- The New Face of Broadcast Media is Emerging
- Murder By Meme
- Top AI Scientist Leaves US for China
- Global Press Freedom in Steep Decline
- A Newsroom Strike in Pittsburgh
- Sexy Selfies and Women’s Self Esteem
- Covering the Occupation of DC
- All the President’s Tech CEOs
- Funding Nonprofit Journalism
- The Cartoonist Who Made Presidents Tremble
The New Face of Broadcast Media is Emerging
After leaving the New York Times, Bari Weiss turned her Substack into an unshakable pro-Israel voice. Now as Paramount eyes acquisition of her company, Weiss is poised to become Trump’s ally among media elites.
By Ryan Broderick and Adam Bumas
Garbage Day
We still don’t have a clear motive in the Charlie Kirk murder case, but we do have a slightly clearer picture of what inspired the attack. As we wrote yesterday, the shooting was obviously staged to maximize impact on social media. And according to the FBI, the attacker’s bullet casings had meme references inscribed on them.
Top AI Scientist Leaves US for China
In 2020, after spending half his life in the US, Song-Chun Zhu took a one-way ticket to China. Now he might hold the key to who wins the global AI race.
Press Freedom Hits 50-Year Low
International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance
Freedom of the Press declined in a quarter of the 173 countries covered, marking the most far-reaching decline since the beginning of the International IDEA dataset as of 1975. The deterioration of Freedom of the Press was found in all regions, impacting 15 African and 15 European countries, as well as 6 countries each in the Americas and Asia and the Pacific.
A Newsroom Strike in Pittsburgh
By Tadhg Larabee
The Baffler
Two and a half years is a long time to be on strike. In summer 2024, the strike became the longest ongoing labor action in the nation; it was already the longest in the history of American newspapers and of any Pittsburgh industry. It's the product of a once-in-a-generation collision between an exceptionally dedicated union and an eccentric family unwilling to accept anything short of the union’s dissolution.
Sexy Selfies and Women’s Self Esteem
By Andi Zeisler
Salon
The heyday of Girls Gone Wild marked a shift in adult content — not just from professional to amateur, but more importantly, to aplace that blurred the lines between consensual and violatory. Social media was emerging as the dominant conduit for online interaction, and its combination of immediacy and anonymity made nonconsensual content seem inescapable.
• NYT By Pete Tucker, FAIR
• WashPost By Pete Tucker, FAIR
By Brian Barrett
Wired
One by one, Trump asked the executives how much they were investing in the United States. One by one, they obliged, praising Trump’s leadership along the way. As usual, powerful people tripping over themselves in the race toward Trump’s good graces. But there was an eeriness to seeing that same dynamic among Big Tech’s braintrust.
Richard J. Tofel
Second Rough Draft
There’s a lot of unease just now surrounding funding for nonprofit journalism, and I thought it might make sense this week to try to sum up where I think we stand, and where the industry is headed. The upshot is a mix of significant concerns, but also an emerging sense of opportunities.
The Cartoonist Who Made Presidents Tremble
By Coleman Spilde
Salon
In a career spanning 61 years, over 10,000 cartoons, 24 illustrated collections and one Pulitzer, Pat Oliphant established himself as one of the world’s preeminent political cartoonists. Death threats and backlash from those in power were regular responses to Oliphant’s work, reactions he welcomed as proof of a job well done.
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