Media Bits and Bytes - April 21, 2020

Anatomy of a Trump briefing, and other hot media messes

Portside
Printer friendly  

Taking the Surveillance State to the Next Level

By Evgeny Morozov
April 15, 2020 
The Guardian

Today’s debate on the right technological response to Covid-19 revolves around the trade-offs between privacy and public health on the one hand, and around the need to promote innovation by start-ups on the other.

Trump Sues WJFW-TV

By Igor Derysh
April 15, 2020
Salon

The Democratic super PAC Priorities USA paid to air the ad on numerous stations across the country. For some reason, the Trump campaign targeted a single NBC affiliate, WJFW-TV of Rhinelander, Wisconsin, in the lawsuit. 

New Platform Promises No Limits

By John Scott Lewinski
April 16, 2020
Forbes

If you like this article, please sign up for Snapshot, Portside's daily summary.

(One summary e-mail a day, you can change anytime, and Portside is always free.)

It’s a service answering a problem AllSocial’s major established competitors like Facebook and Twitter created by inviting accusations on everything from censorship to ideological bias.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Gets It

By E. Tammy Kim
Spring 2020
Columbia Journalism Review

The Bulletin now devotes equal attention to the threat of the climate crisis, including in the setting of the clock.

Media Speech Under Fire in India

By Mark Tully
April 16, 2020
The Wire

The current regime puts the media under severe pressure to be lapdogs. Those who don't comply are suitably punished.

A Magic Moment for Social Media?

By Marco Müller
April 19, 2020
Deutsche Welle

Social distancing is mandatory these days, and those looking to connect with others during the COVID-19 pandemic are turning to social media sites. Have they suddenly become a force for good?

Covering a Trump Briefing

By Ryan Lizza
April, 16 2020
Politico

Trump couldn’t help but turn the crisis into a reality show about himself and his staff and his peculiar obsessions of the moment.

THX Bernie, FU NYT

By Laura Flanders
April 10, 2020
The Laura Flanders Show

Trash radical dreams and then dance on them. That’s just what the New York Times did the day after Bernie Sanders bowed out of the Democratic race.