Top News:
Lachlan Cartwright / The Daily Beast:
Don Lemon will not appear on today's CNN This Morning; sources say executives are discussing Lemon's future after his offensive remarks about women and aging — CNN sources told Confider that the network changed its Monday lineup to proceed without Lemon while “conversations about Don's future” are ongoing.
Discussion:
The Hollywood Reporter, Mediaite, Deadline, @djrothkopf, The Wrap, New York Post, Variety, @keitholbermann, @jamesrbuk, @joshtpm, Fox News, @joelpollak, @jkbjournalist, TMZ.com, HuffPost, New York Times, CNN, Newser, SheKnows, TVNewser, Breitbart and FOX News Radio
Discussion:
Kimberly Nordyke / The Hollywood Reporter: CNN's Don Lemon Taking Monday Off Following Nikki Haley Remarks and Apology
Caleb Howe / Mediaite: NEW: CNN Denies Report Don Lemon ‘Benched’ Over Sexist Comments, But He Won't Be On Air Monday
Ted Johnson / Deadline: Don Lemon Won't Appear On Monday's ‘CNN This Morning’ Following Controversy Over Comments
David Rothkopf / @djrothkopf: If true, it's the right decision. https://twitter.com/...
Miranda Devine / New York Post: Bitter Don Lemon isn't sorry for sexist remarks and clearly doesn't like women
Brian Steinberg / Variety: CNN Will Use Don Lemon Substitute on Monday Amid ‘CNN This Morning’ Controversy
Keith Olbermann / @keitholbermann: It really has now reached the point where @cnn has two choices: A) fire Chris Licht because every move he's made not only hasn't worked but damaged the network beyond measure, or... B) essentially confirm fascist John Malone hired Licht to destroy CNN https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
James Ball / @jamesrbuk: Aside from everything else wrong with Lemon's comments, he was talking about someone five years younger than him and 29 years younger than the current president. https://twitter.com/...
Josh Marshall / @joshtpm: An apology was definitely in order. But it does seem like Chris Lichts basic brief at this point is basically to destroy cnn. https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
Fox News: Don Lemon taking a ‘holiday,’ will return on air depending on ‘where his head is at:’ CNN insider
Joel Pollak / @joelpollak: He's past his prime. https://twitter.com/...
Julie K. Brown / @jkbjournalist: To the way of Lemon's thinking, I should have been put out to pasture instead of investigating Jeffrey Epstein, or writing countless stories that led to better treatment of inmates in Florida prisons...https://www.nytimes.com/ ...
Ben Blanchet / HuffPost: Don Lemon Taking Monday Off At CNN Following Nikki Haley ‘Prime’ Comment: Report
Oliver Darcy / CNN: Don Lemon apologizes to CNN colleagues for sexist remarks: 'I'm sorry that I said it'
Jenn Gidman / Newser: CNN CEO Slams Lemon: Remarks on Haley ‘Unacceptable’
Kristyn Burtt / SheKnows: CNN's Don Lemon Finds Himself in Hot Water After Making Awkward Sexist & Ageist Comments in Front of His Two Female Co-Anchors
Mark Mwachiro / TVNewser: CNN's Don Lemon Apologizes for Sexist Remark
Kylie Michael / FOX News Radio: Don Lemon Goes Full SEXIST
Jason Garcia / Nieman Lab:
A look at the close collaboration between Ron DeSantis' administration and The Florida Standard as he cultivates a network of sympathetic conservative outlets — Last summer, six days after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suspended Tampa prosecutor Andrew Warren, one of the governor's top aides drafted …
Discussion:
Ann Marie Lipinski / @amlwhere: I spend a lot of time talking with international journalists working under regimes that attack and delegitimize independent media. What Ron DeSantis is doing in Florida is straight out of those playbooks. “This is what state-run media looks like.” https://www.niemanlab.org/...
Alexander Russo / @alexanderrusso: DeSantis is doing everything he can to destabilize the independent media, as you can read here, but the media is also destabilizing itself the way it is so readily trolled for outrage. https://www.niemanlab.org/...
@spj_tweets: “Just this week, the governor...attacked ‘legacy media’ that engages in ‘partisan activism’ and suggested that he might lobby the Florida Legislature to pass a law...making it easier for people to sue news organizations on claims of libel or defamation.” https://www.niemanlab.org/...
Jay Rosen / @jayrosen_nyu: A simple way to describe the kind of 2024 coverage we need is this: Not the odds, but the stakes. Meaning: less that tries to handicap the race, more that shows what is at stake in that race. “DeSantis is weaponizing partisan media.” From @NiemanLab. https://www.niemanlab.org/...
@froomkin: The governor's efforts to prop up supplicant sources of news—while trying to destabilize and delegitimize independent ones—make for a dangerous combination, @mbar62 tells @Jason_Garcia. That's the journalistic dichotomy: “supplicant” vs. “independent”. https://www.niemanlab.org/...
Mark Maxwell / @markmaxwelltv: “This is what state-run media looks like,” Barfield said. “Russia, China, and Venezuela use it as a tool to control the message. The strategy has far-reaching and negative implications for freedom of the press and democracy.” https://twitter.com/...
Mark Strauss / @markdstrauss: This is a deeply disturbing read. But, it points to another potential weakness of DeSantis as a presidential candidate—he doesn't have much experience dealing with journalists outside his state-controlled media barony in Florida.
Phineas Rueckert / Forbidden Stories:
Leaked docs detail reputation management company Eliminalia's tactics to remove public-interest info from the internet, like via fake sites and copyright claims — Leaked documents obtained by Forbidden Stories reveal the inner world of Eliminalia, a Spanish reputation management company.
Discussion:
Washington Post, @phineasjfr, @phineasjfr, @sandra_cuffe, @brooklynmarie, @washingtonpost, @rawtraveltv and The Guardian
Discussion:
Phineas James / @phineasjfr: Around the world journalists are being imprisoned, hacked, even killed. So why should we care about copyright law? #Thread about the “subtle censorship” of a reputation management firm that uses manipulative methods bury the truth. #StoryKillers 1/14 https://forbiddenstories.org/ ...
Phineas James / @phineasjfr: Yesterday, dozens of news outlets published their investigations into Eliminalia, including @OCCRP, @IrpiMedia, @ArmandoInfo and @elespectador, as part of the #StoryKillers project. You can read our investigation here: https://forbiddenstories.org/ ... 14/14
Sandra Cuffe / @sandra_cuffe: “The files show how Eliminalia worked for scammers, spyware companies, torturers, convicted criminals, corrupt politicians and others in the global underworld to hide public-interest information.” Great ‘Story Killers’ investigative piece by @PhineasJFR: https://forbiddenstories.org/ ...
Brooke Binkowski / @brooklynmarie: “It's hugely significant that this stuff is happening,” Adam Holland, a project manager at Harvard University's Berkman Klein Center for the Internet and Society, said after being told of The Post's findings. “This is information warfare.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@washingtonpost: Eliminalia's methods are laid in documents leaked to Forbidden Stories, a Paris-based journalism nonprofit organization that shared the records with The Post and other media partners. The records are the most comprehensive account of its tactics to date. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@rawtraveltv: Good article from @FbdnStories Journalists worldwide R under attack, some dying 2 tell truth, literally. Companies like @digitalocean kowtowing 2 shady “reputational firms” like #Eliminalia pour salt in wounds & inhibit public's right to know the truth. https://forbiddenstories.org/ ...
Jabari Young / Forbes:
Sources: the NBA, MLB, and other leagues are making contingency plans, including local TV station deals, to avoid blackouts amid Diamond Sports' financial woes — ‘Linear’ broadcast TV combined with streaming games offer the best alternatives to reach the most fans, insiders say.
Discussion:
@ourand_sbj, @tvanswerman, The Comeback, Sports Business Journal, Next TV, Insider, The Streamable and Barrett Media
Discussion:
John Ourand / @ourand_sbj: The NBA re-ups its digital deal with Diamond Sports, even as the RSN owner heads towards bankruptcy, SBJ's story: https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/ ...
@tvanswerman: This and the FuboTV deal tells you that the predictions of doom for Diamond could be premature. Companies are still working with them. It's not all Dead Company Walking. https://twitter.com/...
Daniel Frankel / Next TV: Bankruptcy Be Damned: NBA Renews Bally Sports Plus Digital Deal
Aaron McDade / Insider: MLB Commissioner says league is prepared to step in to broadcast games — and maybe even end blackouts — as Bally Sports heads toward bankruptcy
Gerry Smith / Bloomberg:
Dow Jones' general counsel says OpenAI lacks a deal to use WSJ reporters' work to train its AI; source: CNN plans to ask OpenAI to pay to license its content — Major news outlets have begun criticizing OpenAI and its ChatGPT software, saying the lab is using their articles to train …
Discussion:
MediaNama, Media Voices, @sarhan_, @sub8u, @carnage4life, @fpmarconi, @newley, @corybe, @gerryfsmith, @tolles, @fpmarconi, @fpmarconi, @fpmarconi, @tolles, @tolles and @fpmarconi, more at Techmeme »
Discussion:
Sarasvati NT / MediaNama: After artists and coders, news outlets up against OpenAI for using their articles to train ChatGPT
Sarhan / @sarhan_: Articles are written to be read, either by humans, search engines, or AI.. What's wrong with that? https://twitter.com/...
@sub8u: Then: Google is making money by crawling through our website. Now: Large language models are making money by using our articles to train the AI systems Forever: Everybody is making money off us. We deserve to be be paid. https://twitter.com/...
Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life: If you think the media were mad at Facebook and Google News for replacing them as a source of news, this will be nothing compared to how much they're going to go after OpenAI for “stealing” their content. This is Stable Diffusion versus artists all over. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
Francesco Marconi / @fpmarconi: News organizations have a new audience consuming more content than anyone else: machines. It seems fair for publishers to be compensated if their content is used to train someone else's AI. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
Newley Purnell / @newley: “Anyone who wants to use the work of Wall Street Journal journalists to train artificial intelligence should be properly licensing the rights to do so from Dow Jones...Dow Jones does not have such a deal with OpenAI.” https://www.bloomberg.com/...
Cory Bergman / @corybe: News content has helped train a million AIs over the years, which should not come as a surprise. But ChatGPT is growing into a monster business, and it seemingly has divulged its actual training sources... https://twitter.com/...
Gerry Smith / @gerryfsmith: WSJ and CNN are concerned that OpenAI is using their stories to train its artificial intelligence technology without paying them. “We take the misuse of our journalists' work seriously, and are reviewing this situation.” https://www.bloomberg.com/...
Chris Tolles / @tolles: @fpmarconi Their Robots.txt spell out the crawling policies. You don't need an agreement to crawl a site. Seems like a speculative accusation without understanding of the way the web works unless you have something more solid
Francesco Marconi / @fpmarconi: Here's the prompt I used: “Which specific news sources was chatGPT trained on? Provide a list of the top news sources in your database.”
Francesco Marconi / @fpmarconi: @tolles The legal debate between AI generators and content rights-holders will depend on the interpretation of US Fair Use doctrine and “transformative use” — and whether systems like GPT store this data in their databases.
Francesco Marconi / @fpmarconi: @tolles https://apnews.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Chris Tolles / @tolles: @fpmarconi That may be, but “Scraping data without permission would break the publishers' terms of service” is an allegation not backed the TOS's in place currently, and one that libels the AI companies.
Chris Tolles / @tolles: @fpmarconi Ok. I will concede this is a greyer area from a pure tos standpoint (and withdraw my accusation of libel) but when there is a discrepancy between posted TOS and robots.txt, in practice, a crawler is engaging in a protected action. https://law.stackexchange.com/ ...
Gerrit De Vynck / Washington Post:
A preview of Gonzalez v. Google SCOTUS case and a look at the Israeli nonprofit Shurat HaDin that is arguing the case against Google at the February 21 hearing — Are tech companies liable when their algorithms recommend terrorist content? The Court's answer could upend the way the internet works.
Discussion:
David McCabe / New York Times: Supreme Court to Hear Case That Targets a Legal Shield of Tech Giants
Issie Lapowsky / Fast Company: The internet's Supreme Court showdown is here, and the stakes couldn't be higher
Emily Birnbaum / Bloomberg: Google's $168 Billion in Ad Revenue at Risk in Supreme Court Case
@washingtonpost: Are tech companies liable when their algorithms recommend terrorist content? The Court's answer could upend the way the internet works. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Mike Masnick / Techdirt: Next Week, The Supreme Court Could Destroy Everything Good About The Internet
Ian Millhiser / Vox: The Supreme Court hears two cases that could ruin the internet
Jeffrey M. McCall / The Hill: Supreme Court to wade into quagmire of internet regulation
Josh Richman / Electronic Frontier Foundation: Section 230 is On Trial. Here's What You Need to Know.
Andrew Chung / Reuters: As U.S. Supreme Court weighs YouTube's algorithms, ‘litigation minefield’ looms
Tristan Bove / Fortune: The Supreme Court is about to hear a case that could upend protections Big Tech has enjoyed for years—and the internet may never be the same
RELATED:
NBC News:
Biden and some GOP senators have formed a loose alliance in asking SCOTUS to change Section 230 protections when hearing Gonzalez v. Google on February 21
Biden and some GOP senators have formed a loose alliance in asking SCOTUS to change Section 230 protections when hearing Gonzalez v. Google on February 21
Discussion:
@eff: “The rhetoric is that these are bad powerful tech companies that are harming ordinary people & causing a lot of ... injustice,” EFF's @heylockthatdoor told @NBCNews. But if Section 230 is weakened, “you are going to end up harming those ordinary people.” https://www.nbcnews.com/...
Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life: The Supreme Court case on Section 230 shows the dysfunction of US politics. Democrats want it removed so social media companies can be sued into censoring more. Republicans want it removed so they can be sued into censoring less. Either way, users lose. https://www.nbcnews.com/...
Brian Fung / CNN: These 26 words ‘created the internet.’ Now the Supreme Court may be coming for them
John Eggerton / Next TV: Supreme Court Poised to Tackle Online Content Moderation
Hayden Vernon / The Guardian:
Puffin hired sensitivity readers to rewrite language the book publisher deems offensive, removing words like “fat” and “ugly” from Roald Dahl's children's books — Augustus Gloop now ‘enormous’ instead of ‘fat’, Mrs Twit no longer ‘ugly’ and Oompa Loompas are gender neutral
Discussion:
Washington Post, @suzannenossel, The National, National Review, @ankaman616, @incunabula, @salmanrushdie, Telegraph, Mediaite, @jason, @summeranne, @prisonplanet, @penamerica, @stphnmaher, Axios, @adamserwer, @luketurneresq, @mrlukowski, @jonostrower, @suzannenossel, @mattwalshblog, @stevesi, @andrewdoyle_com, @agordonreed, Deadline, @suzannenossel, @mrlukowski, CBS News, @sifill_, @jhweissmann, @julieroginsky, Just the Facts …, @mrlukowski, @mbrookerhk, @beebabs, @daveleedwnundr, Insider, Your Humble Narrator, @richardhanania, Variety, @lbc, @mattdpearce, @p_a_kirschner, @keitholbermann, @jonnelledge, @bill_gerrard, @adrian_hilton, @sarahw, @maxthegirl, @helenkennedy, @ethanhein, @seerutkchawla, @theabridgedzach, @millihill, @jackholmes0, @musicclerk, @lazlosghost, @af632, @stephenkb, The Wrap, @paulg, @bdstanley, @anitathetweeter, @katrosenfield, @stigabell, @amandadeibert, @donaldclarke63, @mrlukowski, @niall_gooch, @willardfoxton, @edcumming, @sarahinchis, @robpalkwriter, FirstFactCheck, Breitbart, @joannechocolat@mastodon …, The A.V. Club, Los Angeles Times, TMZ.com, New York Post, @freddytrannager@newsie.social, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, National Review and The Independent
Discussion:
Jennifer Hassan / Washington Post: Salman Rushdie calls revisions to Roald Dahl books ‘absurd censorship’
Suzanne Nossel / @suzannenossel: At @PENamerica we are alarmed at news of “hundreds of changes” to venerated works by @roald_dahl in a purported effort to scrub the books of that which might offend someone. 1/13 https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Razmig Bedirian / The National: Authors criticise Roald Dahl works being rewritten for sensitivity
Judson Berger / National Review: Roald Dahl Rewrites: When Surrendering Discretion to DEI Consultants Goes Wrong
Carl Anka / @ankaman616: The disclaimer Warner Bros runs before old Looney Tunes cartoons is a good starting point. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@incunabula: Roald Dahl - 2001 authorized Puffin edition vs 2022 authorized Puffin edition. https://telegraph.co.uk/... https://twitter.com/...
Salman Rushdie / @salmanrushdie: Roald Dahl was no angel but this is absurd censorship. Puffin Books and the Dahl estate should be ashamed. https://twitter.com/...
Telegraph: Roald Dahl goes PC in a world where no one is ‘fat’ and the Oompa-Loompas are gender neutral
Caleb Howe / Mediaite: Right, Left, and Media Reject What Salman Rushdie Calls ‘Absurd Censorship’ of Roald Dahl's Children's Books
@jason: So future generations are so fragile they can't read books with an understanding of the period in which they were written? Just to be extra safe, should we burn the old books? 🤦🏻♂️ https://twitter.com/...
Summer Anne Burton / @summeranne: Haven't seen a single person of any political leaning say the Roald Dahl edits are good. No one seems to have asked for this and it was executed abysmally. Genuinely baffled as to how they get through presumably a large number of reasonable people at Penguin?! https://twitter.com/...
Paul Joseph Watson / @prisonplanet: They're literally going back and sanitizing every Roald Dahl book ever written. Removing words, changing entire meanings. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ ...
@penamerica: .@SalmanRushdie calls revisions to Roald Dahl books ‘absurd censorship’ @SuzanneNossel wrote “literature is meant to be surprising and provocative” & that efforts to erase words that might cause offense only “dilute the power of storytelling.” Read free: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Stephen Maher / @stphnmaher: The impulse to tinker with these books is hard to understand. Will the world finally be perfect when children have been spared harsh words about wig wearing? https://twitter.com/...
Adam Serwer / @adamserwer: This is very stupid, aside from altering the meaning and nature of the work in question, part of learning is understanding context of the piece and when it was written https://twitter.com/...
Luke Turner / @luketurneresq: Part of what makes Dahl's books so powerful is that they're at times cruel and nasty, they act as literature that guides children into the adult world. I was aware of that at the time, they were quite daunting in their way - this editing is ludicrous https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
@mrlukowski: do you expect Netflix to fiercely stand by the integrity of Dahl's work no matter what, or do you expect them to try and make as much money out of it as they can
Jon Ostrower / @jonostrower: “If we start down the path of trying to correct for perceived slights instead of allowing readers to receive and react to books as written, we risk distorting the work of great authors and clouding the essential lens that literature offers on society.” https://twitter.com/...
Suzanne Nossel / @suzannenossel: Those who might cheer specific edits to Dahl's work should consider how the power to rewrite books might be used in the hands of those who do not share their values and sensibilities. 3/13
Matt Walsh / @mattwalshblog: Changing books to bring them in line with modern left wing sensibilities is far more insidious than simply banning them outright. I'd rather they ban Dahl's books (as insane as that would be) instead of posthumously baptizing him into the religion of wokeness. https://twitter.com/...
Steven Sinofsky / @stevesi: This reminds me of film colorization. What is art? Who can change it? And so on. We should be more concerned about a process like this applied to history, events, accounts, and people. Context matters. https://twitter.com/...
Andrew Doyle / @andrewdoyle_com: Roald Dahl's books have been censored in new editions by Puffin. These aren't Dahl's books. Buy the old versions. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Annette Gordon-Reed / @agordonreed: 1) When I was a kid, I used to love reading Dr. Dolittle books. I winced at some of the racist parts. Some years ago, the author's grandson authorized removing those parts, saying he knew his grandfather would think differently if he knew he was hurting people. https://twitter.com/...
Armando Tinoco / Deadline: Roald Dahl's Books Get Edited For Language Deemed Offensive; Words Like “Fat” & “Crazy” Removed
Suzanne Nossel / @suzannenossel: Amidst fierce battles against book bans and strictures on what can be taught and read, selective editing to make works of literature conform to particular sensibilities could represent a dangerous new weapon. 2/13
@mrlukowski: like I assume they probably haven't had time to be responsible for a root and branch overhaul of his work, but clearly bad shit is going to happen when you flog the copyright to problematic grandad's books to a streaming giant, maybe PEN need to worry about that sort of thing
Sherrilyn Ifill / @sifill_: “and some passages not written by Dahl have been added.” What on earth? https://twitter.com/...
Jordan Weissmann / @jhweissmann: I don't know — sanitizing books written by a proud, vocal antisemite who talked about his dislike of Jews into the 1990s just seems like a funny exercise to me https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Julie Roginsky / @julieroginsky: Can we please just leave books alone? They are meant to provoke, offend, comfort and provide a glimpse into all kinds of human nature. Stop altering them, banning them, messing with them. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Gerald Posner / Just the Facts with Gerald Posner: “Ugly” and “Fat” no Longer
@mrlukowski: my last last comment on Dahl is that it's extraordinary how little the fact that ‘his estate’ is now ‘Netflix’ seems to have concerned/registered with most of the people complaining about the changes to his books https://twitter.com/...
Matthew Brooker / @mbrookerhk: If anyone has a right to speak on the importance of free expression and artistic integrity in literature, it's this guy https://twitter.com/...
@beebabs: regardless of thoughts on the author himself, this is terrible for literature and defeats its purpose. https://twitter.com/...
Dave Lee / @daveleedwnundr: Roald Dahl wrote in extremities about extreme characters. He created a heightened reality where the truly bizarre were given life by exaggerated, grotesque words. A macabre world for the young. That's the point. These never harmed or offended anyone — this is no longer his art. https://twitter.com/...
Stephanie Stacey / Insider: Words including ‘fat,’ ‘ugly’ and ‘crazy’ have been removed from Roald Dahl's books, but the publisher said the ‘sharp-edged spirit’ of the original text has been maintained
Richard Hanania / @richardhanania: “In The Witches, a paragraph explaining that witches are bald beneath their wigs ends with the new line: ‘There are plenty of other reasons why women might wear wigs and there is certainly nothing wrong with that.’” https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Naman Ramachandran / Variety: Roald Dahl Publisher Edits ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ to Cut the Word ‘Fat’ for ‘Inclusion and Accessibility’
@lbc: Roald Dahl's children's books are being rewritten to remove language deemed offensive by the publisher Puffin. @AliMirajUK asks: Has the rooting out of potentially offensive language gone too far? https://twitter.com/...
@mattdpearce: Roald Dahl's books have been edited to stop calling people fat so much, plus other offensive things. This is being described as “woke.” I would reply that hardly anyone on here has read unfiltered Dahl, who has periodically needed, um, revision. https://www.latimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Paul A. Kirschner / @p_a_kirschner: WTF? Roald Dahl books rewritten to remove language deemed offensive Has @PuffinBooks gone off the deep end? https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Keith Olbermann / @keitholbermann: Where do I send in the letters Roald Dahl wrote me to get them sanitized for my protection? 🤦🏼♂️ https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Jonn Elledge / @jonnelledge: I've been going back and forward on the Roald Dahl thing, and have eventually settled on “it matters less whether it's good or bad than whether it's actually important, and, luckily, it isn't”. Basically, it's this, about how the “thin end of the wedge” is a stupid heuristic. https://twitter.com/...
William Gerrard / @bill_gerrard: “The BFG” no longer stands for the Big Fucking Giant, now it's the Big *Friendly* Giant...🤯 https://twitter.com/...
Adrian Hilton / @adrian_hilton: Just wait until these ‘sensitivity readers’ get to AA Milne, Beatrix Potter, CS Lewis, @jk_rowling, @DavidWalliams, Enid Blyton, JRR Tolkien, JM Barrie, Lewis Carroll... ‘Let me have men about me that are fat..’ (Julius Caesar Iii). https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ ...
Sarah Weinman / @sarahw: Trying to imagine sensitivity readers having a go at the Uncle Oswald stories, good luck to you all https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Max Weiss / @maxthegirl: Not a fan of this AT ALL. I always say, when it comes to works of art, put in a disclaimer, put in a series of “book club” questions about how language has evolved, but for God's sake, DON'T change the writing. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Helen Kennedy / @helenkennedy: Not on board. Not at all. This borders on sacrilege to me. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Dr Ethan Hein / @ethanhein: This is a tough one. My kids love Roald Dahl, warts and all, but I skip the racist jokes when I read them because little kids are impressionable and they repeat stuff. https://twitter.com/...
Seerut K. Chawla / @seerutkchawla: Did it ever occur to them that the offended can choose not to read the books, instead of taking the authoritarian step to alter the text of classic works of fiction? We have crossed over into full blown insanity. https://twitter.com/...
Zach Weissmueller / @theabridgedzach: Excuse my French, but, what the fuck is this shit? They are not only erasing and rewriting but even ADDING whole passages to an author's work in the name of “sensitivity.” https://twitter.com/...
@millihill: As a writer I don't feel great about the precedent set here - that my words are not my own. Clear boundaries needed - probably something that writers now need in their contracts. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ ...?
Jack Holmes / @jackholmes0: this is a bizarro corollary to DeSantis's book banning. both are predicated on the idea that children and teens will be Damaged if they are exposed to the wrong words. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Philip Clark / @musicclerk: Let's take the tritone out of Petrushka and ‘reimagine’ how Stravinsky's masterwork can speak to people's truths today #thepuppetlives https://twitter.com/...
William Friedkin Truths / @lazlosghost: Now that the Guardian has covered it, it's clear: these books exist in censored versions, and it's fucking terrible. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Stephen Bush / @stephenkb: Shameful. Roald Dahl should be rewritten by parents on the fly, like CS Lewis, not clumsily rewritten by the publisher like Enid Blyton: https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Joshua Vinson / The Wrap: Roald Dahl's Children's Books Rewritten to Remove Language Deemed Offensive
Paul Graham / @paulg: “Matilda reads Jane Austen rather than Rudyard Kipling, and a witch posing as ‘a cashier in a supermarket’ now works as ‘a top scientist’.” “The Big Friendly Giant in The BFG cannot wear a black cloak.” https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ ...
Ben Stanley / @bdstanley: Christ. It's fine to discuss Dahl's work in light of his antisemitism and misogyny. This sort of stuff is - aside from being a tin-eared assault on literature - just an absolute gift to those who don't even want us to discuss that. https://twitter.com/...
Anita Singh / @anitathetweeter: The thing that annoys me about the Roald Dahl changes is how stupid they are. A ban on the word “fat” yet keeping in the rest of the description in which Augustus Gloop is clearly fat https://twitter.com/...
Kat Rosenfield / @katrosenfield: This should be illegal https://twitter.com/...
Stig Abell / @stigabell: This change to Roald Dahl is so preposterously, laughably pointless it makes you wonder whether the publisher is aware that fiction is an act of creatively making things up. https://twitter.com/...
Amanda Deibert / @amandadeibert: This is a terrible precedent. Dahl was not a good guy. However, changing context and re-writing history is a terrible idea you can read about in Orwell... unless we re-write it. Don't read offensive books, or, if you must, add in footnotes to explain things that are wrong or bad https://twitter.com/...
@donaldclarke63: On that Dahl thing. You have to be fudging kidding? [Expletive bowdlerised in 2022] I *honestly* did think this one was a joke before checking. Oh we can't have the kids looking up the dodgy bits in Heart of Darkness. Utterly pathetic. https://twitter.com/...
@mrlukowski: strongly suspect this is a case of the Dahl estate watering him down in order to make themselves more money for longer rather than sensitivity readers leaping out of the trees and defacing his books https://twitter.com/...
@niall_gooch: Genuinely laughing out loud at some of these awful purse-lipped tin-eared changes to Roald Dahl. Hilariously terrible. https://twitter.com/...
Willard Foxton Todd / @willardfoxton: A ton of these Dahl changes are nothing to do with racism etc and everything to do with a classic bowdlerisation. You can very much argue Dahl with out all the grisly horror is deeply inauthentic; it's one the reasons they are so popular! https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Ed Cumming / @edcumming: Roald Dahl is being edited for modern sensitivities. Where do you draw the line? Glad to work on this with @genevieve_holl and @bsmithjourno and a great team across the paper https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ ...
Sarah D / @sarahinchis: Yes many of of the edits to Roald Dahl's books seem silly and frankly unnecessary. But those demanding that the books be returned to their original form may not realise that *this* is their original form: https://twitter.com/...
Rob Palk / @robpalkwriter: I think the problem with the change kids books when societal norms change argument is that Roald Dahl wasn't usually displaying unconscious bias etc. He was being a cunt on purpose and we should respect that
Jack Montgomery / Breitbart: Publisher Rewrites Passages in Roald Dahl's Books to Promote Feminism, Fight Fatphobia
Joanne Harris / @joannechocolat@mastodon.online: Lots of anger and misinformation about sensitivity readers from Certain People today. I wrote this last year. It still makes sense to me. https://www.tumblr.com/...
William Hughes / The A.V. Club: Fans react to publisher efforts to edit in a kinder, gentler Roald Dahl
Matt Pearce / Los Angeles Times: Roald Dahl's books have been edited to stop calling people fat so much
Rich Calder / New York Post: Children's author Roald Dahl's beloved books scrubbed by ‘sensitivity experts’
Freddy Tran Nager / @freddytrannager@newsie.social: @Mediagazer Will they find all the double-plus ungood words and sanitize them?
Jordan Hoffman / Vanity Fair: Roald Dahl's New Editions of ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, ‘James and the Giant Peach’ And Others Have Been Edited For Sensitivity
Daniel Kreps / Rolling Stone: Roald Dahl's Children's Books to Republish With Offensive Language Removed
Caroline Downey / National Review: Roald Dahl Goes Woke: Famous Children's Author's Books Heavily Altered by ‘Sensitivity Readers’
Maryam Zakir-Hussain / The Independent: Editors rewrite Roald Dahl's books to remove controversial language
Oliver Darcy / CNN:
Text messages and emails in the Dominion-Fox suit show that Fox News hosts and executives feared losing audience to Newsmax, which embraced election denialism — New York CNN — — Fox News has been exposed like never before. — A trove of newly-released text messages and emails …
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Atlantic, @timothydsnyder, @jayrosen_nyu, @jayrosen_nyu, @martina, @jayrosen_nyu, The Atlantic, @pithypacky, @gtconway3d, @timfullerton, @oliverdarcy, @jemelehill, @richsignorelli, @jmhaigh, @mattderienzo, @stephen_richer, @sarahlongwell25, @lindyli, @yappelbaum, @marshawarfield, @rachelbitecofer, @davidamoyal, @paulachertok, @deggans, @jysexton, @janeotn, @kazweida, @evanmcmurry, @nxthompson, @brianstelter, @brentnyt, @oliverdarcy, @chasten, @senwhitehouse, @scottlinnen, @rschooley, @brianros1, @kimmasters, NPR, Media Matters for America, Insider, Newser, New York Times, Politico and Associated Press
Discussion:
Brian Stelter / The Atlantic: I Never Truly Understood Fox News Until Now
Timothy Snyder / @timothydsnyder: It appears that Fox's heavy hitters knowingly spread Trump's Big Lie out of concern for the price of the company's stock. https://www.cnn.com/...
Jay Rosen / @jayrosen_nyu: The latest filing by Dominion Voting Systems in its defamation suit against Fox https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... nails something critics have long argued for. Fox is not a news organization. It's something else. But what is this thing? I will try to answer that. Next slide, please. 1/
Jay Rosen / @jayrosen_nyu: You're not a news organization if your audience's refusal to accept what happened prevents what happened from regularly airing as news. That should be obvious to all, but especially after Dominion's latest filing, which shows how thoroughly freaked out the top people were. 13/
Martina Navratilova / @martina: I lived through a lot of propaganda in them communist Czechoslovakia. But those guys had nothing on the propaganda that parades as news at @FoxNews . The fox guys have a choice. And they make the wrong choice every single time, every single day https://twitter.com/...
Jay Rosen / @jayrosen_nyu: Though it is styled as one, Fox is not a news organization. And it's not opinion, either. It is something else: Power formation by means of resentment news. But it doesn't always work. The crowd seethes back when the machine miscalculates, generating its own kind of power. 14/
Adam Serwer / The Atlantic: Why Fox News Lied to Its Viewers
@pithypacky: Let's be frank. Fox stars deliberately lied to their viewers hour after hour, day after day because they thought their viewers would abandon them for some other media outlet that was lying even worse. https://twitter.com/...
George Conway / @gtconway3d: “Carlson flagged Heinrich's tweet and told Hannity, ‘Please get her fired.’ Why? Because her minor Twitter fact-check of an out-of-control president was exactly the sort of thing that Fox's fan base could not stand to see.” https://twitter.com/...
Tim Fullerton / @timfullerton: Every American should read this story. Just absolute garbage coming from Fox and knowingly lying to their audience. They care more about money than democracy. Never let them forget it. https://twitter.com/...
Oliver Darcy / @oliverdarcy: One big takeaway from the Dominion bombshell filing: Fox News is terrified of its own audience. https://www.cnn.com/...
Jemele Hill / @jemelehill: I knew Fox News was terrible, but they are worse than anyone can imagine. They purposely misled and lied to their audience about the presidential election, and I hope Dominion Voting Systems gets every dime they're suing for https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...
Richard Signorelli / @richsignorelli: Anti-immigrant Murdoch is ironically one of the worst immigrants himself imo. The damage he's done to our democracy is significant. Now, Dominion will make him pay for his lies. Check out this gift article, at no cost to you. Read here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Jim Haigh / @jmhaigh: @mattderienzo Great question, Matt! Of any specific orgs, the group “Advancing the Future of Trusted Content” @DCNorg would have the strongest ethical spine. Has @jason_kint gone public yet — they're listed a member: https://digitalcontentnext.org/ ...
Matt DeRienzo / @mattderienzo: Wondering what leaders of journalism trade organizations and affinity groups are doing after this news. Why aren't we expelling Fox from membership and participation based on egregious and repeated rejection of the most basic industry standards and ethics? https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@stephen_richer: Just like many Arizona politicians, Fox News personalities privately called the stolen election theories: “complete bs” “off the rails” “nuts” But then @TuckerCarlson, @IngrahamAngle, @seanhannity parroted them publicly. They are lying to you. https://www.npr.org/...
Sarah Longwell / @sarahlongwell25: Fox News holds their audience in such contempt. https://twitter.com/...
Lindy Li / @lindyli: Tucker Carlson was more terrified of losing viewers and advertising revenue to Newsmax than he was of losing our hard-won republic to Trump's terrorist thugs He has forfeited everything it means to be American https://twitter.com/...
Yoni Appelbaum / @yappelbaum: “Somewhere around page 157, it clicked.” New, from @brianstelter: https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...
Marsha Warfield / @marshawarfield: We knew they were lying, they knew they were lying, and their viewers knew they were lying. They. Did. It. Anyway. https://www.cnn.com/...
Rachel Bitecofer / @rachelbitecofer: No other democracy would allow a propaganda outlet to intentionally poison its citizenry under the cover of ‘news.’ https://www.cnn.com/...
David Amoyal / @davidamoyal: Fox News is a cancer on America, they continued to spread doubts on last presidential election while knowing it was bullshit- there is now much more division in this country and less trust in institutions I hope Dominion lawsuit brings some real change on lying for profit https://twitter.com/...
@paulachertok: Foxnews is the propaganda arm of the Republican Party—w/o which it might be a normal democratic party accountable to the public. But Fox cynically chose to prop up GOP toxic lies & frauds, more worried about “brand damage” than the brain damage they cause the country & democracy. https://twitter.com/...
@deggans: Another argument Fox News Channel is a political operation disguised as a cable newschannel: material from the Dominion voting systems lawsuit — in which FNC's top anchors deride the election conspiracy theories they would push on air: https://www.npr.org/...
Jared Yates Sexton / @jysexton: GOP politics has always been a small group of elites with cosmopolitan traits and backgrounds radicalizing a base using racist, sexist, and xenophobic fearmongering. Power switched away from the traditional groups and to the base. And they hate it. https://twitter.com/...
@janeotn: “In the days after Biden won the election, while Trump shouted “Stop the Steal,” the most powerful people at Fox News were not concerned about the health of U.S. democracy. They were concerned about Fox's brand and their own bottom line.” Shut down Fox. https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...
Kaz Weida / @kazweida: This is spot on. “...despite privately acknowledging the realiity of the situation, the network allowed the lies on air, in large part because executives & hosts were terrified that telling its sizable audience the truth would prompt them to tune out.” https://www.cnn.com/...
Evan McMurry / @evanmcmurry: Great seeing @brianstelter in @TheAtlantic: “The consensus view both inside and outside the network was that Fox's acknowledgment of reality—and specifically its early projection that Biden had won Arizona—had turned the audience against the network.” https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...
@nxthompson: “Inside Fox, the prime-time stars and senior executives raged against the network's reporters not because they doubted that Biden had won, but because the truth was too disturbing to the audience that had made them rich.” @brianstelter https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...
Brian Stelter / @brianstelter: When Trump tried to start the steal by shouting “stop the steal,” the most powerful people at Fox News were not concerned about the health of U.S. democracy. They were concerned about Fox's brand and their own bottom lines. https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...
Brent Staples / @brentnyt: Call it by its rightful name https://www.cnn.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Oliver Darcy / @oliverdarcy: “Other sources at Fox told me to think of it not as a network per se, but as a profit machine. They feared doing anything that would disrupt the machine.” https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...
Chasten Buttigieg / @chasten: Misinformation is a threat to democracy, but unfortunately selling misinformation is more important to the people who profit from it. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Sheldon Whitehouse / @senwhitehouse: An honest courtroom is a beautiful thing. Litigation brought out the truths that FOX mouthpieces shared with each other while busily selling the lies on the air. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Scott Linnen / @scottlinnen: The people who brought us Charlottesville, Pittsburgh, El Paso, Capitol Hill, Buffalo, and Colorado Springs are terrified of the Frankenstein monster they've created. https://twitter.com/...
Brian Rosenwald / @brianros1: This goes for all of conservative media. They are worried about alienating the audience — especially over the last 15 years or so as competition has increased & they know their audience will get the most crazy hard right stuff whether they embrace it or not. https://twitter.com/...
David Folkenflik / NPR: Off the air, Fox News stars blasted the election fraud claims they peddled
Media Matters for America: Fox News lied about Dominion and the 2020 election to compete with far-right Newsmax
Sonam Sheth / Insider: Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham privately called Rudy Giuliani ‘an insane person’ and an ‘idiot’
Rob Quinn / Newser: In Private, Fox Stars Mocked Election Fraud Claims
New York Times: A court filing in the Dominion-Fox lawsuit shows more texts and emails from hosts and executives privately expressing disbelief about stolen US election claims
Rachael Bade / Politico: Fox's 2020 split screen revealed
Gary Baum / The Hollywood Reporter:
New York AG's November 2022 report details how former CBS CEO Leslie Moonves' trusted lieutenants worked to quash sexual misconduct claims to protect their boss — A recent investigation reveals the lengths to which the ex-CBS chief's cadre of C-suite insiders — some of whom remain with the company …
Discussion:
Nina Metz / @nina_metz: Btw: This is all based on a report from the NY Attorney General released FOUR MONTHS AGO I'm really glad THR did this. I remember outlets reporting on the settlement but not the ~details~ of the report. Why? That seems to be where we are with MeToo reporting these days https://twitter.com/...
Gary Baum / @garymbaum: All the CEO's Men: I took a look at how Les Moonves and his lieutenants sought to fend off one of his accusers. It's a case study in corporate complicity, control and cover-up. Some players are still there. CBS and Paramount Global wouldn't answer Q's. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ ...
Nina Metz / @nina_metz: “According to the AG report, two other top CBS executives used the unredacted police report to investigate Golden-Gottlieb's ‘personal circumstances and that of her family, including her children, her brother and her former spouse.’” https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ ...
Nina Metz / @nina_metz: This was literally published today: How Les Moonves and His CBS Loyalists Worked to Discredit Accuser: “It Was Sort of a Mafia Culture” Let's stop pretending sexual misconduct in Hollywood is/was only happening on set during the filming of love scenes https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ ...
Dánae Vílchez / Committee to Protect Journalists:
Q&A with Nicaragua's La Prensa publisher Juan Lorenzo Holmann, incarcerated in August 2021 and unexpectedly released and deported to the US on February 9, 2023 — Juan Lorenzo Holmann Chamorro was on the verge of sleep in his Nicaraguan jail cell when he was issued civilian clothes …
Discussion:
@gypsystrategy: “Juan Lorenzo Holmann Chamorro was on the verge of sleep in his Nicaraguan jail cell when he was issued civilian clothes, taken to the airport, and told to sign a handwritten document agreeing to be deported to the United States,” writes @DanaeVilchez https://cpj.org/...
@cpjamericas: “I don't feel totally free,” Nicaraguan @laprensa journalist Juan Lorenzo Holmann told @pressfreedom's @DanaeVilchez. “Because free would be if I could be in #Nicaragua, that's the real freedom.” Read the full interview: https://cpj.org/...
@pressfreedom: “No one can take away my Nicaraguan nationality. I am going to die, & I am going to continue being Nicaraguan.” @laprensa's Juan Lorenzo Holmann speaks with @CPJAmericas' @DanaeVilchez about the Nicaraguan government saying they took away his nationality. https://cpj.org/...
@pressfreedom: Juan Lorenzo Holmann was arrested shortly after becoming @laprensa's publisher. “When I made the decision to take the job, it was clear what I was doing. Not that my life was in danger, but [that] I was doing something that would put me in the spotlight.” https://cpj.org/...
Geneva Abdul / The Guardian:
London-based Iran International TV closes its London studio and will broadcast from Washington, DC, acting on advice from the UK police about threats from Iran — Iran International ‘reluctantly’ shuts London studios due to rising safety concerns for its journalists
Discussion:
@ramitanavai, Broadband TV News, @bbchamedani, @petertatchell, @omid_m, @ruslantrad, Associated Press, Deadline and CBS News
Discussion:
Ramita Navai / @ramitanavai: Journalists covering the Iranian uprising are not even safe in the UK - TV channel @IranIntl_En has been forced to move its operation to the US after threats from the Iranian regime made it too dangerous to continue. Extraordinary. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Julian Clover / Broadband TV News: Terror threat forces Persian channel to move from London to Washington DC
Ali Hamedani / @bbchamedani: “I cannot believe it has come to this. A foreign state has caused such a significant threat to the British public on British soil that we have to move,” said Mahmood Enayat, the station's general manager. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Peter Tatchell / @petertatchell: SHAME! @metpoliceuk fail to protect UK-based Iranian TV channel from terror threats by Tehran Now the channel must move to US due to rising safety concerns for its journalists Iranian embassy represents state terror! Close it down! https://www.theguardian.com/ ... @Voiceofiran_UK
Omid Memarian / @omid_m: “Acting on advice from the Met police, Iran International TV “reluctantly” closed its London studios after state-backed threats, a statement said, as safety concerns made it no longer possible to protect the channel's staff and the surrounding public.” https://theguardian.com/...
Ruslan Trad / @ruslantrad: Threats from Iran against journalists and activists abroad became so many and serious that the @IranIntl move its offices from the UK. M15 have foiled 15 Tehran plots since the start of 2022 to kidnap or kill British or UK-based individuals. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Issac J. Bailey / Nieman Reports:
The New York Times' response to criticism of its trans coverage reduced serious journalists to radical activists, a route too many outlets take when challenged — More than 1,000 Times contributors have sent an open letter asking for the paper of record to examine its biases in reporting on trans issues.
Discussion:
The Guardian, @sarahditum, @maria@thelife.boats, @dianagoetsch, @niemanreports, @autostraddle, @nancyromm, New York Post, @jeffjarvis, @bgrueskin, @amandabecker, @hillarykwiatek, @stevesilberman, @froomkin, @melissagira, @ijbailey, Media Matters for America, LGBTQ Nation, Fox News, @froomkin@journa.host and Newser
Discussion:
Arwa Mahdawi / The Guardian: The New York Times' trans coverage is under fire. The paper needs to listen
Sarah Ditum / @sarahditum: This is an embarrassing piece for any journalist to publish, never mind (as noted in the copy) to publish in the Guardian, which has its own known issue with writers using letter writing campaigns to divert coverage https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Maria Bustillos / @maria@thelife.boats: Just a relief and gratifying in every way to see journalists I most respect, like Arwa Mahdawi, weighing in on @tomscocca 's recent work on the Times's coverage of trans care — https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Diana Goetsch / @dianagoetsch: Smart piece by @ijbailey • “Times editors and reporters can't be so naïve as to believe their work hasn't contributed to what feels like a moral panic about trans people. I've felt a similar frustration with crime coverage.” https://nieman.harvard.edu/... via @Niemanfdn
@niemanreports: More than 1,000 Times contributors have sent an open letter asking for the paper of record to examine its biases in reporting on trans issues. The paper's response is part of the problem (by @ijbailey) https://niemanreports.org/...
@autostraddle: “What is missing in the pages of the great gray lady is not just important and necessary context, but competent and unbiased reporting.” https://www.autostraddle.com/ ...
Nancy Rommelmann / @nancyromm: Earlier this week, 200 New York Times contributors sent an open letter to the paper, excoriating its coverage on trans issues. GLAAD followed suit and made demands. The Times responded with a cool head. The end, right? @sarahhepola discuss on today's Smoke https://open.substack.com/...
Michael Goodwin / New York Post: Radical left turns on woke New York Times
Jeff Jarvis / @jeffjarvis: In a rare moment of media covering itself, here's the lead story on The Guardian right now (while everybody is *at last* covering the venality of Fox News, too)... Nearly 1,000 contributors protest New York Times' coverage of trans people https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Bill Grueskin / @bgrueskin: “The Times could have invited in some of its critics, to listen, learn, and have a substantive back-and-forth about an issue that is vexing many Americans. Instead, it took the route too many high-profile journalists take when challenged.” Via @ijbailey https://niemanreports.org/...
Amanda Becker / @amandabecker: The NYT had a chance to earnestly grapple with a serious critique of its trans coverage by a serious group of professionals, including journalists who contributed to the paper. Instead, it decided to demean them as activists. https://niemanreports.org/...
@hillarykwiatek: The comparison to crime coverage and Hillary Clinton's emails (remember the incredibly irresponsible Clinton Cash coverage?) in this piece is really spot on. https://niemanreports.org/...
Steve Silberman / @stevesilberman: Superb, informed reply to @nytimes' grotesque response to criticism of its coverage of #trans issues. https://niemanreports.org/...
@froomkin: This is a fantastic essay by @ijbailey. Here's the first paragraph: https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Melissa Gira Grant / @melissagira: “He could have saved a few words and just officially slurred them as ‘woke,’ because that's the way it comes across.” https://niemanreports.org/...
Vesper Henry / Media Matters for America: The New York Times rejects calls for accountability after letters suggest anti-trans bias at the paper of record
John Russell / LGBTQ Nation: Amy Schneider blasts New York Times' anti-transgender coverage as the paper defends JK Rowling
Brian Flood / Fox News: New York Times warns staffers to stop attacking each other in memo defending coverage of transgender issues
@froomkin@journa.host: This is a fantastic essay by @ijbailey. Here's the first paragraph: — RT @NiemanReports — More than 1,000 Times contributors have sent an open letter asking for the paper of record to examine its biases in reporting on trans issues. …
Kate Seamons / Newser: NYT Chides Journalists Who Faulted Paper's Trans Coverage