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Media Bits and Bytes – SNAFU Edition

Big bad Wolff; Big bad tech; Who will own the net?; Risen up angry; Hungry Chrome; SOS Pacifica

KPFA radio host Ray Edlund hosts Bay Area-based old time band Pig’s Foot String Band on his Sunday afternoon show “Pig In A Pen.” | Lisa M. Krieger



‘Every Era Gets the Boswell It Deserves’

By Nausicaa Renner and Pete Vernon

January 5, 2018

Columbia Journalism Review



Michael Wolff’s brand of journalism might be ugly—prioritizing access over accountability—but it’s the perfect match for the Trump era.

Big Tech: The New Predatory Capitalism

By David Dayen

December 26, 2017

American Prospect

The tech giants are menacing democracy, privacy, and competition. Can they be housebroken?



What Will Happen Now That Net Neutrality is Gone? We Asked the Experts

By Michael J. Coren

December 21, 2017

Quartz

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to repeal net neutrality rules. What comes next is either faster, expanded internet access, or a dystopian internet ruled by quasi-monopolists.

The Biggest Secret: My Life as a New York Times Reporter in the Shadow of the War on Terror

By James Risen January 3, 2018

The Intercept



My case was part of a broader crackdown on reporters and whistleblowers that had begun during the presidency of George W. Bush and continued far more aggressively under the Obama administration.



Chrome is Turning Into the New Internet Explorer 6

By Tom Warren

January 4, 2018

The Verge



Google has been at the center of a lot of “works best with Chrome” messages we’re starting to see appear on the web. Google Meet, Allo, YouTube TV, Google Earth, and YouTube Studio Beta all block Windows 10’s default browser, Microsoft Edge, from accessing them and they all point users to download Chrome instead.



Berkeley-Based Pacifica Radio Faces Financial Crisis

By Lisa M. Krieger

January 4, 2018

San Jose Mercury News

It is $8 million in debt — more than double its assets. And now one of its creditors — the New York City-based Empire State Realty Trust, which is owed $1.8 million in back rent on the antenna and transmitter atop the Empire State Building used by New York station WBAI — is demanding to be paid.  It has filed paperwork in California that would allow it to seize Pacifica’s assets, including KPFA.