yorker

The thin fourth wall between the President and his TV.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Breaks Out Into Civil War Over Appalling MLK Day Editorial

By David Uberti
January 18, 2018
Splinter

An editorial on Martin Luther King Day suggested describing someone as a racist was in fact worse than racism itself.

Alexa, Google Assistant Want To Be Everywhere in 2018

By Ben Fox Rubin
January 16, 2018
CNET

These voice assistants want to be on the go with you, plugging in to smart glasses, smart earbuds and even smart toilets.

I’ve Been Asking Trump Voters Every Couple Seconds If They Still Support the President

By Dan Hopper
January 19, 2018
McSweeney’s

This constant, uniformly unwavering support for Trump begs the question: do these people regret voting for Trump? Has anything changed since my last paragraph?