Media Bits and Bytes — October 14, 2025
- Why Has the Media Become So Vulnerable?
- Pope Leo to Journalists
- Google, Apple: No Eyes on ICE
- A Librarian’s Guide to Fighting Book Bans
- From Dan Rather to Bari Weiss
- ChatGPT: Usage Up, But So is Skepticism
- Wide World of AI
- Nexstar and Sinclair: MAGA’s Little Helpers
- Low Power Radio to the Rescue
- Are We Ready for Humanoids?
Why Has the Media Become So Vulnerable?
By Robert Reich
robertreich.substack.com
Today’s media ecosystem is far more vulnerable to authoritarianism than it was decades ago. Three structural changes in our political economy have made it so: media concentration, control by the 1%, and shareholder capitalism. When and if We the People are ever back in charge, not only do we have to protect freedom of speech from demagoguery, but we must also reverse these underlying trends.
By Tom Kington
Sunday Times of London
“Artificial intelligence is changing the way we receive information and communicate, but who directs it and for what purposes?” said Leo, who has repeatedly highlighted the dangers of AI. He also warned against websites posting “clickbait” articles to boost their audience at the cost of publishing serious news.
By Tom Williams
Information Age
Apple and Google have removed mobile apps designed to record sightings of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from their respective app stores. The technology giants removed the apps earlier this month after US Attorney General Pam Bondi said such services had “put ICE agents at risk" of violence from members of the public.
A Librarian’s Guide to Fighting Book Bans
By Andrew Gooding-Call
Current Affairs
Right-wingers have been getting books removed from shelves across the United States. But they’re a fringe minority of weirdos, and they can be beaten. Here’s how.
From Dan Rather to Bari Weiss
• How Far CBS News Has Fallen By Sophia Tesfaye, Salon
• Cheerleader for Genocide By Ryan Grim, Drop Site
• Writers Guild Cautions CBS News Staffers By Todd Spangler, Variety
ChatGPT: Usage Up, But So is Skepticism
By Felix M. Simon
Nieman Lab
The generative AI wave isn’t coming — it’s already here, and it’s reshaping how the public finds information. The public is increasingly fluent in AI and happy to embrace this technology but at the same time deeply ambivalent about its role in the news, creating a critical challenge for newsrooms navigating a rapidly changing environment.
The Wide World of AI
• War By Tom Valovic, Common Dreams
• Education By Martin Hart-Landsberg, Socialist Project
• Disinfo By Bobby Allyn, NPR
• The Midterms By Nathan Sanders and Bruce Schneier, The American Prospect
Nexstar and Sinclair: MAGA’s Little Helpers
By Pete Tucker
FAIR
In dropping Jimmy Kimmel’s show, Nexstar and Sinclair were flexing in once unimaginable ways in part because they have grown unimaginably big over the past two decades. Today, Nexstar and Sinclair together own around 25% of all ABC affiliates. And combined with Gray, the third-largest station group, they own around 40% of all local stations nationwide.
By Lucy Schiller
Columbia Journalism Review
Low-power stations are hyperlocal and as varying as the wind, concerned with community voices, emergency notifications, and local information. Now, against the backdrop of funding cuts to public media, they emerge as a source of inspiration.
By Rebecca Szkutak
TechCrunch
There are numerous humanoid companies that are starting to take orders and gather interest in their robots. K-Scale Labs received more than 100 preorders for its humanoid bot in the first five days, surprising even the founders.