Media Bits and Bytes - July 14, 2020

The joys and horrors of social media... Organizing protest! Surveillance stalkerware! And more

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Scoop News Group / Danny McGarvey

The Rise of Protest Aggregators

By Amos Barshad
July 10, 2020
Columbia Journalism Review

Along with the demonstrations, we’ve gotten a new social media subgenre: protest aggregation. These accounts, many of them managed by teams of anonymous volunteers, require near-constant effort.

The Messed Up Media Environment

By Oliver Darcy
July 17, 2020
CNN

If one's primary intention is not necessarily to accurately inform or make a good faith argument, but instead to prey on preexisting political narratives to score cheap clicks and engagement on social media, the rules of the game change. 

Stalkerware

By Shannon Vavra
June 30, 2020
CyberScoop

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Data show a rise in invasive surveillance software known as stalkerware — applications that can spy on partners’ texts, calls, social media use and geolocation information — since the coronavirus pandemic began.

TikTok 

Government Snooping  By Allison Matyus, July 9, 2020, Digital Trends

Leaving Hong Kong  By Helen Davidson and Alex Hern, July 7, 2020, The Guardian

Linux Bans Language

By Catalin Cimpanu
July 11, 2020
ZDNet

The Linux team has now joined many tech companies and open-source projects that have removed references to racially-charged jargon from their code for more neutral and inclusive language.

Tucker’s Blues

By Justin Baragona
July 13, 2020
The Daily Beast

Carlson said that he doesn’t “endorse” Blake Neff’s racist posts—but also criticized the media for reporting on his ex-writer’s words.

Philippines: Duterte Suppresses Broadcaster

By Karen Lema and Neil Jerome Morales
July 10, 2020
Reuters

Philippine lawmakers rejected the renewal of a 25-year license for country’s top broadcaster, outraging activists who saw the move to keep ABS-CBN Corp off the air as part of a political vendetta on behalf of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Fox News Loses It

By Paul Blest
June 15, 2020
Vice

Fox News has been so hell-bent on covering the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone in Seattle as a sort of existential threat to America that they’ve run altered photos of the scene and (unwittingly) regurgitated Monty Python jokes as evidence of a mutiny in the commune.