Media Bits and Bytes – May 28, 2024
- We Need Local News More Than Ever
- AI News
- Musk Attacks Media Matters
- Chicago Tribune Staffers Sue
- Big Tech and Section 230
- Why a TikTok Ban is a Terrible Idea
- Breaking Up Live Action Entertainment
- MAGA Communism
- Soul-Crushing New iPad Ad
- Black Women Caught in the Digital Crosshairs
We Need Local News More Than Ever
Heat waves. Super-storms. Forest fires. Floods. Reporting on climate events, disasters, and preparedness is essential, obviously. But local news has a bigger role to play in helping us apply climate solutions that make sense to the unique places that we live.
AI News
- Big Tech and AI Risk By Alex Hern, The Guardian
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AI Startups and Antitrust Concerns By Paul Sawers, TechCrunch
- Google’s AI-Powered Search By Mathew Ingram, Columbia Journalism Review
Just months after mega-billionaire Elon Musk launched what he termed a “thermonuclear lawsuit” against Media Matters for America, the nonprofit media watchdog outfit announced a round of punishing layoffs.
By Kade Heather
Chicago Sun-Times
Seven Chicago Tribune journalists filed a class-action lawsuit against the newspaper and its owner, alleging violations of equal pay based on sexual and racial discrimination. The lawsuit alleges systematic pay disparities between female and male employees, as well as between Black and white employees.
By Cory Doctorow
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Section 230 (47 U.S.C. § 230) protects people who run online services from being dragged into legal disputes between their users. A bill introduced in the House Energy and Commerce Committee would sunset Section 230 as of December 31, 2025, with no provision to protect online service providers from being conscripted into their users’ online disputes and the legal battles that arise from them.
Why a TikTok Ban is a Terrible Idea
By Amy Kroin
Free Press
President Biden signed into law legislation built on misconceptions about how TikTok operates. Worse, it does nothing to protect people’s privacy or blunt the widespread manipulation users face across platforms, including those owned and headquartered in the United States. Here’s the lowdown on what’s happening and why it matters.
Breaking Up Live Action Entertainment
By David Arditi
The Conversation
The U.S. Justice Department, along with 29 states and the District of Columbia, have filed an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment, the parent company of Ticketmaster. Here’s what’s behind the government’s decision to intervene in the ticket-selling business.
In the last few years, a self-styled political movement that sounds like a contradiction in terms has gained ground online. Two young men are promoting a grab-bag ideology celebrating ‘honor’ and condemning ‘global elites’ – and winning powerful friends on the right.
By Julian Sancton
The Hollywood Reporter
The dystopian spot, which depicts the relentless destruction of instruments and artworks, marks a dark turn for the company and begs the question: Will 2024 be like 1984?
Black Women Caught in the Digital Crosshairs
By Janell Hobson
Ms.
Black women are often in the crosshairs of abusive discourse driven by social media. That recent targets are often public figures suggests that social media abusers find it profitable to attack high-profile Black women who have become symbolic avatars for the group as a whole.