Top News:
Peter Kafka / Vox:
Substack is generating negative attention just when it faces competition from Facebook and Twitter to attract writers who want to make money from newsletters — The newsletter startup's new controversy, explained. — SHARE All sharing options — Jude Doyle has been publishing …
Discussion:
Gizmodo, @nishachittal, @adamweinstein, @jimmydonofrio, @dannypage, @themadstone, @ubiquity75, @ubiquity75, @ubiquity75, @ubiquity75, @ubiquity75, mathewingram.com/work, @ubiquity75, @stevekrak, New Republic, @mathewi, @petersterne, @samraskinz, @dannypage, @petersterne, @themadstone, @travelinganna, @therealbradbabs, @rsingel, @patdennis, @travelinganna, @hautepop, @manymanywords, @themadstone and Today in Tabs, more at Techmeme »
Discussion:
Tom McKay / Gizmodo: Senate Considering Hauling in Facebook, Twitter CEOs so They Can All Ramble for Hours About Whatever Bullshit Gripe They Have This Time
Nisha Chittal / @nishachittal: seems like those substack advances are actually really undervaluing writers https://www.vox.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Adam Weinstein / @adamweinstein: Gonna restart my old Substack and every entry is gonna be “Matt Yglesias pay off my student loans” https://www.vox.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Jimmy D / @jimmydonofrio: @DannyPage The ability to *potentially* pull in ~$900K from <10K subscribers is a hell of a grift, though. Takes somebody special to fumble that bag.
Danny Page / @dannypage: there's basically no network effects either on Substack, so it doesn't trickle down to other folks. The only winners are the founders and the VCs.
Maddie Stone / @themadstone: I would like to shutup about this and go back to talking about science but @SubstackInc owes the trans community an apology and some real introspection. Trans rights are human rights. We're not going to get far solving climate change if we can't agree who deserves human rights.
Dr. Sarah T. Roberts / @ubiquity75: I am quite sympathetic to that desire*, but I think we differ in that I have spent 15 years studying every day the ways these firms work to capitalize on those desires, all the while a. offering something that's a satiating lookalike and tantalizing but ultimately empty calories
Dr. Sarah T. Roberts / @ubiquity75: There is a portion of the neckbeard army types who send hate mail and rain down garbage on any person (woman) they can when one of their icons lights the fire. But controlling for that group, I was baffled by some of the indictments — particularly that I am a shill for Big [x].
Dr. Sarah T. Roberts / @ubiquity75: and, much more importantly, b. how those activities at the user level — not to mention the arguments take place right here/there — provides cover for deep infiltration and corporate domination IN THE VERY FORM OF the academic-military-industrial complex supposedly being disrupted
Dr. Sarah T. Roberts / @ubiquity75: Don't you all see this? Follow the god damned money. It's the reason why Big Tech has bought and paid for computer science, engineering labs and departments all over the place: to co-opt and set the agenda where it begins!
Dr. Sarah T. Roberts / @ubiquity75: But I'm starting to see why some of the more sincere people feel the way they do. It's because they want and deserve outlets for expression and information that fall outside the dominant institutions of corporate media, the military-academic-industrial complex, and government.
Dr. Sarah T. Roberts / @ubiquity75: It becomes clearer every single day since this erupted in my life (2/28) just why the intrepid libertarian/right opinion stable of Substack called on their most unscrupulous propensities — and followers — to directly attack and defame me when I simply told the truth. https://twitter.com/...
Steve Krakauer / @stevekrak: Extrapolate this out. Even at 5% or 10% (500-1,000 paid subscribers) this is a self-sustaining business. People can make a living with a small but dedicated group of people who value their work. And also think about how damaging it is for others to try to cut off this pipeline. https://twitter.com/...
Alex Shephard / New Republic: What Is Substack? — Substack, the flourishing four-year-old newsletter company, has always touted itself as a savior.
Mathew Ingram / @mathewi: So Matt Yglesias tells Peter Kafka that if he hadn't taken an upfront payment from Substack, he would have made about $750,000 this year from subscribers but because he took their deal he will only make $380,000 or so https://www.vox.com/...
@petersterne: @rsingel Probably, since Facebook is terrible. But Twitter's @revue is making the same promise as Substack: “Bring the audience you've built, and take it with you anytime. You are in control.” https://www.getrevue.co/
Sam Raskin / @samraskinz: What a sucker I am for reporting and not getting in the takes game https://twitter.com/...
Danny Page / @dannypage: Imagine paying 80 bucks a year to hear economics opinions from someone who limited his upside to the tune of almost half a million dollars https://twitter.com/...
@petersterne: This is one of the best things about Substack. All newsletter platforms, and really all social platforms, should make it easy for users to switch. https://www.vox.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Maddie Stone / @themadstone: It says a lot about Substack's values as a business that openly transphobic writing in clear violation of the content moderation policies is going up daily with impunity.
Annemarie Dooling / @travelinganna: I also just can't believe the amount of money people will pay to hear random people give their opinions https://www.vox.com/...
Bradley Babendir / @therealbradbabs: one thing that sort of sucks because i think yglesias is a bad writer but seems relevant in the substack discourse is that he's very popular and substack is much better off / he's much worse off having taken their deal as opposed to going it alone https://www.vox.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Ryan Singel / @rsingel: @petersterne I'm willing to bet Facebook is gonna hold onto the billing relationship
Pat Dennis / @patdennis: I am a fan of the substack model and subscribe to some, but I really think the company itself, for writers, shouldn't exist, because the ultimate product they're selling (monetize your die hard twitter followers), is so simple and easy to duplicate https://www.vox.com/...
Annemarie Dooling / @travelinganna: You're not gonna believe this, but people made newsletters before substack existed https://tedium.co/...
Jay Owens / @hautepop: My latest estimates had Yglesias at 9,000 paying subscribers - turns out he has 9,800: vindicating! Added some March 2021 estimates to my Biggest Substacks doc https://docs.google.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Meredith Haggerty / @manymanywords: This absolutely makes me feel like I know a little more about Substack's money situation; also because of Substack I still have so very many questions. https://www.vox.com/...
Maddie Stone / @themadstone: Even if you buy the argument that offering $250k advances to writers isn't an editorial choice—which, for the record, is horeshit—I don't see how you can argue that letting writers make $ publishing hate speech on your platform isn't a *business* choice. https://www.vox.com/...
Rusty Foster / Today in Tabs: Open Thread: Chapter 1: Loomings
RELATED:
Casey Newton / Platformer:
Facebook's newsletter tool will let it help people monetize their Facebook Pages and show it can support a different kind of publishing amid legal scrutiny
Facebook's newsletter tool will let it help people monetize their Facebook Pages and show it can support a different kind of publishing amid legal scrutiny
Discussion:
Venkat Ananth / @venkatananth: This is an interesting analysis by @CaseyNewton on what Facebook sees in newsletters — a shift away from the News Feed (through integration of FB Pages) and a reader community model through Groups. https://www.platformer.news/ ...
Michael Sayman / @michaelsayman: My guess is most tech conglomerates will offer some form of Substack. At which point, similar to how music artists have their music available on various music platforms, journalists will host their content on various “substack-like” services. No one service will rule them all. https://twitter.com/...
Will Oremus / @willoremus: this would be an interesting move for a company that's already facing a federal antitrust lawsuit https://twitter.com/...
Casey Newton / @caseynewton: I wrote about Facebook's forthcoming newsletter gambit, and whether you should build your solo journalism effort on the platform. The company hinted to me that it won't take a cut of your subscription revenue 👀 https://www.platformer.news/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Wall Street Journal:
GroupM: Google, Facebook, and Amazon “triopoly” grew its share of US digital ad market from 80% in 2019 to 90% in 2020, and now collects 50%+ of all US ad spend — The three tech giants now collect more than half of all ad dollars spent in the U.S. The pandemic economy got them there.
Discussion:
@keachhagey, @asharma, @jamessurowiecki, @moorehn, @stevesi and @jason_kint, more at Techmeme »
Discussion:
@keachhagey: The pandemic accelerated Google, Facebook and Amazon's takeover of the US ad market. They now receive a majority of US ad dollars - not digital ad dollars, *all* ad dollars. w/ @VranicaWSJ https://www.wsj.com/... via @WSJ
Amol Sharma / @asharma: Three big tech companies now collect more than half of all ad dollars spent in the U.S. Not digital dollars — ALL dollars. Here's why the ‘triopoly’ went into overdrive in the pandemic. https://www.wsj.com/... via @WSJ
James Surowiecki / @jamessurowiecki: It seems weird to lump Amazon in with Google and Facebook, since the “ad dollars” they get are dollars spent to promote items on their site - they're more like the equivalent of slotting fees than advertising dollars. https://twitter.com/...
Heidi N. Moore / @moorehn: Great story about how the pandemic has only empowered Facebook, Google and Amazon to dominate online advertising. By the terrific @keachhagey and @VranicaWSJ https://www.wsj.com/...
Steven Sinofsky / @stevesi: Google, Facebook and Amazon now collect more than half of all ad dollars spent in the U.S. The pandemic supercharged advertising's ‘triopoly.’ https://www.wsj.com/... // So a lot like broadcast TV used to look, but a lot more effective and open to small and medium business?
Jason Kint / @jason_kint: I only take issue w/ this “expert” claim. It fails to recognize Google and Facebook get majority of their data from other parties (when users aren't using their services). There's a reason they've fought privacy standards/laws so hard. Antitrust + privacy is their 3rd rail. 🍿 https://twitter.com/...
Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:
NYT plans to give up control of its 77K-member NYT Cooking private Facebook group and hand the group over to volunteer moderators from its community — “I blame people who fight over brands of mayonnaise.” — “How many goddamn posts do we need to see of people's first Le Creuset? Seriously.”
Discussion:
@erinbiba, @benyt, @sfbeantown, @nancyromm, Lia Haberman's Newsletter, Links I Would Gchat …, @ylecun, @benthompson, @chrismoranuk, American Press Institute, @erinblasco, @margarita, @benthompson, @mattyglesias, @bloombergme, @lutherlowe, @colorcodedlife, @brosandprose, @rottenindenmark, @blk_amanda, @brianbeutler, @jpbrammer, @laurahazardowen, @tiagodf, @carolsott, @benyt, @delia_cai, @tktaylor, @redditcfb, @erinbiba, @erinbiba, @juliareinstein, @nishachittal, @erinbiba, @digiphile and @kerrymflynn
Discussion:
Erin Biba / @erinbiba: The NYTimes has lost all control over the Cooking Community Facebook group they created and so instead of moderating it they've decided to completely abandon the 77,000 member group to its own recognizance and take their name off of it. Which is somehow absolutely hilarious to me
Ben Smith / @benyt: @silviakillings @erinbiba @SamSifton But the Times was paying people to moderate it — and that's “a Times employee moderating comments for fb rather than working for the Times.” A chapter in the shift toward a biz that revolves around converting subs. Sorry, I was hoping it was about peas and guacamole too.
@sfbeantown: @benthompson We regularly discuss this @discord with brands. Moderation requires active engagement with your members while encouraging them to also interact with each other. When it's done properly, it's incredibly powerful on many levels.
Nancy Rommelmann / @nancyromm: “It was ‘non-food-related arguments’ that caused the group to fall apart.” Shocking. NB: Anyone who wants to talk only-baking with me, it's on! https://www.niemanlab.org/...
Lia Haberman / Lia Haberman's Newsletter: Social Trends & Tools, Mar 19
Caitlin Dewey / Links I Would Gchat …: If you can't stand the heat — A Facebook group left to its own devices is almost certainly a recipe for disaster.
Yann LeCun / @ylecun: Yup. Content moderation is really hard. And content moderation for 2.7 billion people speaking thousands of languages, with hundreds of different cultural, social, and political backgrounds is REALLY, *REALLY* hard. https://twitter.com/...
Ben Thompson / @benthompson: @mattyglesias Absolutely. I look forward to the New York Times endorsing pro-competition policies like portable social graphs instead of privacy fundamentalism https://stratechery.com/...
Chris Moran / @chrismoranuk: Really interesting example of challenge of off-platform. Fundamental point: it means “a Times employee moderating comments for fb rather than working for the Times.” https://www.niemanlab.org/...
American Press Institute: Need to Know: March 19, 2021 — OFF THE TOP — You might have heard: Social media …
Erin Blasco / @erinblasco: Bookmark for the next time someone in a meeting suggests starting a Facebook Group. #musesocial https://www.niemanlab.org/...
Margarita-core Noriega-core / @margarita: My guide to whether a newsroom should create and sustain a social app group: - yes, to cultivate and identify potential sources 🧩 - yes, to better serve core audiences 🍽 - no, if it's only to “improve” or “correct” sourcing 🚩 - no, if user goals and admin goals conflict 🧨 https://twitter.com/...
Ben Thompson / @benthompson: (I'm obviously poking a bit of fun but the truth is that moderation is hard!)
Matthew Yglesias / @mattyglesias: @benthompson I think “it's simply not possible to moderate responsibly at Facebook-scale” has implications other than “people should stop giving Facebook a hard time.”
@bloombergme: @benthompson Yes. But NYT effectively said moderation is expensive. Community organizing is expensive! And realizing the damages of unmoderated forums they shut it down. They didn't say “AI will solve it”
Luther Lowe / @lutherlowe: @benthompson @mattyglesias Your positions on interoperability and “duty to deal” are at odds, Ben.
Amanda O / @colorcodedlife: Sounds exactly like what happened with the Skimmbassador group, but it took far less people before it went to hell. The racists and Karen's ruined it and theskimm sat by and let it happen. https://twitter.com/...
@brosandprose: Community management is a complicated skill. Too many brands and publishers have demanded that their social teams start facebook groups, set growth of members as the only goal, and not bothered to dedicated resources and staffing. Chaotic groups like this are the result. https://twitter.com/...
Michael Hobbes / @rottenindenmark: We need a YouTube channel exclusively dedicated to Facebook Groups drama https://twitter.com/...
@blk_amanda: As someone who has moderated social media for businesses in the past, and does it now for fun for groups... https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Brian Beutler / @brianbeutler: There sure do seem to be a lot of people (from tech execs to moderators) manning the boundaries of social media who realize that the best thing we could do for the world is literally turn the platforms off, but few with the mix of nerve and proper incentives to do it. https://twitter.com/...
Laura Hazard Owen / @laurahazardowen: “How many goddamn posts do we need to see of people's first Le Creuset? Seriously.” @nytimes is giving up on its 77,000-member NYT Cooking Community Facebook group. What happens next? https://www.niemanlab.org/...
Tiago Dias / @tiagodf: It's “nearly impossible to moderate one the size of a small city. As it turns out, it's a full-time job — likely more than one — and one the Times no longer wants to do.” https://www.niemanlab.org/...
@carolsott: I had to laugh when my friend Linda sent this to me. The most insufferable group I've ever seen. https://www.niemanlab.org/...
Ben Smith / @benyt: @silviakillings @erinbiba @SamSifton I should say @SamSifton had only good things to say about the group and wishes its moderators well etc.
Delia Cai / @delia_cai: @benyt @silviakillings @erinbiba @SamSifton guys if you don't want it....can we have it
Tracey Taylor / @tktaylor: @erinbiba Serious question: How would you have handled it differently? I'd love to hear suggestions/elegant solutions for publishers on how to wind down or otherwise handle FB groups that have become unwieldy/unmanageable.
Erin Biba / @erinbiba: They're allowing group members to submit themselves to become moderators and then they're gonna just hand the entire group over to these randoms and peace out. I just. I can't stop laughing at the ineptitude.
Erin Biba / @erinbiba: Here's Sam Sifton showing the Times paid no attention to the group whatsoever. People post “dog pictures next to their soufflé” in response to nasty posts in an attempt to calm arguments as a form of self-moderation because the Times was so wildly absent. https://twitter.com/...
@juliareinstein: @benyt @silviakillings @erinbiba @SamSifton the people have spoken and they want me as moderator. it is time for a peaceful transfer of power https://twitter.com/...
Nisha Chittal / @nishachittal: So rare to see this reality acknowledged: “It is very, very hard to meaningfully moderate a big Facebook group, perhaps nearly impossible to moderate one the size of a small city. As it turns out, it's a full-time job — likely more than one” https://www.niemanlab.org/...
Erin Biba / @erinbiba: I mean I don't know where the fuck the NYTimes ever thought it could get away with having 77,000 people in a group with only four moderators who only checked in during their off hours while also working full time at the Times but this disaster was basically inevitable.
Alex Howard / @digiphile: The @NYTimes could have built a social network around subscriber profiles (Remember Times People?), invested in a commenting system & building communities: https://mashable.com/... What @NYTFood did: built up a Facebook Group, & left it: https://twitter.com/... Notable context: https://twitter.com/...
Lindsey Ellefson / The Wrap:
Teen Vogue Executive Editor Samhita Mukhopadhyay announces she is leaving; source says the move was announced internally earlier — Teen Vogue executive editor Samhita Mukhopadhyay announced Friday she is leaving the Condé Nast brand after three years in her role.
Discussion:
Keith J. Kelly / New York Post: No. 2 editor at Teen Vogue is also heading for the exit
Jacob Shamsian / @jayshams: kind of weird that teen vogue had a person of color as its executive editor this whole time and didn't just promote her
Danielle Tcholakian / @danielleiat: can't imagine why staff who already had an incredible, experienced leader got mad https://www.thewrap.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Thomas Moore / The Hill: Teen Vogue executive editor Samhita Mukhopadhyay resigns
RELATED:
The Daily Beast:
Teen Vogue's new EIC Alexi McCammond, who was meant to start in the coming days, will no longer be joining the publication — The Condé-owned outlet's new editor has exited the job just days before she was set to take on the gig. … Just days before she was set to begin the job …
Discussion:
@alexi, New York Times, @ryangrim, Discourse Blog, @tianathefirst, @asteadwesley, The Atlantic, @frankluntz, @kristina_wong, @freeblackgirl, @kerrymflynn, Poynter, Ad Age, @gladwell, @isaacdovere, @zararahim, @thrasherxy, @mattzeitlin, @benyt, @maxberger, @freeblackgirl, @clairlemon, @zararahim, @kurtbardella, @thewayoftheid, @abbydphillip, @amandacarpenter, @dansaltzstein, @dansaltzstein, @ronmwangaguhung, @jeremymbarr, @jeremymbarr, @thrasherxy, @espiers, @ebruenig, @radiofreetom, @nelliebowles, @timmarchman, @davidafrench, @ike_saul, @thewayoftheid, @rolandsmartin, @iamsophianelson, @lukerosiak, @samthielman, @offbeatorbit, @heminator, @emzanotti, @mehdirhasan, @davidafrench, @wajahatali, @nickgillespie, @stevekrak, @juliacarriew, @bymeg, @hillelneuer, @thrasherxy, @matthewamiller, @timmarchman, @sethamandel, @maxboot, @robynurback, @timcast, The Week, @mattwelch, @jonathanchait, @mattyglesias, @jonathanvswan, @mtracey, @vexedinthecity, @charlescwcooke, @slate, @legsfrank, @eiffeltyler, @travisakers, @hashtaggriswold, @michaelbd, @stevekrak, @eoinhiggins_, @maxwelltani and The Media Nut
Discussion:
Alexi McCammond / @alexi: Hey there: I've decided to part ways with Condé Nast. Here is my statement about why - https://twitter.com/...
Katie Robertson / New York Times: Teen Vogue Editor Resigns After Fury Over Racist Tweets
Ryan Grim / @ryangrim: The staff of Teen Vogue successfully blocked an extremely well qualified Black woman from becoming its next editor in chief over tweets from when she was a teen that she apologized for years ago. https://twitter.com/...
Aleksander Chan / Discourse Blog: The ‘Teen Vogue’ Mess Is What Happens When Bosses Don't Listen
Tiana Lowe / @tianathefirst: Teen Vogue was invented by a woman who reignited the fur industry, blocked black people from the most important fashion covers and newsrooms in the country, and coronates the de facto American aristocracy. Alexi McCammond is not problematic. Vogue is. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/ ...
Astead / @asteadwesley: conde nast/wintour could've sought full staff buy in in advance of the EIC announcement. that carelessness makes me feel bad for Teen Vogue staff, and for Alexi. both deserved an institution that treated them better https://www.nytimes.com/...
Graeme Wood / The Atlantic: America Has Forgotten How to Forgive
Frank Luntz / @frankluntz: Another career destroyed by the #woke mob. Alexi McCammond is a brilliant reporter and even a progressive, but she has been canceled for stuff she tweeted nearly a decade ago in college. The Robespierre Reign of Terror continues... https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
Kristina Wong / @kristina_wong: I think the lesson is that cancel culture can come for anyone, not just those you don't like. Ironic that her racist anti-Asian tweets came out after she tried to cancel Charles Barkley for a bad joke. Good example of how cancel culture can and will boomerang. https://twitter.com/...
Evette Dionne / @freeblackgirl: A thread everyone should read. Look beyond the tweets from a decade ago. They were in very poor taste. That was not the only issue with this hire. https://twitter.com/...
@kerrymflynn: “The online frenzy is real, but it also misses the point. Ultimately, this is not a story about a too-woke staff, or even about bad tweets. It's about a fundamental failure on the part of Condé Nast leadership” Good analysis by @aleksnotalex https://discourseblog.com/...
Ilyse Liffreing / Ad Age: NFL hands Amazon exclusive games, and Teen Vogue editor undone by teen rogue tweets: Friday Wake-Up Call
Malcolm Gladwell / @gladwell: I'm curious to know what the new age cut-off is for “youthful indiscretions.” https://twitter.com/...
Edward-Isaac Dovere / @isaacdovere: the standard being set here is that a few comments as a teenager which have been recanted, deleted and apologized for multiple times should nonetheless define a person's career https://www.nytimes.com/...
Zara Rahim / @zararahim: “When she was a teenager” is a hilarious argument in a tweet about.... Teen....Vogue 🥴
Dr. Thrasher / @thrasherxy: 13. So, Wintour has a history of sidelining and tokenizing women of color. She made a poor hire, putting the hire (who, having never edited, should never have been there) and the staff in a terrible place. We are made by our histories & present.
Matthew Zeitlin / @mattzeitlin: some european publications — the guardian, le monde — formally involve their staff in picking the editor in chief, would be an interesting model for american ones to adopt as opposed to the more...ad hoc....way newsroom influence the selection or removal of their bosses
Max Berger / @maxberger: It's unfortunate what happened to @alexi. She is a fantastic journalist who took responsibility for mistakes she made when she was a teenager. She will no doubt continue doing good work. But we need a new way to deal with public utterances from a generation who grew up online. https://twitter.com/...
Evette Dionne / @freeblackgirl: Alexi is extremely well qualified—just not for this specific job. She has never been a fashion editor and was hired as the top editor at a fashion magazine. I was a very young EIC too (28), so there is always some hedging about being too young. But that is not the case here. https://twitter.com/...
Claire Lehmann / @clairlemon: So grateful to @j4mi3p @jonkay @SwipeWright @toadmeister for not axing me due to my lowbrow tweets 🙏 https://twitter.com/...
Zara Rahim / @zararahim: It is truly so easy to not tweet that someone facing consequences for racist opinions is dumb, especially when those opinions were harmful to an entire community, a community that is going through a lot of pain...yet here...we are. https://twitter.com/...
Kurt Bardella / @kurtbardella: 1000% agree https://twitter.com/...
Openly Black Studs Twerkel / @thewayoftheid: Do I believe she's still catching wreck over what happened with her boyfriend, the WH and Politico? Absolutely. But she gave folks ammo with those silly ass tweets. The game is the game.
Abby D. Phillip / @abbydphillip: I know @alexi and she's obviously not who she was when she wrote those tweets. I'm sorry to see that she won't be moving forward in this position. It's beyond fair to demand true remorse and accountability, but Alexi demonstrated those things and I wish she'd been given a chance. https://twitter.com/...
Amanda Carpenter / @amandacarpenter: This reflects much more poorly on Teen Vogue than @alexi https://twitter.com/...
Dan Saltzstein / @dansaltzstein: @ryangrim All else aside, how is someone without editing experience “extremely qualified” to be an EIC?
Dan Saltzstein / @dansaltzstein: @ryangrim In fairness, @benyt has noted that David Remnick (NYer), Jeffrey Goldberg (Atlantic) and Ben himself (Buzzfeed) didn't have significant editing experience before taking over their EIC roles. Still not sure she was “extremely well qualified” but point taken.
@ronmwangaguhung: @mediagazer A very substantive conversation could have been had in the pages of Teen Vogue over racism, over what can and should not be said on social media, on taking responsibility for ones actions, on “doing the work” — but, alas
Jeremy Barr / @jeremymbarr: Update: An MSNBC source says that Alexi McCammond asked to end her contributor contract with MSNBC in February, before the news broke that she was joining Teen Vogue.
Jeremy Barr / @jeremymbarr: Another recent change: Alexi McCammond is no longer an MSNBC contributor https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Dr. Thrasher / @thrasherxy: WELP. ~EVERYTHING~ abt this hire was wrong. Teen Vogue had become a space for deep work critical of capitalism, race & gender. McCammond: —Was WAY too close to the WH/DNC —Had never been an editor?! —Had a poor racial *analysis* + anti-Asian writing —Staff didn't want her https://twitter.com/...
Elizabeth Spiers / @espiers: Aside from the tweets, I think it's pretty unusual to hire someone who's never edited anything before as the EIC of a large national magazine. She had political reporting chops but generally you have to have *some* editing experience to be “well qualified”. https://twitter.com/...
Elizabeth Bruenig / @ebruenig: seems somewhat strange that we have developed this (accurate) reading of racism, misogyny, etc as structural phenomena — and we know that teenagers aren't fully formed moral agents — but we punish adults for teenage mistakes reflecting a sick culture. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Tom Nichols / @radiofreetom: Yet another day I am grateful that social media didn't exist until I was already in middle age. https://twitter.com/...
Nellie Bowles / @nelliebowles: An industry now largely run by a movement of moralizing scolds who've (magic! it's true!) never been teenagers. As someone who was an idiot teenager, I can only look in awe at these perfect beings, sprung into the world fully formed like Athena herself. https://twitter.com/...
Tim Marchman / @timmarchman: I'd also question the assumption that the Teen Vogue staff is so unsophisticated as to be incapable of contextualizing old tweets and more concerned with them than with having someone who'd never edited running their newsroom.
David French / @davidafrench: The level of intolerance is unsustainable. This trend will come to an end. It's too unjust. It's too absurd. The only question is how many careers and reputations must be wrongly trashed and destroyed before this trend fades into shameful oblivion. https://twitter.com/...
Isaac Saul / @ike_saul: This is so sad. Alexi is a great journalist who tweeted shitty things when *she was 17 years old* — and has spent the decade since building a body of work that shows who she really is. Reporters and progressives alike need to start thinking about how to let ppl grow. https://twitter.com/...
Openly Black Studs Twerkel / @thewayoftheid: On behalf of Black women, “Nah.” This ain't it. https://twitter.com/...
Sophia A. Nelson / @iamsophianelson: This is NOT RIGHT. We have got to STOP doing this to good people because of old blog posts, old tweets, old Facebook posts, old college drunken videos, etc. We are fallible human beings. We get it wrong—who is able to throw stones? @CondeNast @TeenVogue this is not good. https://twitter.com/...
Luke Rosiak / @lukerosiak: Psst... they don't *really* believe in “restorative justice.” https://twitter.com/...
Ashley Reese / @offbeatorbit: Why does her being Black matter in this scenario? As if TV has never had a black EIC before dhdkdhdkdkdjz https://twitter.com/...
Mark Hemingway / @heminator: Totally agree, but worth noting had she taken the job at Teen Vogue she would have been editing a bunch of articles endorsing said puritan panics. https://twitter.com/...
Emily Zanotti / @emzanotti: But how do you square a publication that (ostensibly) treats 17 year olds as developed enough to engage on complex political topics (and in eclectic sex practices) with saying a 17 year old isn't fully developed on the subject of racial equity? https://twitter.com/...
Mehdi Hasan / @mehdirhasan: This made me sad and frustrated. Surely we can see the difference between active, current racists and bigots and people who said things long ago that they already sincerely apologized for? Have we lost all sense of proportion? And which of us hasn't said or done things we regret? https://twitter.com/...
Wajahat Ali / @wajahatali: This is dumb. These were tweets over a decade ago, when she was a teenager, and since then she has apologized and changed. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Nick Gillespie / @nickgillespie: More proof that woke #cancelculture is simply fire-and-brimstone Christianity minus any concept of forgiveness or salvation. Just eternal damnation. What a horrible theology. Conde Nast must be a horrible place to work from any perpsective. https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
Steve Krakauer / @stevekrak: Really solid work by The Daily Beast and the children that make up the Teen Vogue staff to block a young, Black, female journalist from ascending to an editor position... https://twitter.com/...
Julia Carrie Wong / @juliacarriew: they gonna do anything about the editor who commissioned this or just stay focused on a teenager's tweets? https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Meg Z / @bymeg: the thing is............. besides the racist tweets...... she wasn't qualified for the role? like at all????????? so I didn't understand this COMMITMENT TO THE BIT...... like was she worth the strife? https://twitter.com/...
Hillel Neuer / @hillelneuer: When the revolution devours its own: March 5: Condé Nast names Alexi McCammond, a 27-year-old African-American journalist, as editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue. March 18: Condé Nast fires her over racist & homophobic tweets she posted a decade ago as a teen. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Dr. Thrasher / @thrasherxy: This is incorrect, and there is a kind of race making happening when someone who has never been an editor is called “extremely well qualified.” & as much as I love worker power, she didn't quit over the staff uprising, but after advertisers pulled out. https://twitter.com/...
Matthew Miller / @matthewamiller: There is a legitimate debate to be had about how to judge people for actions in the past, to what extent they grow, etc. But I would hope we could all agree that judging adults in professional settings for what they did as a teenager is ridiculous. https://twitter.com/...
Tim Marchman / @timmarchman: She was not “extremely well qualified” unless you're using a standard that holds the editorship of Teen Vogue to be so insignificant that one wouldn't need to have had prior experience as an editor to hold the position, which would be telling. https://twitter.com/...
Seth Mandel / @sethamandel: Pre-firing her for teen tweets she apologized for several times is garbage, but doing it now as reporters are connecting it to a racist murder spree in Atlanta is beyond tactless. Infuriating to watch coward employers reinforce twitter's ‘people are disposable’ attitude. https://twitter.com/...
Max Boot / @maxboot: I just wrote in @PostOpinions that the rightist obsession with “cancel culture” is overblown and over the top (https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...), but there is no question, as I also noted, that there are some leftist excesses too. This looks like one of those. https://twitter.com/...
Robyn Urback / @robynurback: She wrote those tweets 10 years ago, when she was a teenager. As I wrote in a column last week, if she had committed a violent crime instead, she'd be out of prison, off parole, and the progressive view would be not to judge her by her past https://www.theglobeandmail.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Tim Pool / @timcast: Apologizing doesn't change what she said it just means she admits she did it and is now being held accountable for her actions, for the rest of her life She apologized before but it doesn't matter. This is proof apologizing doesn't work https://twitter.com/...
Catherine Garcia / The Week: Teen Vogue's new editor in chief resigns after past anti-Asian tweets resurface
Matt Welch / @mattwelch: Whose lives were improved by this episode? Whose journalism? https://twitter.com/...
Jonathan Chait / @jonathanchait: I continue to believe that “anti-racist” norms are being enforced in elite spaces in ways that do not actually advance the cause of opposing racism. https://twitter.com/...
Matthew Yglesias / @mattyglesias: Hail the glorious victory of antiracism. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Jonathan Swan / @jonathanvswan: I've worked with @alexi for four years. I know her well and can say this unequivocally: The idea she is racist is absurd. Where the hell are we as an industry if we cannot accept a person's sincere and repeated apologies for tweets when they were a teenager? https://twitter.com/...
Michael Tracey / @mtracey: Suggestion: do not pursue employment in any conventional sectors of the online media industry unless you are willing to tolerate enormous amounts of psychic dread https://twitter.com/...
Corey Richardson / @vexedinthecity: This is bullshit. Losing a job as an adult over some shit you tweeted as a kid isn't how people learn their lessons nor is is fair atonement for her past wrongs. Best of luck out there, but this shit didn't help anyone, really. https://twitter.com/...
Charles C. W. Cooke / @charlescwcooke: Absolutely preposterous. There's no reason whatsoever why silly things a person said ten years ago—when she was seventeen—should prompt this reaction or this outcome. This isn't “accountability”; it's a puritan panic that leaves no space for growth. https://twitter.com/...
@slate: This was a questionable hire, even before the offensive old tweets resurfaced. https://slate.com/...
Allegra Frank / @legsfrank: i wrote about, among other issues, the exhausting illegitimacy of “i was young and stupid” as an excuse for your prejudiced social media history https://slate.com/...
Tyler McCall / @eiffeltyler: This is so rough. I maintain none of this had to be this way if Condé had any sense whatsoever. https://twitter.com/...
Travis Akers / @travisakers: #BREAKING: Alexi McCammond is out as editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue after backlash over racist tweets about Asians https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
Alex Griswold / @hashtaggriswold: Alexi McCammond is out at Teen Vogue, over tweets that were publicly available and she had already apologized for, and that she was asked about again during the interview process, and for which she apologized, again, upon being publicly named https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
Michael Brendan Dougherty / @michaelbd: I like the subtle Doublespeak nature of believing a brand called Vogue is about the marginalized. https://twitter.com/...
Steve Krakauer / @stevekrak: Outrageous. What a shitty time to be a young journalist. https://twitter.com/...
Eoin Higgins / @eoinhiggins_: Unsurprising, not sure how she was going to be able to manage that newsroom https://twitter.com/...
Max Tani / @maxwelltani: NEW: Alexi McCammond is out at Teen Vogue, will not be joining as EIC. Story w/@LachCartwright https://www.thedailybeast.com/ ...
Josh Sternberg / The Media Nut: A fast rise and a faster fall
David M. Herszenhorn / Politico:
Politico Europe Editor-in-Chief Stephen Brown has died at age 57; after a long tenure at Reuters, he oversaw the expansion of Politico Europe — Stephen Brown, the editor in chief of POLITICO Europe and a former news correspondent who reported widely from Europe and South America for Reuters …
Discussion:
@markdistef, @mattyglesias, @mattyglesias, @mattyglesias, @cbudoffbrown, @naomiohreally, @gallardo_ortega, @mkarnitschnig, @hclae, @harrispolitico, @noahbarkin, @mhmilliken, @sherazadesemsar, @kate_day, @tommctague, @jack_blanchard_, @sofiadmateus, @tarapalmeri, @tarapalmeri, @tball, @margschinas, @blakehounshell, @joshposaner, @tball, @carmenpaun, @tommctague, @mattyglesias, The Hill, @bmoens, @katka_cseh and @cgs_atl
Discussion:
Mark Di Stefano / @markdistef: The Politico obituary of Europe editor Stephen Brown is a really lovely read. It paints a great picture of a man who clearly adored the profession. https://www.politico.eu/...
Matthew Yglesias / @mattyglesias: ... I have a family to support and there's a chance that I would totally fall on my face and fail. Substack thought that I probably would not fail. They offered a deal that eliminated my downside risk for one year but reduced my financial upside for one year.
Matthew Yglesias / @mattyglesias: And it was. Substack is making money off of Slow Boring. More money in fact than they would have made without the deal. But that's what made it a good deal. They needed upside growth more than I did and I needed to minimize downside risk more than they did. Business!
Matthew Yglesias / @mattyglesias: To me that was attractive because the downside risk is a huge problem when you have a kid and in fact a whole community of kids who are depending on you. To Substack it was attractive because they thought it would be profitable. https://www.slowboring.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Carrie Budoff Brown / @cbudoffbrown: So very Stephen, via @herszenhorn: Brown loved a story with bit of zing, and was quick to share his enthusiasm even if it interrupted dinner. “That lede made me spit out my Malbec — brilliant,” he texted a reporter recently. “Reading the rest now.” https://www.politico.eu/...
Naomi O'Leary / @naomiohreally: This is the most horrible news. Stephen was brilliant. https://www.politico.eu/...
Cristina Gallardo / @gallardo_ortega: I'm terrible sad for his family and friends, my @POLITICOEurope team and myself, but also for all of you who didn't know Stephen, because you missed an exceptional human being. https://twitter.com/...
Matt Karnitschnig / @mkarnitschnig: I've spent more than half of my life in newsrooms. In a business full of outsized egos,Stephen was the rare exception of quiet authority and grace. I've yet to meet a more decent,genuine person in journalism or elsewhere.A gentleman in the very best sense. https://www.politico.eu/...
Hanne Cokelaere / @hclae: This is very, very hard to grasp. Stephen was sharp, funny, kind; a shining example and a friend to all of us. To say he'll be missed is an understatement. https://www.politico.eu/...
John F. Harris / @harrispolitico: This has been a devastating week at Politico, with the sudden loss Thursday of @POLITICOEurope editor in chief @Stephen_G_Brown. He was an extraordinary journalist, with a special gift for human connection. Please read @herszenhorn's well-turned obituary. https://www.politico.eu/...
Noah Barkin / @noahbarkin: Tragic news. Stephen was a good friend & colleague. He was also an excellent journalist. But above all he was a good person - patient, thoughtful, never short-tempered even when under intense pressure. So sad that he has left us https://twitter.com/...
Mary Milliken / @mhmilliken: So many of us @Reuters who worked with Stephen Brown are devastated by his passing. I succeeded him as bureau chief in Buenos Aires, inheriting the most wonderful, cohesive, warm team. He was loved by his staff, wherever he went. https://www.politico.eu/...
Sherazade Semsar / @sherazadesemsar: Yesterday I lost more than a colleague, I lost a friend. Stephen was modest, Stephen was extremely smart, Stephen cared about every reporter, Stephen was an outstanding editor. Stephane, I will miss you and I am grateful to have worked with you. https://www.politico.eu/...
Kate Day / @kate_day: Completely heartbroken 💔 Stephen was the most brilliant and courageous journalist, an inspiration and a true friend. I feel so lucky to have worked for him and thankful for all the many ways he supported and encouraged me and countless others https://www.politico.eu/...
Tom McTague / @tommctague: This is absolutely devastating, shocking, awful. Stephen was such a lovely man, fantastic boss and wonderful journalist. He looked out for you, cared about the team, cared about Politico—he took your copy and made it better. I still can't quite believe it. https://www.politico.eu/...
Jack Blanchard / @jack_blanchard_: This is the darkest day for Politico. Everyone who worked with Stephen knows what a phenomenal journalist he was, and an absolutely brilliant guy. Genuinely cannot believe it. https://www.politico.eu/...
Sofia Diogo Mateus / @sofiadmateus: Stephen was a wonderful boss and easily the most down-to-earth person I've ever seen run a newsroom, offering book recommendations based on your tweets, to go with the political commentary. He was an exceptional journalist and will be very missed. https://twitter.com/...
Tara Palmeri / @tarapalmeri: Stephen Brown is one of the best humans I have ever worked with. He's the guy you wanted to sit next to during a 24 hour marathon euco summit — he had the best jokes and the hottest takes. A rare intellectual without pretense. He embodied the magic of Politico Europe. https://twitter.com/...
Tara Palmeri / @tarapalmeri: I still will never forget when he took his front tooth out at work to make me feel better when I stumbled into work after losing a tooth while biting on a stale chip in Prague! @KaminskiMK https://twitter.com/...
Tim Ball / @tball: I am deeply grateful for the painstaking care paid by @herszenhorn in this pitch-perfect tribute to our leader; and by @DRandallArt in drawing Stephen's portrait for it. https://www.politico.eu/...
Margaritis Schinas / @margschinas: I had the chance to appreciate Stephen Brown's pleasant character, clever wit and ability to connect with others. He oversaw @POLITICOEurope expansion to a major trans European media outlet. He will be greatly missed. @SherazadeSemsar https://www.politico.eu/...
@blakehounshell: We're devastated. I didn't know Stepehn well, but I knew him an invariably kind, thoughtful and patient journalist who always had his eye on the bigger picture. RIP. https://www.politico.eu/...
Josh Posaner / @joshposaner: A terrible loss, and a giant of a boss. Here's just a snapshot of Stephen's journalism to underscore why we were all in awe of him as an editor https://www.politico.eu/...
Tim Ball / @tball: I woke up hoping that yesterday had been some sort of horrible nightmare. There aren't enough adjectives to describe Stephen as a person, a newsman, a boss. https://www.politico.eu/...
Carmen Paun / @carmenpaun: I've been having flashbacks of my conversation with @Stephen_G_Brown since the horrible news. After interviewing a PM once, I came back upset and told Stephen I knew he was lying to me. “You have to stop getting hot under the collar, Carmen. That's what politicians do: they lie.” https://twitter.com/...
Tom McTague / @tommctague: It says a lot about Stephen that everyone who knew him and worked with him will feel the same. Everyone liked Stephen as a man and respected him as a journalist. So sad. https://twitter.com/...
Matthew Yglesias / @mattyglesias: Here's how the Substack “scam” worked in my case. I was interested in returning to my blogging roots, but with the new kind of subscription-based model that @benthompson pioneered and I'd also seen @emorwee and @JuddLegum succeed with. I thought I could make it work. But...
Thomas Moore / The Hill: Politico Europe's Editor-in-Chief Stephen Brown dies
Barbara Moens / @bmoens: Stephen was a brilliant editor in chief, a moral compass and intellectual guide without the cynicism or arrogance that one might expect after such a career. I am honored to have worked with him. https://www.politico.eu/...
Twitter:
Twitter launches a public survey on whether world leaders should be subject to the same rules as others and what type of enforcement action is appropriate — We first explained how we define the public interest on Twitter, as well as our principles and approach to world leaders on our service in 2019.
Discussion:
@twittersafety: Interested in sharing your views? Keep an 👀on this thread for more in the coming days. https://blog.twitter.com/...
Mitchell Clark / The Verge: Twitter wants to know if you think world leaders should get special treatment
@onairwithrick: Say all you want about @Twitter, but at least they are TRYING to make social media a better place. 👏🏻👏🏻 👏🏻👏🏻 👏🏻 https://twitter.com/...
Asian American Journalists Association:
In the wake of the Atlanta shooting, AAJA urges newsrooms to empower Asian American and Pacific Islander journalists given their sources and their expertise — Contact: Naomi Tacuyan Underwood, Executive Director / naomitu@aaja.org — On behalf of our broadcast members nationwide …
Discussion:
@aaja, Columbia Journalism Review, The Guardian, Vanity Fair, @ndungca, @emmacarew, @marcusjdl, @kat__stafford, @tori_bedford, @sergiomarbel, @jillgeisler, @gia_vang, @jennyyangtv, @myhlee, @sfmarmendoza, @bykristinep, @jeremylittau, @ishaantharoor, @melissakxly4, @abbierbennett, @keopu, @kat__stafford, @jessicavalenti, @goawaywithjae, @katxmoon, @amybwang, @erinblogan, @amandaleeap, @poynter, @markfollman, bookforum.com, @kat__stafford, Washington Post and @chriscuomo
Discussion:
@aaja: STATEMENT: AAJA Encourages Newsrooms to Empower AAPI Journalists and Their Expertise Since the shootings, we have heard some deeply concerning problems in newsrooms across the country, including in Atlanta: “Are you sure your bias won't show if you cover the Atlanta shootings?”
Vivian Ho / The Guardian: Police patrols have increased in Asian areas. Not everyone is feeling safer
Nicole Dungca / @ndungca: the latest from @aaja: Newsrooms must empower their AAPI journalists to work on stories like the Atlanta shootings. If media outlets don't get access to AAPI communities because of language/cultural barriers, we miss major parts of these crucial stories. https://aaja.org/... https://twitter.com/...
Emma Carew Grovum / @emmacarew: Love to remember the time a college editor told me it “looked like” a conflict of interest for me to cover the Chinese new year. (not that it matters, I'm not Chinese, I'm Korean. Which she knew) (not that it matters, but she, as a white person, covered white people too) https://twitter.com/...
Marcus / @marcusjdl: Your reminder that considering white people “impartial” but poc as not when covering race matters is really racist 🎉 https://twitter.com/...
Kat Stafford / @kat__stafford: This. Such important points. Why do journalists of color face these bias/objectivity questions? Would an editor ask the same of white journalists? Our personal experiences and understanding of communities helps inform reporting. https://twitter.com/...
Tori Bedford / @tori_bedford: an Asian student asked me about this at a panel a few years ago and I was taken aback, wondering where the idea of “bias” in covering Asian communities came from. Your personal experience, your LIVED experience— ADDS to your credibility. IDENTITY IS NOT A CONFLICT OF INTEREST. https://twitter.com/...
Sergio Martnez-Beltrn / @sergiomarbel: Editors never ask white reporters whether their bias would show when reporting a story. They only ask journalists of color. That shows their bias, right? Good for @aaja for this amazing thread. I hope we all can stand in solidarity with our AAPI colleagues today and forever. https://twitter.com/...
Jill Geisler / @jillgeisler: Bias? No. Just no. Expertise and insight? Yes. Absolutely. https://twitter.com/...
Gia Vang / @gia_vang: The burden of being “the only one” in the newsroom creates a professional and emotional toll ... may feel responsible for representing the entire AAPI community, often without the leadership titles to make editorial or staffing decisions. Via @aaja https://aaja.org/...
Jenny Yang / @jennyyangtv: mayhaps white reporters covering this white murderer are be too biased to cover this #Atlanta shooting 🤷🏻♀ ️ https://twitter.com/...
Michelle Ye Hee Lee / @myhlee: Since the shootings, @AAJA members reported: -being fluent in Korean, knowing ATL, asking to cover but being told they may be too biased -being the only AAPI at work and feeling overwhelmed they have to represent all AAPIs -& more. To their newsrooms: https://aaja.org/...
Mariecar Mendoza / @sfmarmendoza: And this shouldn't just be a thing right now. This should happen👏🏽 every 👏🏽 time👏🏽 https://twitter.com/...
@bykristinep: This is the kind of close-minded thinking that newsroom managers should stop. Knowing people's language, city and culture doesn't make you a biased reporter. It makes you the perfect person for the job because you can capture their lives with nuance and sensitivity. https://twitter.com/...
Jeremy Littau / @jeremylittau: That newsrooms are asking this is yet another sign the modern practice of journalistic objectivity is so deeply broken (read the whole thread) https://twitter.com/...
Ishaan Tharoor / @ishaantharoor: The invocation of “bias” here is deeply disturbing — and says a lot more about the newsroom manager who would even think that than the journalist from an East Asian background https://twitter.com/...
Melissa Luck / @melissakxly4: Thankful @aaja for this. Every journalist in my newsroom is qualified to put aside bias & cover a story. Sometimes, the people closest to it are EXACTLY the ones who should be covering it. The Asian journalists in my newsroom bring a cultural perspective that we're lucky to have https://twitter.com/...
Abbie Bennett / @abbierbennett: No one is asking white reporters this when we write about white people. https://twitter.com/...
@keopu: This is NOT OKAY. 😡 Are white journalists (especially men) being questioned if they can fairly and accurately cover the white man killer? Nope. White journalists who want to be allies? Now's your chance. Step up in your newsrooms for your Asian American colleagues. https://twitter.com/...
Kat Stafford / @kat__stafford: This is akin to the objectivity questions Black journalists faced (and continue to face) while covering Black Lives Matter protests and the racial reckoning. This is all borne of the fact that whiteness is considered by many to be the objective norm in our industry.
Jessica Valenti / @jessicavalenti: Are white men ever told they'd be biased towards the shooter? https://twitter.com/...
@goawaywithjae: This is such sh!t. White journalists aren't told they're too biased to cover white people, but POCs can't be objective? They said this decades ago & it hasn't changed one bit. Hire reporters who speak the languages of the communities you cover, you stupid racist fvcks. https://twitter.com/...
Kat Moon / @katxmoon: please read this thread. “Are you sure your bias won't show?” is a ridiculous response on so many levels. I've seen this week at TIME the incredible work that comes from a newsroom empowering AAPI journalists who want to be a part of the coverage https://twitter.com/...
Amy B Wang / @amybwang: Taking a moment to appreciate @aaja and @myhlee for their relentless work and advocacy for AAPI journalists always, but especially this week: https://twitter.com/...
Erin B. Logan / @erinblogan: were any white journalists asked this during the fallout of the Capitol siege? https://twitter.com/...
Amanda Lee Myers / @amandaleeap: Unacceptable, ridiculous and another form of discrimination. No one asked if I'd be biased when I covered shootings of white people. https://twitter.com/...
@poynter: Questions journalists need to stop and ask themselves: Are we parroting other news organizations because we think that gives us cover? Are we quoting the police because we think that protects us? Are we getting as many sides of the story as we can? https://www.poynter.org/...
Mark Follman / @markfollman: Safe to say yesterday was ‘a really bad day’ for media covering the immediate aftermath of the mass shooting in Atlanta. As usual, @Sulliview nails it. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
bookforum.com: The Asian American Journalists Association on coverage of the Atlanta shootings; Kazuo Ishiguro discusses artificial intelligence
Kat Stafford / @kat__stafford: Evergreen reminder: “... the phrase “police said” is not shorthand for the truth.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Mike Isaac / New York Times:
Some political cartoonists like The Nib's Matt Bors face continued Facebook takedowns, as AI and human moderators struggle with satire — As Facebook has become more active at moderating political speech, it has had trouble dealing with satire. — SAN FRANCISCO — Since 2013 …
Discussion:
@nytimesbusiness, @evelyndouek, @mattbors, @vesper385, @dfrlab, @mehdirhasan, @evelyndouek, @americascomic, @mattbors, @peterfhart, @peterquirk, @stevesi, @staceynycdc, @harrymccracken, @benjysarlin, @andresm84409227, @americascomic, @adamserwer, @halltoons, @dangainor, @mikeisaac, @patbagley and @rubenbolling
Discussion:
@nytimesbusiness: “They are going to have to develop some literacy around satire,” Matt Bors, a political cartoonist, said of Facebook. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Matt Bors / @mattbors: This is the main cartoon in question, which was removed after a mass reporting campaign by Proud Boys for hurting their feelings (Gavin McInnes also emailed me to complain). https://thenib.com/...
Adin Heller / @vesper385: “Sometimes I do think about if a joke is worth it, or if it's going to get us banned,” he said. “The problem with that is, where is the line on that kind of thinking?” :: For Political Cartoonists, the Irony Was That Facebook Didn't Recognize Irony https://www.nytimes.com/...
@dfrlab: Satire, and comedy in general, can be a difficult gray area for social media platforms to police for extremism and disinformation. Where do you think, if at all, a line should be drawn on what is satire and what is purposefully dangerous? https://www.nytimes.com/...
Mehdi Hasan / @mehdirhasan: I'm sure the right's free speech brigade and cancel culture warriors will be all over this story and attacking Facebook for bias against left-wing comics, right? Right? https://www.nytimes.com/...
Evelyn Douek / @evelyndouek: Alt headline: “Facebook, Like Every Speech-Regulation Regime in History, Struggles with Satire” CoMo at scale is all about error choice. I can't help but feel like, in part, we asked for this. (the piece is nuanced and gets at this) https://www.nytimes.com/...
@americascomic: And, it's like, if their moderation puts their careers at risk then that's a sign the company has way too much sway over the ecosystem of the internet
Matt Bors / @mattbors: For the last couple months we've been dealing with Facebook publishing restrictions and a threat to delete The Nib's page based on mass reporting from the right. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Peter Hart / @peterfhart: “Many of the political cartoonists whose commentary was taken down by FB were left-leaning... Conservatives have previously accused Facebook and other internet platforms of suppressing only right-wing views.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
@peterquirk: @evelyndouek I don't think any of us (ordinary users) asked for scale. We did ask for CoMo. It would be worth asking whether we would all prefer much smaller communities while having access to a scalable directory service from which to invite people to our communities.
Steven Sinofsky / @stevesi: For Political Cartoonists, the Irony Was That Facebook Didn't Recognize Irony https://www.nytimes.com/... // wait so there are unintended side effects in pushing companies to moderate?
Stacey E. Singleton / @staceynycdc: “Facebook has had trouble identifying the slipperiest and subtlest of political content: satire. While satire and irony are common in everyday speech, the company's AI systems — and even its human moderators — can have difficulty distinguishing them.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
Harry McCracken / @harrymccracken: More and more, I wonder if moderation at scale is just impossible. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Benjy Sarlin / @benjysarlin: Asking Facebook to figure out satire gives me a headache just thinking about it https://www.nytimes.com/...
@andresm84409227: @halltoons Facebook has removed some of my stuff a couple of times & twitter has cancelled my account more than a dozen times. FB doesn't have much of a sense of humor.
@americascomic: journalists stop writing about Facebook like it's an event of nature acting beyond our understanding and letting their PR team rationalize bad moderation policy. Twitter, Reddit doesn't have this problem. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@adamserwer: This left wing political correctness is getting out of control https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Ed Hall / @halltoons: I'm quoted in this New York Times piece today. Interesting timing after my kerfuffle with Reddit this week. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Dan Gainor / @dangainor: Restrict less content. Problem solved. | For Political Cartoonists, the Irony Was That Facebook Didn't Recognize Irony https://www.nytimes.com/...
Rat King / @mikeisaac: here is a story about Facebook's never ending content moderation challenge, and the difficulty presented with irony in language. this is exemplified in work by cartoonists like @MattBors whose pieces have been taken down repeatedly https://www.nytimes.com/...
Jim Waterson / The Guardian:
UK's Reach will tell three-quarters of its staff to permanently work from home as it closes dozens of newspaper offices in mid-sized towns — Reach, which also owns Express, Star and regional papers, will shut offices in dozens of mid-sized towns — One of the UK's leading news publishers …
Discussion:
CityAM, @ianvisits, @david_hewson, @jackrivlin, @harrytaylr, @isobeljourno, @adamcrafton_, @dwright75, @andyjey, @jonbradyphoto, @mikejjennings, @tobirachel_, @mattjp, @benquinn75, @pressgazette, @imbadatlife, @jennylconstable, @sachinnakrani, @jasongroves1, @manaman_chhina, @pkelso, @fhamiltontimes, @karinwahlj and @jimwaterson
Discussion:
Jessica Clark / CityAM: Exclusive: Daily Mirror publisher Reach to close a London office and make most staff permanent home workers
@ianvisits: Journalists writing for the Mirror can work from home says Mirror newspaper owner. https://www.theguardian.com/ ... Also in the Mirror newspaper. https://www.mirror.co.uk/... https://twitter.com/...
David Hewson / @david_hewson: But how are trainee journalists supposed to learn if they're not in an office? I went through all that. Can't imagine picking up the job remotely from scratch. “Mirror owner to tell most journalists to permanently work from home” https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Jack Rivlin / @jackrivlin: Reach consistently finding ways to make being a journalist more depressing https://twitter.com/...
Harry Taylor / @harrytaylr: Everyone loses here. Harder for young journalists to be mentored and learn, harder for reporters to collaborate, harder for editors to run a newspaper, and readers suffer as a result. Trebles all round. https://twitter.com/...
Isobel Frodsham / @isobeljourno: Just unbelievably sad and a terrible idea. Some of my colleagues who I sat next to in my early days as a reporter gave me some lessons that I still think about and use today. Reporting and editing is a collaborative process. https://twitter.com/...
Adam Crafton / @adamcrafton_: Besides the obvious downsides of this, curious to know what this means for work experience/internship experiences. There's a lot of us who learned a huge amount just by being given the chance to observe and listen to newsroom conversations https://twitter.com/...
Duncan Wright / @dwright75: Will they be expecting their staff to have their own separate office space at home, fully compliant with H&S for work station set-up? Pay for broadband and satellite connections? Money over staff..... https://twitter.com/...
Andrew Johnson / @andyjey: This is bad news for journalism. Journalists are constantly learning from each other, from discussions and spontaneous chats, and older journalists passing down anecdotes, tips, advice and standing over the shoulders of younger colleagues. https://twitter.com/...
Jon Brady / @jonbradyphoto: This is a really disappointing move! While, yes, journalists *can* and *are* working from home, I'd say we do our best work when we're bouncing ideas off of one another and our editors (even when they say our ideas are shit). A Teams meeting isn't the same as a busy newsroom. https://twitter.com/...
Mike Jennings / @mikejjennings: More bad news for the local press. Can't help but think that companies like Reach are running it into the ground with its “cut off your nose to spite your face” approach. There's got to be a better way. https://twitter.com/...
Tob Rachel / @tobirachel_: If this continues across the media industry and the city sector in general ... does this mean non-native Londoners will leave London and native Londoners can afford London again and move back in from Essex and Surrey? https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Matt Porter / @mattjp: Jim's just doing his job here, but incredibly poor darts from whoever inside the company couldn't wait for all staff to be briefed before leaking this https://twitter.com/...
Ben Quinn / @benquinn75: Terrible news in particular for lower-paid younger journalists working in cramped conditions at ‘home’ & deprived of that initial newsroom face time https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
@pressgazette: @DomPonsford Reach's own staff survey found 89% said home working at least partly suited their needs and 54% said it gave them a better work-life balance, although 70% missed seeing their colleagues https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/ ...
Luke Bailey / @imbadatlife: based on my timeline i'm in a minority, but - this is going to happen more and more, and figuring out how to make it work could bring significant advantages to newsrooms that do it properly https://twitter.com/...
@jennylconstable: As a young journalist and writer, not being able to work under the guidance of my more experienced colleagues and editors has had a big impact on my professional development over the past year. There's only so much virtual training I can do. https://twitter.com/...
Sachin Nakrani / @sachinnakrani: The longer lockdown has been going the more I've worried this would happen - newspaper groups seeing staff working from home and thinking ‘hang on, we can save some money here’. For reasons ranging from good collaboration to good mental health - journalists need an office. https://twitter.com/...
Jason Groves / @jasongroves1: Good luck to the trainee hacks trying to learn the job from home https://twitter.com/...
Man Aman Singh Chhina / @manaman_chhina: I have a gut feeling this will be replicated in India very soon. https://twitter.com/...
Paul Kelso / @pkelso: Learnt more in first six months watching, listening & learning from established journalists in a newsroom than in decades since. Also: the pub https://twitter.com/...
Fiona Hamilton / @fhamiltontimes: This morning I was talking to work experience students and it brought back some wonderful memories of the thriving, fast paced and brilliant regional newsrooms I worked in as a young reporter in Australia. This news is utterly depressing https://twitter.com/...
Professor Karin Wahl-Jorgensen / @karinwahlj: This is huge news in journalism. Major move towards the end of the newsroom as we know it. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Jim Waterson / @jimwaterson: End of the newsroom? Publisher Reach (Mirror/Express) to close all small town newspaper offices, move vast majority of journalists to permanently work from home, national titles affected, goodbye expensive office space where editors can shout at reporters. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
The Business of Business:
Q&A with Morning Brew cofounder Austin Rief on plans for subscriptions, why they accepted Axel Springer's offer, and retaining staff with the rise of Substack — Morning Brew isn't just a newsletter, it's a burgeoning email empire. It counts five verticals — including its namesake newsletter …
Thanks:@smalera
Hanaa' Tameez / Nieman Lab:
A group of climate journalists is launching The Uproot Project, a network for environmental journalists of color, to be modeled after the Ida B. Wells Society — The climate crisis may be the biggest story of our lifetime, and the news industry is increasingly coming to grips with the fact …
Discussion:
@rachjuramirez, @jane_c_hu, @prosaaquino, @dataprogress, @hanaatameez, @dharnanoor and @naveenasivam
Discussion:
Rachel Ramirez / @rachjuramirez: “Climate change also doesn't impact everyone equally, which is why a diverse, culturally competent press is vital to covering and enacting climate solutions.” Find me w/ my blonde hair & read @yessfun dropping the truth about the need for @uproot_project: https://www.niemanlab.org/...
Jane C. Hu / @jane_c_hu: are you a journalist of color who covers (or wants to cover!) climate and the environment? join us at the @uproot_project! sign up to get updates at https://uprootproject.org/, and read more about the project in this @NiemanLab piece by @HanaaTameez: https://www.niemanlab.org/...
Paola Rosa-Aquino / @prosaaquino: Check out this new @NiemanLab story on @uproot_project and join us this Saturday! P.S. Love that my pup Cece makes a cameo in the header image 🐶 https://www.niemanlab.org/...
@dataprogress: “The project will officially launch with a discussion with Julian Brave NoiseCat, a journalist and VP of Data for Progress, whose work has largely focused on how Indigenous people and cultures can offer solutions to the world's most pressing issues.” https://www.niemanlab.org/...
@hanaatameez: It's so exciting in this sad industry to see journalists of color making space for each other and the next generation. There's no beat where this is more necessary than climate change. https://www.niemanlab.org/... Register for Uproot's launch event here: https://www.eventbrite.com/...
@dharnanoor: excited about the @uproot_project becoming a reality! check out the launch event tomorrow if you can https://www.niemanlab.org/...
Naveena Sadasivam / @naveenasivam: “There are very many of us who are Black or Indigenous, or people of color, but the folks who get the byline at the big magazines, who get the cover stories on climate change are often white older dudes” @yessfun talks to @HanaaTameez about @uproot_project https://www.niemanlab.org/...