Top News:
Laura Bassett / Jezebel:
A gender fluid teen refutes parts of a Free Press story, including their mother's regrets over their use of a puberty blocker, and slams the reporting process — Bari Weiss' new outlet, the Free Press, reported that the teen's mother regrets approving puberty blockers. The teen says the story is full of misinformation.
Discussion:
@kattenbarge, @bariweiss, @sleepyoktobur, @sleepyoktobur, @sleepyoktobur, @aaronsibarium, @nkulw, @brotigupta, @samthielman, @xoxogossipgita, @cambrian_era, @allezlesboulez, @hoovlet, @nathanjrobinson, @nberlat, @owenjones84, @timfullerton, @ashtonpittman, @zunguzungu, @mattlech, @hawleymo, @benryanwriter, @jpbrammer, @michelemunz, @aridrennen, @nkulw, @discourse_blog, @loeybug, The Nation, @carolinerose79, @moiradonegan, @garylegum, @mobute, @erikmbaker, @mike_hixenbaugh, @xoxogossipgita, @politicalmath, @chrisgeidner, @benryanwriter, @benryanwriter, @sleepyoktobur, @sleepyoktobur, @sorayamcdonald, @benryanwriter, @moorehn, @soledadobrien, @sleepyoktobur, @lebassett, @feliciasonmez, @parkermolloy, @jbouie, @avishaiw, @dynamicsymmetry, The Daily Dot, @readingtheend, Advocate and The Free Press
Discussion:
Kat Tenbarge / @kattenbarge: As a journalist who often writes about teenagers — and can only print a sensitive interview with a minor with their parent's consent — if I had a parent tell me the story of their child's identity without including, let alone consulting, their child, that would be a red flag.
Bari Weiss / @bariweiss: Caroline was told that a puberty blocker would relieve her child's psychological distress. That's not what happened. More reporting from inside Washington University's Transgender Center by @EmilyYoffe : https://www.thefp.com/...
@sleepyoktobur: I have reinstalled Twitter to respond to this story and make sure my voice is fully heard. I am Casey. My real name is Alex but my mom decided it would be best to hide it for anonymity. But this is my story, not hers. This is not the free press's story. https://twitter.com/...
@sleepyoktobur: Upon interviewing Emily Yoffe myself I was told that I had no say in whether or not the article was published. I asked if my consent was required to publish the article and the reporter told me, “that's not how these things work.”
@sleepyoktobur: Speaking of mental health, the article claims that my mental health issues can be attributed to the Supprelin implant, however, my personal experience shows that this is not the case. Since Covid-19, my mental health has been declining, and it was already an issue.
Aaron Sibarium / @aaronsibarium: The thread—by someone with a vested interest in debunking the story—ends up corroborating the most important things in it, including the child's decline in mental health and the doctors' minatory invocation of suicide. https://twitter.com/...
Noah Kulwin / @nkulw: this kid is braver than bari weiss or emily yoffe ever could be https://twitter.com/...
Broti Gupta / @brotigupta: it's pathetic and so disgustingly hypocritical (what? bari weiss? no!) to see HOW MUCH the right wing “protect our children” crusaders are willing to risk trans kids' lives for their own transphobic agendas. emily yoffe and bari weiss should be so deeply ashamed of themselves https://twitter.com/...
@samthielman: I wonder if the @nytimes will see fit to stop assigning stories that follow Bari Weiss's reporting-shaped posts on her Substack now that vulnerable marginalized people are risking substantial harm to refute her endless mischaracterizations and elisions https://twitter.com/...
@xoxogossipgita: I had to issue a full correction, including a note in the headline, because I misidentified what parts of the UK the Pokémon game based on the country was supposed to resemble in a post about Pokémon memes. And these people just print lies about children! https://twitter.com/...
@cambrian_era: As a general rule something that should be a huge red flag with any of these stories is how they almost never allow the children themselves to speak. They center the fears of parents instead of the wellbeing of the child. https://twitter.com/...
@allezlesboulez: so the official Bari Weiss newsletter style guide is to misgender someone if their parent asks? https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Carole Hooven / @hoovlet: “'She said that if future fertility was a concern, we could...bank his sperm before the blocker went in,' Caroline said. She recalls wondering how she found herself in a conversation about banking sperm of her 14 year old.” @TheFP @EmilyYoffe https://www.thefp.com/...
Nathan J Robinson / @nathanjrobinson: One thing you'll notice about the transphobic pseudo-journalism fueling our present moral panic is that it rarely quotes the actual trans teens who are being discussed. This is almost certainly because their own view of events would be very different to their parents'. https://twitter.com/...
Noah Berlatsky / @nberlat: It sounds like emily yoffe and bari weiss deliberately set out to help a transphobic parent bully her child and deny that child medical care. this is not how ethical journalists operate. they also appear to have concealed the child's dissent from their narrative.
Owen Jones / @owenjones84: This devastating thread speaks to two truths: - The media are whipping up an anti-trans moral panic based on lies and distortions - Parents do not always know what is best for their children - and in some cases, the absolute opposite. https://twitter.com/...
Tim Fullerton / @timfullerton: The child of this mother has refuted most of this story - saying some are lies & others are out of context. Kind of weird that everything Bari does seems to have a lack of journalistic integrity. Guess that's what happens when you have an agenda and narrative you want to push. https://twitter.com/...
Ashton Pittman / @ashtonpittman: You can't blame Substack for Bari Weiss. She was allowed to spread her poison at the New York Times for years. She's a product of the mainstream media establishment, not some rogue aberration of unethical journalism. She may seem even worse now, but it was always there.
Aaron Bady / @zunguzungu: My expectations for Bari Weiss's journalism was pretty low, but the way Emily Yoffe just decided not to include the 16 year old kid's statement that their mother's account of the the 16 year old kid's experience was wrong, um, that's fucking insane and unethical?
Matt Lech / @mattlech: Bari Weiss and this whole crew are just inputs into this type of product. Simulated, controlled muckraking made to measure for GOP campaign propaganda. https://twitter.com/...
Josh Hawley / @hawleymo: A stunning, sickening new report on the Wash U transgender center. We must get the truth. And there must be accountability https://twitter.com/...
Benjamin Ryan / @benryanwriter: @aaronsibarium I have no vested interest in debunking the story. The question is one of journalistic ethics and of observing the wishes of a child not to have their personal life broadcast against their wishes.
Michele Munz / @michelemunz: This isn't journalism. This isn't reporting. The father wasn't interviewed. The teen did not corroborate their mom's statements. Only one anti-trans activist org that pushes misinformation was quoted. You mischaracterized stories by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. https://twitter.com/...
Ari Drennen / @aridrennen: Bari Weiss and Emily Yoffe pushed out a story claiming that puberty blockers provided by a Missouri gender clinic failed to relive a trans teenager's distress. The trans teenager in question says the story (which misgendered them throughout) was false https://www.dailydot.com/...
Noah Kulwin / @nkulw: This is so egregious because journalists are not supposed to show fucking drafts of their pieces to subjects of the article. Running quotes by people is fine, so is showing them sections for clarity, but sending a draft is something I literally got yelled at for when I was 21 https://twitter.com/...
@discourse_blog: like clockwork https://www.discourseblog.com/ ... https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@loeybug: Holy shit. The lack of journalistic integrity here is astounding. Talking about a trans minor's medical history, without their consent, and publishing total lies despite being told that they are lies. This is a child you fucking ghouls. @EmilyYoffe @TheFP @bariweiss https://twitter.com/...
Alessandra C. / The Nation: Being Openly Trans in High School Is Already Hard. Republicans Want to Make It Impossible.
Caroline Miller / @carolinerose79: @stokely_i @SleepyOktobur A reporter contacted me about my experience, after I had contacted an attorney. I gave an interview, she wrote a first draft, which I sent to Alex. There were things they wanted to address, so we all sat in a Zoom call - Emily, myself, and Alex - before it went to press.
Moira Donegan / @moiradonegan: Exploiting a teenager's mental health struggles to further a biased agenda, and then profiting off of the ensuing family dysfunction that plays out in public and gets salacious clicks ... Bari Weiss has kept her elite imprimatur of respectability, but this is Jerry Springer stuff. https://twitter.com/...
Gary Legum / @garylegum: What a fucking nightmare this is now getting played out publicly, congrats to Bari Weiss and Emily Yoffe on another ethically upstanding job. https://twitter.com/...
@mobute: I kinda admire Bari Weiss. She said, “Screw you, mainstream media. I'm going to make my own publication and run MY kind of stories: unremarkable, uninformed, unethical, fundamentally fraudulent, or some combination of those,” and by God she did it.
Erik Baker / @erikmbaker: It's interesting how years ago, when Bari Weiss and Emily Yoffe were still pretending to be reputable mainstream journalists, leftists claimed that they were profoundly evil people with profoundly evil intentions, and then that ended up being true. Not sure what to make of that
Mike Hixenbaugh / @mike_hixenbaugh: Some interesting journalism practices over at the Free Press. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@xoxogossipgita: Gamers will literally send you death threats for not knowing video game marginalia and Bari Weiss's newspaper prints articles about minors without their permission. Wild!
PoliMath / @politicalmath: On the one hand, there is this piece from @TheFP about a mother's anxiety over her son, who she feels was pushed into hormone blockers On the other hand there is this statement from the child /1 https://twitter.com/... https://www.thefp.com/...
@chrisgeidner: I am so angry right now. That a teen is having to defend themself against the harm that Bari Weiss has decided, along with so many others, to unleash upon young people who are just trying to find some peace in this world. You should all be ashamed.
Benjamin Ryan / @benryanwriter: The Free Press also appears to consistently misgender “Casey”, whose pronouns in their Twitter bio are she/they, referring to the child as he/him throughout. @SleepyOktobur https://twitter.com/...
Benjamin Ryan / @benryanwriter: The child whose treatment at the Washington University Transgender Clinic was just covered in @BariWeiss' The Free Press by @EmilyYoffe, excoriates the article. Alex—the child's real name—says the article was published without their input or consent, only their mother's. https://twitter.com/...
@sleepyoktobur: Dear Diary, Today, I successfully ratio'd Bari Weiss. It was terrifying and I was at risk of a lot of backlash. However, the fact that it happened is hilarious. I'm glad I got to share the real story, and I won't let anyone talk over me ever. Signed, Alex.
@sleepyoktobur: About a week ago my mom contacted @EmilyYoffe without my knowledge and told her what was supposed to be our story. She expressed her frustration with the transgender clinic at Washington University, many of which are false perceptions that my mom has about the doctors and clinic.
@sorayamcdonald: @SleepyOktobur I'm so sorry for everything you've been through, but especially the part that is simply because of journalists with shoddy ethics who did not listen to you and your attempts to communicate the truth to them. They do not represent our profession.
Benjamin Ryan / @benryanwriter: The ethics of writing about children, in particular about their mental health and medical histories, are much more intense, y'all. https://twitter.com/...
Heidi N. Moore / @moorehn: This is true and it's really revealing of how B a r i, T a i b b i etc really exploit their positions as pundits to completely evade the ethics of journalism. Being a trumped-up (literally) propagandist tends to confer journalistic credibility where reporting doesn't exist. https://twitter.com/...
Soledad O'Brien / @soledadobrien: This whole thread, young journos, is extremely important: https://twitter.com/...
@sleepyoktobur: I learned of this article through my mom over the phone when she asked if it was okay that @TheFP published the article. I said that I wanted to read it first. When I read the draft I was disgusted with what the reporter and my mom had made my experience out to be.
Laura Bassett / @lebassett: You may have seen the viral story Bari Weiss' “Free Press” published about a trans teen's mom regretting approving their puberty blockers. The teen has spoken out and said the story is full of misinformation and lacks their very different perspective: https://jezebel.com/...
Felicia Sonmez / @feliciasonmez: Emily Yoffe has a history of unethical professional behavior, and her actions have caused significant harm. I am sad angry to see that has done so once again. You should not have had to go through this, @SleepyOktobur. 1/ https://twitter.com/...
Parker Molloy / @parkermolloy: Bari Weiss is a monster https://twitter.com/...
@jbouie: if confirmed this is a pretty egregious breach of journalistic ethics but then we know that weiss is basically just running a propaganda rag https://twitter.com/...
@avishaiw: Now that I've taken the time to read the article Alex is correcting... blehhh Bari Weiss is an unethical journalist, huh. Cherry-picking accounts to bolster her preferred narrative, excluding the perspective of the true center of the story, all while misgendering from start to end https://twitter.com/...
Sunny Moraine / @dynamicsymmetry: Simultaneously absolutely buck wild and totally unsurprising that the actual mom replied to this thread with, basically, “I am uncomfortable when we are not about me?” https://twitter.com/...
Tricia Crimmins / The Daily Dot: EXCLUSIVE: ‘This is my story, not hers’: Teen says anti-trans article about their puberty blockers got facts wrong
Jenny Hamilton / @readingtheend: quite apart from all the other reasons I want to stomp on Emily Yoffe's head tonight, I read her terrible piece and she's just... straight-up lying about trans suicide rates. https://twitter.com/...
Christopher Wiggins / Advocate: Mom's Interview With Anti-Trans Media Draws Criticism After Teen Responds
Eleanor Hawkins / Axios:
Muck Rack, a database of journalists, launches PressPal, an AI tool that can draft press releases, scan for keywords, and recommend specific media targets — Muck Rack, the public relations tech company, is joining the artificial intelligence race. … - PressPal's pitch recommendations …
Discussion:
@asilbwrites, @rafat, Axios, @davidclinchnews, Quartz, Convince & Convert and Muck Rack
Discussion:
Amanda Silberling / @asilbwrites: Even without half-baked AI, every journalist I know already gets thousands of completely irrelevant press releases every month 🫠 https://www.axios.com/...
@rafat: I am 100% confident AI will do a better job than humans of targeting press releases. Have you seen how bad a job humans do of it, I mean it can't be any worse... Good going @gregory. https://www.axios.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Eleanor Hawkins / Axios: The public relations field grapples with AI
David Clinch / @davidclinchnews: AI-generated PR pitches targeting media lists mostly created via data scraped from the internet. There must be a better way for PR companies to reach journalists that will actually be interested in their pitches! https://twitter.com/...
Michelle Cheng / Quartz: Why Canva isn't describing its new AI tools as AI
Gini Roberts / Convince & Convert: AI in Marketing: 5 Things Every Leader Must Do
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
YouTube adds a Podcasts tab to channel pages globally, between Live and Playlists, on its website and mobile apps, showing playlists creators marked as podcasts — While we're still waiting for podcasts to widely roll out (in the US) to YouTube Music, YouTube has added a “Podcasts” tab to channel pages.
Discussion:
Glenn Gabe / @glenngabe: Run a podcast? -> YouTube channel pages add dedicated ‘Podcasts’ tab “In the main YouTube website & mobile apps, channel pages now feature a ‘Podcasts’ tab that appears between ‘Live’ & ‘Playlists.’ Google tells us that this is available globally.” https://9to5google.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Ray Schultz / MediaPost: YouTube Adds Podcasts Tab To Channel Pages
Michele Weldon / JAWS:
Alicia Shepard, the ombudsman for NPR from 2007 to 2011 and a journalist, author, academic, and advocate for ethical public journalism, died on April 1 at 69 — Alicia (Lisa) Shepard 1953-2023 — Award-winning journalist, author, academic and advocate for ethical public journalism …
Discussion:
@jilldlawrence, @hberkes, @jbenton, @micheleweldon, @hberkes, @ombudsman, @jilldlawrence, @ejgraff, @davidgura, @craigsilverman, @vivian and @indira_l
Discussion:
Jill Lawrence / @jilldlawrence: RIP Lisa Shepard, who spent her life advocating (and teaching and working) for ethical journalism and chose @Ombudsman as her handle here. There's a link to her good work, much of it for @usatodayopinion, at the end of this appreciation by @micheleweldon: https://jaws.org/...
Howard Berkes / @hberkes: A giant in journalism ethics and process has died. Former @NPRpubliceditor (then “ombudsman") Alicia “Lisa” Shepard was 69. She wrote about journalistic coverage of Watergate, 9/11, the SLC Olympics scandal, and more. Journalism has one less shining star. https://jaws.org/...
Joshua Benton / @jbenton: R.I.P. Lisa Shepard (@Ombudsman). We only met a couple times, but I've read a ton of her work. Her reporting on the news industry for AJR in the 1990s is some of the most useful from that era of journalism. It's all here: https://ajrarchive.org/... Obit: https://jaws.org/...
@micheleweldon: Grateful for every second with my dear friend. @ombudsman @theopedproject @womenjournos https://jaws.org/...
Howard Berkes / @hberkes: Alicia “Lisa” Shepard was the @NPRpubliceditor (then “Ombudsman") from 2008-2011. She was thoughtful & sharp in her analyses of @NPR journalism & management missteps. Lisa has died at age 69. Her final @NPR column from 2011 recalls her toughest critiques https://www.npr.org/...
@ombudsman: I'd rather look back at my life and say “I can't believe I did that,” instead of saying “I wish I did that.” // @ErikaFrantzve
Jill Lawrence / @jilldlawrence: I so wish @ombudsman were here to write about the obnoxious idiocy of Twitter labeling @npr “state-affiliated media,” i.e. propaganda. She would have had so much to say, about that and so much more. https://twitter.com/...
E.J. Graff / @ejgraff: Journalism has lost an extraordinary woman. Her friends have lost an extraordinary, critical, adventurous, wickedly funny friend. We're lucky we have known you, Lisa Shepard. https://jaws.org/...
David Gura / @davidgura: “Time is our big, precious, unrenewable resource.” Lisa Shepard, who was NPR's ombudsman from 2007 to 2011, has died from complications of lung cancer. https://jaws.org/...
Craig Silverman / @craigsilverman: Sad to see this. Lisa was very kind to me early in my career. Her book about Woodward and Bernstein is also a great read. RIP. https://twitter.com/...
Semafor:
Tests show that Twitter stopped showing “Stay informed” labels, added in February 2022 to flag tweets linking to Russia, China, and other state-controlled media — Twitter is no longer taking steps to limit the reach of Chinese and Russian state-controlled media outlets …
Discussion:
Mediaite, @christianjbdev, @joshrogin, @tomgrundy, @torriangray, @donmoyn, @paulachertok, @sawyerhackett, @chuckrossdc, @urocklive1 and @semafor, more at Techmeme »
Discussion:
Isaac Schorr / Mediaite: Twitter Ceases to Regulate Russian and Chinese State Media Accounts, Returns Request for Comment With Poop Emoji
@christianjbdev: Fits the general pattern of Elon doing little things to make authoritarian states happy. https://www.semafor.com/...
Josh Rogin / @joshrogin: .@semafor (which is partnered with Chinese state propaganda outlets) reports (disapprovingly) that Twitter is warming up to Chinese and Russian propaganda outlets. Pot meet kettle. https://www.semafor.com/...
Tom Grundy / @tomgrundy: 'Twitter is no longer taking steps to limit the reach of Chinese and Russian state-controlled media outlets, violating the social media platform's own stated policies.' (...and it has wrongly labelled NPR 'state-affiliated media') https://www.semafor.com/...
Jean-Michel Connard / @torriangray: Twitter is probably a bigger national security risk than TikTok, it's just a little less direct. https://twitter.com/...
Don Moynihan / @donmoyn: Turns out that twitter under Musk is *more* friendly to actual state controlled media https://www.semafor.com/...
@paulachertok: It's worse than this headline. Twitter is no longer enforcing its state-affiliated media policy. And its algorithm now *recommends autocrat govt-backed content. With no communications dept, an emailed request for comment returned an automated poop emoji. https://www.semafor.com/...
Sawyer Hackett / @sawyerhackett: Wow. The day after Twitter labeled NPR “US state-affiliated media,” we find out they've stopped limiting the reach of actual Russian and Chinese state media. The new policy violates Twitter's own stated policy. https://www.semafor.com/...
Chuck Ross / @chuckrossdc: Semafor, which is working with CCP front groups on a new journalism initiative, dings Twitter for not doing enough to curb Chinese state media https://twitter.com/...
@urocklive1: Please be sure and block both the Russian and Chinese state-controlled media accounts. You can still read their tweets with an extra click if you must. I've been debating whether Elmo is truly evil or just an idiot, but it's looking more and more like deliberately evil. https://twitter.com/...
RELATED:
Todd Spangler / Variety:
NPR CEO John Lansing says Twitter adding a “US state-affiliated media” label is “unacceptable”; less than 1% of NPR's annual budget on average is from US grants
NPR CEO John Lansing says Twitter adding a “US state-affiliated media” label is “unacceptable”; less than 1% of NPR's annual budget on average is from US grants
Discussion:
Axios, NPR, @digiphile, @dkthomp, Poynter, Washington Post, Associated Press, Inside Radio, Twitter Help Center, @senatormenendez, Quartz, @digiphile, @penamerica, @zaleskiluke, @digiphile, @richardgrenell, @alicefromqueens, @herecomesdrbob, @leilafadel, @nyhammond, @jackspeer1, @sethmacfarlane, @maxblumenthal, @ggreenwald, @teresaberkowitz, @wiczipedia, @taradublinrocks, @chipgoines, @prestonjbyrne, @saramorrison, @saramorrison, @leilafadel, @datnofact, @gwillowwilson, The Hill, @digiphile, @dangillmor@mastodon.social, @taylorbuley, @davidjoachim, New York Times, @stphnfwlr, Fortune, The Guardian, Forbes, Newser, Los Angeles Times and Fox News
Discussion:
Sara Fischer / Axios: NPR CEO blasts Twitter for “US state-affiliated media” label
Alex Howard / @digiphile: Every publisher & producer should reevaluate what @Twitter is now, not what it was. (I know I am.) The questions I posed to the @AP & @NPR: https://twitter.com/... aren't easy & will require changing a decade of behaviors for news media, but Musk shows no sign of changing course https://twitter.com/...
Derek Thompson / @dkthomp: This is just silly. If NPR receiving less than 1% of its revenue from federal government programs makes it “state-affiliated media,” does Tesla accepting a $465m loan from DOE and benefiting from EV consumer subsidies make it “state-affiliated enterprise”? https://twitter.com/...
Senator Bob Menendez / @senatormenendez: Twitter's decision to label @NPR as ‘state-affiliated media’ is dishonest & wrong. Putting it on equal footing with foreign propaganda outlets undermines confidence in an organization that's been dedicated to delivering the news to the public for decades. https://www.npr.org/...
Sofia Lotto Persio / Quartz: Twitter labeled NPR a “state-affiliated media” despite its guidelines clearly stating otherwise
Alex Howard / @digiphile: “State-financed media organizations with editorial independence, like... @NPR in the US for example, are not defined as state-affiliated media for...this @policy”-@TwitterSupport https://help.twitter.com/... Receiving CPB funding doesn't make an independent nonprofit “state-affiliated.” https://twitter.com/...
@penamerica: NPR protests as Twitter calls it ‘state-affiliated media.’ @LizWoolery, PEN America's digital policy leader, said Twitter's decision was “a dangerous move that could further undermine public confidence in reliable news sources.” https://abcnews.go.com/...
Alex Howard / @digiphile: 1000 to @viaCristiano for reporting on the impact of labeling @NPR: it's not just trolling. @Twitter's @policy states it “will not recommend or amplify” accounts that receive this label. Musk is boosting far-right influencers who pay him, & deprecating nonprofit journalism. https://twitter.com/...
Richard Grenell / @richardgrenell: Everyone knows @npr is US government funded. And if those are the @whca rules then @tamarakeithNPR should not have access if other government affiliated outlets aren't allowed. https://twitter.com/...
Alice / @alicefromqueens: The NPR thing is dumb but “state-affiliated” isn't a terribly unfair description of a lot of big corps, Tesla among them, Raytheon above all. https://twitter.com/...
Bob Hutton / @herecomesdrbob: If npr is “state-affiliated,” it's not because of funding so much as it is stuff like making an official edict (in 2009) that reporters couldn't refer to water-boarding as torture. https://twitter.com/...
Leila Fadel / @leilafadel: Interrupting my COVID recovery to retweet the wise @jackspeer1 https://twitter.com/...
Bill Hammond / @nyhammond: Tesla's Solar City subsidiary would be specifically “affiliated” with New York State, whose taxpayers ponied up $950M for its Buffalo factory https://buffalonews.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Jack Speer / @jackspeer1: As a journalist who works there can I just say, 😯 Respectfully @elonmusk is an idiot.@NPR has 3 sources of revenue, but direct government funding is NOT one of them! I have been in this business more than 35 years and have been “bought"by no one! https://twitter.com/...
Seth MacFarlane / @sethmacfarlane: [Removes glasses, rubs temples, sighs.] https://www.npr.org/...
Max Blumenthal / @maxblumenthal: NPR is not state affiliated media. Its US gov't-sponsored staff reliably transmits US gov't talking points about foreign governments the US gov't seek to topple through their own, independent initiative, without any collaboration with the US gov't. https://twitter.com/...
Glenn Greenwald / @ggreenwald: NPR has an article complaining that Twitter now characterizes it as “US state-affiliated media.” To prove that they are not, they cite the fact that WH Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre today “defended NPR's journalism.” Strange choice. https://www.npr.org/... https://twitter.com/...
Teresa Berkowitz / @teresaberkowitz: Downloaded the NPR app this afternoon. Here's their story on twitter's state affiliated designation. I have to work on breaking my Twitter habit and routines — at least when it comes to news. https://www.npr.org/...
Nina Jankowicz / @wiczipedia: I remember when Twitter introduced its state affiliated media policy; I thought it was extremely thoughtful. (It's rare for me to agree with these sorts of policies). Twitter giving NPR the same label as Russian propaganda is factually incorrect. https://www.npr.org/...
@taradublinrocks: Hey @elonmusk what's this"State-Affiliated Media" propaganda on @NPR's profile supposed to mean? It's not up to you to tell your users how to feel about the truth https://help.twitter.com/...
Chip Goines / @chipgoines: Not to mention Space X receiving billions in NASA & DOD contracts from the gov't. But no one ever calls them a “state-owned aerospace company”. https://twitter.com/...
Preston Byrne / @prestonjbyrne: Media that's substantially funded by the public sector is state-affiliated. Twitter should slap the label on the BBC, too. https://twitter.com/...
Sara Morrison / @saramorrison: if I was a media outlet re-assessing my relationship with Twitter and how something that is now subject to the whims of a moody billionaire shouldn't have become so causally woven into the infrastructure of journalism, I would maybe stop using it as a source. https://twitter.com/...
Sara Morrison / @saramorrison: look at NPR snitching on PBS! https://www.npr.org/... https://twitter.com/...
Leila Fadel / @leilafadel: “NPR stands for freedom of speech and holding the powerful accountable. It is unacceptable for Twitter to label us this way. A vigorous, vibrant free press is essential to the health of our democracy.” https://www.npr.org/...
G. Willow Wilson / @gwillowwilson: We have to get off this platform. https://www.npr.org/...
Alex Howard / @digiphile: @TwitterSupport ... In a statement on @Twitter's inaccurate label of @NPRNews, @NPR CEO @JohnLansing pointed out that Twitter's own guidelines for “State-affiliated media” “make it clear” the label does not apply to NPR: “It is unacceptable for Twitter to label us this way.” https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Dan Gillmor / @dangillmor@mastodon.social: The kindest word I can come up with to describe NPR's response to Musk's visceral demonstration of contempt is — feeble. — But remember, NPR did more than almost any other major news organization to normalize extremism after the 2016 election …
Tay Buley / @taylorbuley: I would give up that 1% if it caused me so much grief https://twitter.com/...
David S. Joachim / @davidjoachim: John Lansing, CEO of @NPR: “We were disturbed to see last night that Twitter has labeled NPR as ‘state-affiliated media,’ a description that, per Twitter's own guidelines, does not apply to NPR.” https://variety.com/... @johnlansing @xpangler https://twitter.com/...
Stephen Fowler / @stphnfwlr: NPR gets ~2% of its money from federal grants, a few million dollars, and it's editorially independent. Also, an outlet like Voice of America is literally US-funded media and has no label. It's not about facts, it's just capitalizing on poor media literacy to prove a point. https://twitter.com/...
Johana Bhuiyan / The Guardian: NPR pushes back after Twitter designates it as ‘state-affiliated media’
Matt Novak / Forbes:
Twitter adds a “US state-affiliated media” label to NPR's account, seemingly contradicting Twitter's previous policy that used NPR as an example of an exception
Twitter adds a “US state-affiliated media” label to NPR's account, seemingly contradicting Twitter's previous policy that used NPR as an example of an exception
Discussion:
@davidgura, Techdirt, Washington Post, @lourdesgnavarro, Mediaite, @paleofuture, @sifill_, @anthony, @benpauker, USA Today, Poynter, The Wrap, @emptywheel, @hashtaggriswold, Raw Story, American Press Institute, @zaleskiluke, MediaPost, @digiphile, RADIO ONLINE, AllAccess.com, @caitoz, @niemanlab, @althomelandsec, @jimlaporta, @lrozen, WGN-TV, Boing Boing, @jbenton, @ngrossman81, @benpauker, @helenkennedy, @mikeisaac, @ryanjhaas, @hashtaggriswold, @andybxxx, @maustermuhle, @kaivanshroff, @jsrailton, @davidrlurie, @rmac18, @defensebaron, @davidweastburn, @pt, @abbydphillip, @kevincollier, @maxwelltani, @nicoleperlroth, @cwarzel, @dhiott, @brianklaas, @jadler1969, @petestrzok, @petestrzok, @lanceulanoff, @ajdelgado13, @digiphile, @dougsaunders, @ambermac, @tculpan, @dougsaunders, @ishaantharoor, @digiphile, @muna_mire, @derjarjour, @mattholt33, @mediaevan, @mattgertz, @unbranded63, @pandasandvidya, @philippmarkolin, CNN, @notbenfish, @jeffbradynews, @cszabla, @donmoyn, @erinhale, @donmoyn, @wil_da_beast630, @paleofuture, @melissakchan, @paleofuture, @stillgray, @chenweihua, @alx, @ichbinilya, @kevin_maguire, Fox News, Insider, TechCrunch, Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, @joshsternberg@mstdn.social, Engadget and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »
Discussion:
David Gura / @davidgura: Yesterday, @elonmusk's Twitter labeled NPR “state-affiliated media,” even though the company's own policy stated the organization shouldn't be labeled as such because it has editorial independence (left). Hours later, Twitter removed the reference to NPR in the policy (right). https://twitter.com/...
Mike Masnick / Techdirt: NPR Was Twitter's Example Of What Should NOT Be Labeled ‘State-Affiliated Media.’ Then Musk Added The Label And Retconned The Policy
Lulu / @lourdesgnavarro: NPR is not state affiliated media. It is public media. The NYT is not propaganda. It is the most robust news organization in the English speaking world. The bias as to who is being targeted on this site by its leadership is so very clear. And it's not a small thing. https://twitter.com/...
Tommy Christopher / Mediaite: Jean-Pierre Defends NPR When Asked About Twitter Putting In ‘Same Category As Russia Today Or Chinese Media’
Matt Novak / @paleofuture: Elon Musk's Twitter has added a label to NPR listing it as “state-affiliate media,” putting it on par with Russia's RT and China's Xinhua https://www.forbes.com/...
Sherrilyn Ifill / @sifill_: This is an absolute disgrace and slander. Musk grows more authoritarian by the day. https://twitter.com/...
Anthony DeRosa / @anthony: Labeling @NPR as “state affiliated media” doesn't even follow Twitter's own guidelines. https://twitter.com/...
Ben Pauker / @benpauker: Twitter branding @NPR “state-affiliated media” literally conflicts with its own policy: “State-financed media organizations with editorial independence, like the BBC in the UK or NPR in the US for example, are not defined as state-affiliated media...” 🤯 https://help.twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Wyatte Grantham-Philips / USA Today: ‘Unacceptable’: NPR pushes back after Twitter labels it ‘state-affiliated media’
Kelly McBride / Poynter: Everything about Twitter is meaningless
Eileen AJ Connelly / The Wrap: NPR Protests Twitter for Labeling Its Account ‘State-Affiliated Media’: ‘It Is Unacceptable’
@emptywheel: .@mmasnick busts Twitter for changing their state affiliated media account policy only AFTER labeling NPR as one. https://www.techdirt.com/...
Alex Griswold / @hashtaggriswold: Twitter appears to have seen this tweet and responded by editing its guidelines to omit NPR https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
American Press Institute: Need to Know: April 6, 2023 — OFF THE TOP — You might have heard: Twitter strikes …
Luke Zaleski / @zaleskiluke: The level of uniform gaslighting, rewriting of history, and blanketing of social media we're enduring currently from republicans and musk is unprecedented in the modern world. Mao would be impressed. They are manufacturing a fake reality built of pure propaganda and conspiracies. https://twitter.com/...
Colin Kirkland / MediaPost: Twitter Labels NPR ‘State-Affiliated Media,’ NPR Fights Back
Alex Howard / @digiphile: As @mmasnick notes, Musk abused his power “to arbitrarily ignore @Twitter's own rules so that he can do one of his stupid jokes, smugly insisting that @NPR is no different than, say, Chinese state-affiliated media” & then retroactively changed the @policy https://www.techdirt.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Perry Michael Simon / AllAccess.com: NPR Battles Twitter Over ‘State-Affiliated Media’ Tag
Caitlin Johnstone / @caitoz: This is true it has been Twitter's policy not to label NPR “state-affiliated media”, but that policy was always stupid for the reasons outlined above. Anyway Twitter has now edited that policy, while hilariously still claiming the BBC is not state media. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@niemanlab: “US state-funded rockets” “US state-subsidized automaker” “US state-funded digger” https://www.niemanlab.org/...
@althomelandsec: If @NPR is state-affiliated media, Twitter is also a state-affiliated media company. https://twitter.com/...
Jim LaPorta / @jimlaporta: True but also @starsandstripes has editorial independence from the Defense Department https://twitter.com/...
Laura Rozen / @lrozen: As a friend notes, Musk takes way more US government money than NPR does. https://twitter.com/...
Jason Weisberger / Boing Boing: Twitter re-labels NPR as ‘state-affiliated media’
Joshua Benton / @jbenton: New by me —> If Elon Musk wants to label @NPR as “state-affiliated media,” there might be some other labels that need applying https://www.niemanlab.org/...
Nicholas Grossman / @ngrossman81: Labeling NPR “state-affiliate media” is dumb, even dumber to change Twitter's rules to do it—too low a percentage of NPR's funding is from govt—and the effect will be weakening the label for actual propaganda outlets. But it's in private-company-makes-its-own- policies territory. https://twitter.com/...
Ben Pauker / @benpauker: Twitter edited and removed @NPR from its policy as an example of an editorially independent “state-affiliated” media organization. By now tagging NPR as such “Twitter will not recommend or amplify accounts or their Tweets with these labels to people.” https://help.twitter.com/...
Helen Kennedy / @helenkennedy: Musk had to change Twitter's own guidelines to slap a state media label on NPR. His petty war on respected outlets that don't lionize him continues after he stripped the NYT of verification. https://twitter.com/...
Rat King / @mikeisaac: good @mmasnick on T&S policies at Twitter pre vs post acquisition https://www.techdirt.com/...
Ryan Haas / @ryanjhaas: People with political brain worms are frequently mad that public media is actually funded overwhelmingly by local communities and not massive corporations. You can join the “state-affiliated media” by becoming a member of your local public station. https://give.opb.org/opb/ https://twitter.com/...
Alex Griswold / @hashtaggriswold: They... ARE “connected.” Bit weird to pretend otherwise. https://twitter.com/...
Andy Boreham / @andybxxx: NPR, like other US state-affiliated media, completely ignored Nord Stream after it was blown up in an act of war, all at the behest of their masters in Washington. And people are still arguing they have “editorial independence.” https://twitter.com/...
Martin Austermuhle / @maustermuhle: NPR is no more “state-affiliated media” than Tesla is a state-affiliated car company because it has accepted government subsidies. https://twitter.com/...
Kaivan Shroff / @kaivanshroff: Truly insane. Elon Musk's Twitter has labeled NPR as “state-affiliated media” a label it places on Chinese/Russian propaganda outlets. NPR gets less than 1% of its funding from the federal government and it's content is in no way controlled by the government. https://twitter.com/...
John Scott-Railton / @jsrailton: Kevin is right, I believe that the false equivalency is the goal. https://twitter.com/...
@davidrlurie: @NPR may have a cause of action for defamation here. Twitter is assigning a designation to NPR that it knows, and indeed until yesterday acknowledged to be, false. As Twitter knows, however, media companies are loath to bring such suits. https://twitter.com/...
@rmac18: makes me wonder what NPR is planning to report on Musk or his companies https://twitter.com/...
Kevin Baron / @defensebaron: Proof Elon Musk is pushing his agenda? @NPR gets labeled “state-affiliated media” which is bogus. @starsandstripes, which is actually owned by the US government, is ignored. https://twitter.com/...
David W. Eastburn / @davidweastburn: @DefenseBaron ... I'll just put this right here... https://twitter.com/...
Parker / @pt: I'm skeptical people are really going to start assuming RT is on the level of NPR, but I do hope whatever mind virus Elon has contracted is curable, because the chaos he's continually introducing to this website is not enjoyable. https://twitter.com/...
Abby D. Phillip / @abbydphillip: This is very problematic and as others have pointed out, goes against even Twitter's guidelines on this. https://twitter.com/...
Kevin Collier / @kevincollier: When Facebook and Twitter brought out state-affiliated media tags, they did a great job defining it: when an outlet's editorial control comes from a state. That's RT, Sputnik, China Daily. Not NPR. This equates democratic-funded reporting with literal authoritarian propaganda. https://twitter.com/...
Max Tani / @maxwelltani: NPR president and CEO John Lansing says in a statement that it is “unacceptable for Twitter to label us this way.” https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Nicole Perlroth / @nicoleperlroth: Well put. I can also assure @elonmusk that then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo did not consider @npr “state affiliated media” when he lost his mind at @NPRKelly https://twitter.com/...
Charlie Warzel / @cwarzel: nothing musk does is surprising if you view it through this framework https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Debbie Hiott / @dhiott: The government isn't paying for @NPR, you are, through member station fees from stations like @KUT. Feel free to stick it to the Man, @elonmusk, by making your contribution at https://donate.kut.org/ https://twitter.com/...
Brian Klaas / @brianklaas: Is Musk doing this because Russia/China complain their state media outlets get this label (because they're editorially controlled by despots)? I don't know, but these are the issues that come up when a Russia apologist billionaire with economic interests in China is in charge. https://twitter.com/...
Jonathan H. Adler / @jadler1969: Funding numbers aren't quite right, but this decision by Twitter is indefensible. https://twitter.com/...
Pete Strzok / @petestrzok: Btw, here's Twitter's definition of “state affiliated media.” Note the emphasis on editorial independence. If the BBC isn't “state-affiliated media,” I don't see how you can argue NPR is. https://help.twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Pete Strzok / @petestrzok: This not only harms NPR, it helps state-owned propaganda outlets around the world. NPR is demonstrably unlike RT or Xinhua - but like-labeling confers its legitimacy to them. https://twitter.com/...
Lance Ulanoff / @lanceulanoff: I don't get this. @NPR is no more “US-state affiliated” than, say, @PBS, which does not have that label. PBS gets some (not much, always falling) gov't funding. NPR doesn't even get direct funding (some small indirect). https://twitter.com/...
A.J. Delgado / @ajdelgado13: Disgusting. What a clown. https://twitter.com/...
Alex Howard / @digiphile: Under Musk, @NPRNews has been falsely labeled as state-affiliated media. (No government entity has control of @NPR, @TwitterSupport.) Tweeting insults, suspending journalists, unverifying @nytimes, & now adding a false label to NPR shows a much deeper animus towards the press. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Doug Saunders / @dougsaunders: The distinction between state and public media is well defined in a document known as... Twitter'a own policy https://twitter.com/...
Amber Mac / @ambermac: Is there a word for someone who constantly creates new easy problems instead of fixing ongoing hard problems? https://twitter.com/...
Tim Culpan / @tculpan: Over the past three years, @tesla received over $200 million in government grants That's ~10x what @npr received So, State-affiliation is in the eye of the beholder? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ https://twitter.com/...
Doug Saunders / @dougsaunders: Under this logic, Tesla would have to be labelled a “state-affiliated car company” in its tweets https://twitter.com/...
Ishaan Tharoor / @ishaantharoor: 90 percent of the reason why Elon Musk spent $44 billion to takeover Twitter was to do precisely these sort of things, grinding the ideological axe of his authoritarian-curious tech libertarian friends and their far-right followers https://twitter.com/...
Alex Howard / @digiphile: Musk's anti-media animus made labeling worse. @NPR is an independent nonprofit news outlet: https://www.npr.org/... @NPRNews is not “state media.” @VOANews IS — but VOA accounts are not labeled. Adding this label to NPR is capricious, biased, & wrong: https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Muna / @muna_mire: Again, this is a direct result of legacy media giving credence and cover to the right. At this point you're doing a disservice to your readers and your own brand under the auspices of objectivity https://twitter.com/...
Michaël Jarjour / @derjarjour: Labeling NPR the same as RT is dangerous and misleading. There are a few people at Twitter left who know this and I hope they speak up. https://twitter.com/...
Matt Holt / @mattholt33: The actual state-sponsored US media organization doesn't have the same marking as NPR. It's just so transparent what Elon is doing here and it's garbage https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Evan DeSimone / @mediaevan: Treating NPR like it was RT or Xinhua does nothing but further diminish the value of Twitter's various internal labels and flags. https://www.forbes.com/...
Matthew Gertz / @mattgertz: I bet this is more about cozying up to China than it is about NPR. https://twitter.com/...
@unbranded63: Musk will throw the same label on the BBC and the CBC next. Fascism is slow but steady. https://twitter.com/...
Philipp Markolin / @philippmarkolin: These are the subtle (and not do subtle) changes you expect to see from an anti-democratic platform. Words have meaning, intentional conflation and decontextualization serves only one group: autocrats who aim to control, manipulate & break the norms that hold together democracies https://twitter.com/...
Big East Legitimist / @notbenfish: we did it whataboutismbros https://twitter.com/...
Jeff Brady / @jeffbradynews: Uh, no... https://twitter.com/...
@cszabla: “Twitter responded to a request for comment late Tuesday with a poop emoji, an automated response set up by CEO Elon Musk.” https://www.forbes.com/...
Don Moynihan / @donmoyn: Musk labeling NPR as “state-affiliate media” is another example of how Twitter used to have reasonably sensible and transparent policies which are now being rewritten in obviously nonsensical ways to fit with the whims of its owner. https://www.forbes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Erin Hale / @erinhale: State-affiliated media is not the same thing as publicly funded media. NPR, AFP, BBC, PBS all get funding from their governments but maintain editorial independence. https://twitter.com/...
Don Moynihan / @donmoyn: BBC gets about 70% of its funding from the government (via license fees), NPR gets about 1-2%. Former is not listed as state-affiliate media, but NPR is. Along with deverifying NY Times, illustrates how Musk is the one running a propaganda outfit to fit with his political views. https://twitter.com/...
@wil_da_beast630: Sounds utterly correct. It's a hyper partisan network literally 70+% funded by the US government. https://twitter.com/...
Matt Novak / @paleofuture: Twitter's own guidelines previously explained NPR didn't get a label because it had editorial independence from the government. https://twitter.com/...
Melissa Chan / @melissakchan: Twitter labeling NPR “state-affiliated media” is terrible false equivalence to propaganda outlets like China's Xinhua or Russia Today. NPR gets ~1-2% funding f/ the federal government and has editorial independence. Xinhua denies a war in Ukraine and detention camps in Xinjiang.
Matt Novak / @paleofuture: But those guidelines were changed at some point Tuesday, scrapping NPR as an example. https://twitter.com/...
Ian Miles Cheong / @stillgray: Twitter has now correctly branded NPR as US state-affiliated media. It is an accurate description. https://twitter.com/...
@chenweihua: Elon Musk is now listing NPR as US state affiliated media. Good😂. But the hardcore US govt propaganda VOA is not listed. What is happening???? https://twitter.com/...
Ilya Lozovsky / @ichbinilya: A worldview that equates outlets like RT and NPR is essentially saying that there's no such thing as non-propagandistic public media outlet. It's the same worldview you hear from authoritarians the world over. https://twitter.com/...
Kevin Maguire / @kevin_maguire: Toytown tyrant Musk reminds me of a kid banging a biscuit tin with a rattle. https://twitter.com/...
Britney Nguyen / Insider: Twitter labeled NPR as a ‘state-affiliated media’ and scrubbed its name from a policy page that contradicted the move
Taylor Hatmaker / TechCrunch: Twitter singles NPR out with misleading state-backed media label
Alyssa Lukpat / Wall Street Journal: NPR Criticizes Twitter for Labeling Its Account as ‘State-Affiliated Media’
Charlotte Klein / Vanity Fair: Twitter Labeling NPR as “State-Affiliated Media” Goes Against its Own Definition of State Media
Josh Sternberg / @joshsternberg@mstdn.social: “You know, like China Cyberspace, the magazine run by the chief internet censorship agency in China, which Musk penned a column for. Because Musk seems to have no problem with actual state-affiliated media that works in his personal interests …
Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
India amends its IT law to ban social media platforms from hosting “misleading” content about the government and requiring that they use its fact-check unit — India amended its IT law on Thursday to prohibit Facebook, Twitter and other social media firms from publishing …
Discussion:
Matt Navarra / @mattnavarra: India amends law to prohibit Facebook, Twitter from hosting or sharing false or misleading info about “ANY business” of the government AND They're required to rely on the Government's own fact-checkers to determine the authenticity of any claim 🤔 https://techcrunch.com/...
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
New National Enquirer Publisher Ted Farnsworth says the tabloid no longer uses “catch and kill” tactics to buy and bury unsavory stories about powerful people — “Catch and Kill,” the tactic of buying and burying stories at the heart of the case against former President Trump …
Discussion:
@official_mrric: $BBIG Fraudsworth received a shipment. Whatever you're looking for Ted that you think will gain you power and money will be short lived. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@retailrudy: $bbig Icon publishing the “new owner”. Paid for by Vinco Ventures shareholders money w out a required vote. The crimes continue. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@letsbounceback_: If you cannot read the NY Times article where Ted Fraudsworth gave another interview, here are the screenshots in order. $BBIG #BBIG Link: https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Christopher Grimes / Financial Times: David Pecker: publisher who made a Trump fanzine of the National Enquirer
@jimrutenberg: New National Enquirer publisher disavows the practice of “catch & kill,” says he didn't receive compromising Trump info in the truckload of files that came with the purchase of the tabloid at the center of Trump's New York indictment @BenMullin https://www.nytimes.com/...
Ben Mullin / @benmullin: “From the vaults of The National Enquirer, did Elvis really die in the mansion or did he die in a hotel in Mississippi?” The tabloid at the center of the Donald Trump hush-money scandal is plotting a new course that runs through Hollywood. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Margaret Sullivan / The Guardian: Trump, the ultimate media manipulator, may finally pay the price for his tactics
Ben Mullin / @benmullin: New: The National Enquirer's new owner signed for boxes of records delivered by an 18-wheeler earlier this year. But he said the delivery didn't include the sought-after “safe” that was alleged to contain “dirt” about former President Trump. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Ann M. Simmons / Wall Street Journal:
Moscow's City Court plans to hear an appeal on April 18 from lawyers for Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is being held on spying accusations — A Moscow court will hear an appeal on April 18 that could decide where he is held or grant him bail
Washington Post:
Study: ChatGPT cited nonexistent Washington Post, Miami Herald, and Los Angeles Times articles and fabricated a sexual harassment story about a law professor — The AI chatbot can misrepresent key facts with great flourish, even citing a fake Washington Post article as evidence
Discussion:
TechCrunch, JONATHAN TURLEY, @willoremus, Reuters, Ars Technica, Insider, @rorystewartuk, @thetattooedprof, @ihnatko, @cagoldberglaw, @casmudde, @carnage4life, @jonathanturley, @gilliantett, @max_oikonomikos, @random_walker, MediaNama, @jeffjarvis, @smtuffy, @fabiochiusi, @maxkennerly, The Information, @calamur, @jgarzik, @bfriedmandc, @shannonvallor, @rking618, @daveyalba, @dnbrgr, @lizhighleyman, @garymarcus, @sarahscire, @kevinschawinski, @jamesfrye, @scottmccloud, @garymarcus, @lyalindotcom, @dancow, @gregpak, @willoremus, @parismarx, @profdaveandress, @fordm, @2020science, @pranshuverma_ and Reason, more at Techmeme »
Discussion:
Devin Coldewey / TechCrunch: Can AI commit libel? We're about to find out
JONATHAN TURLEY: Defamed by ChatGPT: My Own Bizarre Experience with Artificiality of “Artificial Intelligence”
Will Oremus / @willoremus: Asked for examples of sexual harassment at law schools, ChatGPT named a GW prof accused of touching a student on a class trip to Alaska, citing a WashPost story. The prof is real. The rest was made up. We wrote about what happens when AIs lie about you: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Byron Kaye / Reuters: Australian mayor readies world's first defamation lawsuit over ChatGPT content
Aaron Mok / Insider: ChatGPT reportedly made up sexual harassment allegations against a prominent lawyer
Rory Stewart / @rorystewartuk: ChatGPT lies about real people. What happens next? https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Kevin Gannon / @thetattooedprof: Thread. Reminder that these programs are not “intelligent,” but rather pattern-recognition tools that can look very quickly through insane amounts of data and replicate the tendencies and combinations they see most frequently. “AI” is a misnomer. https://twitter.com/...
Andy Ihnatko / @ihnatko: This echoes what I (and surely everyone else) have found out about chatbots. Often, they're not just wrong; they'll flat-out lie to convince me of a “fact.” Bard & ChatGPT have frequently backed up a bogus fact with a newspaper article that doesn't exist. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Carrie Goldberg / @cagoldberglaw: Hope ChatGPT disclosed to its investors just how SWAMPED it's gonna be in litigation. . . https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@casmudde: Terrifying & frustrating. ChatGPT is clearly still in the developing stage so why is it already publicly available? It should be tested and developed privately. And why is no one legally responsible for it? With any other product this would be the case. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life: Here's some crazy 💩 a chatbot said still doing numbers for the tech press as the go to low effort but high clickbait story template. It's totally ousted the former top performing story format of here's some content a social media app didn't ban. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Jonathan Turley / @jonathanturley: Yesterday, President Joe Biden declared that “it remains to be seen” whether Artificial Intelligence (AI) is “dangerous.” I would beg to differ...https://jonathanturley.org/ ...
Max Weber / @max_oikonomikos: Can't wait for BloombergGPT to generate false negative market sentiment based on funny tweets https://twitter.com/...
Arvind Narayanan / @random_walker: Automated defamation by chatbots is, obviously, bad. What's worse is when search engine chatbots do it — when they summarize real articles and still get it wrong, users are much less likely to suspect that the answer is made up. Well, Bing does exactly that 😬. See thread. https://twitter.com/...
Jeff Jarvis / @jeffjarvis: All it does is predict word order based on past association of those words, folks. Australian mayor readies world's first defamation lawsuit over ChatGPT content https://www.reuters.com/...
Sean Tuffy / @smtuffy: I'm reasonably certain the real AI boom is going to be in suing AI companies into the ground https://www.reuters.com/...
Fabio Chiusi / @fabiochiusi: “A regional Australian mayor said he may sue OpenAI if it does not correct ChatGPT's false claims that he had served time in prison for bribery, in what would be the first defamation lawsuit against the automated text service” https://www.reuters.com/...
Max Kennerly / @maxkennerly: For quite some time Silicon Valley has lived by the motto “move fast and break things” and it has generally served them well given the anemic state of our regulatory and liability frameworks. But that can change quickly and these companies are wholly unprepared for it. https://twitter.com/...
Jon Victor / The Information: The OpenAI Coder Who Spun Tech On its Head
Harini Calamur / @calamur: ChatGPT hallucinates. It made me the CEO of a media company. Attributed books I had never written 🙄 https://twitter.com/...
Ser Jeff Garzik / @jgarzik: Or: What happens when people mistakenly believe chatbots will only tell the truth, and never generate fiction. https://twitter.com/...
Brandon Friedman / @bfriedmandc: Citing a Washington Post article that doesn't exist seems to be a minor problem compared to what will happen when it simply creates the Washington Post article it's citing https://twitter.com/...
Shannon Vallor / @shannonvallor: Absolutely horrifying, entirely predictable. There need to be legal consequences for the real reputational harms people suffer https://twitter.com/...
Robert King / @rking618: In the Good Fight Season 7 in our mind, this is episode 2. ChatGPT not only invented a sexual harassment scandal and named a real law prof, but also created an article to support it. Terrifying. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Davey Alba / @daveyalba: Oh ffs come on https://twitter.com/...
Liz Highleyman / @lizhighleyman: Well, this is pretty horrifying, especially with all the politically-motivated false abuse allegations floating around on the internet. #ChatGPT #AI 1/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Gary Marcus / @garymarcus: This could happen to anyone. (Summarizing @willoremus 🪡) https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Sarah Scire / @sarahscire: “[A USC prof] was contacted by a journalist who had used ChatGPT to research sources for a story. The bot offered examples of [the prof's] work, including an article title, publication date, and quotes. All of it sounded plausible, and all of it was fake.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Kevin Schawinski / @kevinschawinski: In the near future, most content on social media will be AI generated. And this content will be full of plausible-sounding false information. We are not ready for this. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
James Frye / @jamesfrye: Once again: The AI chatbots do not “look up” facts. They generate words that the model thinks belong together to give a viable looking response to the prompt. It is auto-complete. A highly complex auto-complete, to be sure. But it is auto-complete — NOT search results. https://twitter.com/...
@scottmccloud: How many, many, many will there be? How many, many, many lawsuits to pin the blame? https://twitter.com/...
Gary Marcus / @garymarcus: this whole thread is worth reading. and it's chilling. the complete pollution of the information of the ecosphere that I have been warning about has begun. https://twitter.com/...
Dmitry Lyalin / @lyalindotcom: Always double check the bots. We're in really early days. https://twitter.com/...
Dan Nguyen / @dancow: I've been slow on the uptake for AI, but I've felt like I'm going crazy by how quickly the mainstream has deemed ChatGPT & Bing as authoritative or “better than” google/libraries. It took years for Wikipedia to be kind of trusted (and chatgpt heavily cites from it!) https://twitter.com/...
Will Oremus / @willoremus: @JonathanTurley ... Turley is not the only one who's found AI chatbots making things up about him. An Australian mayor is threatening to sue after ChatGPT claimed he'd been imprisoned for bribery. USC prof @katecrawford dubs these falsely sourced stories “hallucitations.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Paris Marx / @parismarx: even more reason to challenge the tech companies' claims that generative AI is the future, that chatbots will replace search, and that we can trust this tech. it's always move fast and break things to have a quick boom and cash in before people realize what they're doing. https://twitter.com/...
David Andress / @profdaveandress: Well, we got to the inevitable endpoint there quickly, didn't we? And it's all downhill from here. https://twitter.com/...
Matt Ford / @fordm: Can ChatGPT publish something with “actual malice” or a “reckless disregard for the truth”? Maybe we'll find out soon. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Andrew Maynard / @2020science: ChatGPT fabricated a sexual harassment scandal involving a law professor—and cited a fake Washington Post article as evidence https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Pranshu Verma / @pranshuverma_: new: ChatGPT said a law prof. sexually touched a student on a class Alaska trip, citing a 2018 WaPo article as proof. There was no WaPo article. No trip. He said he'd never been accused of sexual assault. What happens when chatbots lie. w/@WillOremus https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Eugene Volokh / Reason: Washington Post on ChatGPT Making Up Defamatory Accusations
Adam Serwer / The Atlantic:
Cable news networks' wall-to-wall coverage of Donald Trump's arraignment suggests a return to the mutually beneficial model that let Trump monopolize coverage — The wall-to-wall coverage of Trump's arraignment demonstrates how quickly the lessons of 2016 have been forgotten. — The Trump Show is back.
Discussion:
The Guardian, Politico, @alfonslopeztena, @steveahorn, @adamserwer, @zaleskiluke, @charcware, @tostevinm and @guygavrielkay
Discussion:
Jack Shafer / Politico: The Trump Cable News Coverage Was Good, Actually
@alfonslopeztena: Cable is eager for a new season of the Trump show. Did media learn nothing from 2016? Whatever ideological objections they harbor, Trump is good for TV news business, and the rapid return to Trump TV illustrates how much the networks missed the guy https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...
Steve Horn / @steveahorn: Isn't that what they learned? These are investor owned corporations. End of the day it's still up to news consumers on if they want infotainment or actual nonpartisan, nutrient-rich news. I've boycotted cable news since 2008. As I tell those who ask, “Turn that shit off.” https://twitter.com/...
Adam Serwer / @adamserwer: The Trump era was very good for ratings, and the blanket, minute to minute coverage of his indictment shows the networks desperately hope he will be again https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...
Luke Zaleski / @zaleskiluke: They have learned nothing https://twitter.com/...
@charcware: For the media, the bottom line is always the bottom line. And in a downturn, bosses will not tolerate losses. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Matthew Tostevin / @tostevinm: Media doing story about media doing too many stories about Trump. https://twitter.com/...
Guy Gavriel Kay / @guygavrielkay: Bitter, toxic truth. https://twitter.com/...
Jon Lafayette / Next TV:
Nielsen starts reporting over-the-top local programming metrics, comparable to its over-the-air viewing numbers, letting stations calculate their full reach — Stations can determine full reach of local content across platforms — Nielsen said it has begun reporting metrics for over-the-top feeds …
Discussion:
Wayne Friedman / MediaPost: Nielsen Starts Local TV OTT Measurement Service
Reuters:
India says China barred two Indian journalists from Beijing; China says the country had to take “countermeasures” after India asked a Xinhua journalist to leave — India and China broke into fresh diplomatic sparring on Thursday, accusing each other of creating visa hassles …
Bloomberg:
Six-year-old Paris-based digital media company Brut raised €35M to €40M, bringing its total funding to ~$153M; the outlet has ~500M monthly unique viewers — A youth-focused media company that churns out fast-paced videos has netted another billionaire backer, bringing the total to four of the world's wealthiest people.