Freedom of Press or Freedom to Surveil?

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Article in TechXplore by Jared Wadley, 1/7/25

Headline:  “Q&A: TikTok’s case could set a precedent for social media app bans”

“The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments this week about a pending ban on social media app TikTok, an outcome of a law signed by President Biden last April that would take effect Jan. 19.

“Oliver Haimson, assistant professor of information at the University of Michigan, said the stakes are high not only for China-based owner ByteDance to sell the app—which the company says violates First Amendment rights—but also for the reported 170 million TikTok users in the United States. The federal government has said the app threatens national security.”

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-01-qa-tiktok-case-social-media.html

Sad Journalism Anniversary

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Article in The Columbia Journalism Review by Jon Alsop, /7/25

Headline:  “The Unresolved Legacy of the Charlie Hebdo Massacre”

Subhead:  “The decade since the attack on a French satirical magazine.”

“. . .Ten years ago today, in January 2015, the staff of Charlie Hebdo held their first editorial meeting of the year. They debated a new book, by the controversial author Michel Houellebecq, depicting an imagined Muslim president of France; “everyone was on top form and happy,” one journalist recalled. The staff heard what they thought were firecrackers in the street outside, then saw a man enter the office with a gun; initially, the journalist said, the staff suspected a practical joke, but it soon transpired that it wasn’t. Two terrorists affiliated with a branch of Al Qaeda had gained entry to the offices. In total, they killed twelve people, including a janitor and eight members of the editorial staff. . .”

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/the-unresolved-legacy-of-the-charlie-hebdo-massacre.php

Social Media Facts Aren’t Real

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Article in The Guardian by Blake Montgomery, 1/7/25

Headline:  “Why did Mark Zuckerberg end Facebook and Instagram’s factchecking program?”

Subhead:  “The social media giant enters a more partisan political era as its CEO pursues Donald Trump’s approval”

Meta is shifting to the right, following the prevailing political winds blowing through the United States. A more partisan era now looms for the social media giant and its corporate leaders, though Mark Zuckerberg himself has few personal politics other than ambition.

“On Tuesday morning, Meta disbanded Facebook and Instagram’s third-party factchecking program. The company will also recommend more political content across its social networks.”

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/07/why-did-mark-zuckerberg-end-facebook-instagram-fact-checking

India Corruption Kills Reporter

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Photograph: @MukeshChandrak9

Article in The Guardian by Hannah Ellis-Petersen, 1/6/25

Headline:  “Indian press groups call for investigation after journalist’s body found in septic tank”

Subhead:   “Mukesh Chandrakar had reported on alleged corruption in the construction industry and had a popular YouTube channel”

“Indian media rights groups have called for an investigation after the body of a missing journalist was found hidden in a septic tank.

“Mukesh Chandrakar, 32, was a well-known freelance journalist in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh who contributed to some of the country’s biggest news channels. He had also widely reported on alleged corruption in the construction industry on his popular YouTube channel.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/06/indian-journalist-mukesh-chandrakar-body-found-in-septic-tank-ntwnfb

Millionaires and Press Freedom

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Norman Pearlstine, 1/6/25

Headline:  “Trump, the Public, and the Press”

Subhead:  “The billionaire class has proved itself a poor steward of media. Journalists must redouble their efforts to expose the threat to democracy.”

“. . .Even before taking office, the prospect of Trump’s controlling the White House, Congress, and Supreme Court frightened owners of once-proud news organizations. Some seem willing to undermine editorial independence to curry favor with the incoming president.

“Billionaires, once thought to be the saviors of journalism, are proving themselves poor stewards of media companies. It is always dangerous to generalize, but several billionaires who have purchased media companies treat their acquisitions as sidelines they can run without much hands-on attention. They believe that running a media company must be easier than whatever business made them rich and that their talent and training are easily transferable from their primary business to media. They also trust their instincts more than others’ experience.”

https://www.cjr.org/analysis/trump-public-press-bezos-soon-shiong-billionaire-owners-endorsements-scandal-los-angeles-times-washington-post.php

“Conservative” Media Rebrand January 6

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Article in Mediaite by Sarah Rumpf, 1/6/25

Headline: ” ‘Destroying His Legacy’: Remembering Trump’s Media Boosters Who Condemned Him Over Jan. 6″

“. . .On Jan. 6 and the days that followed, numerous conservative media personalities were clear and unflinching in condemning the violence, placing blame directly on Trump for inciting the rioters, and calling for the rioters to be criminally prosecuted. Their unvarnished critiques were issued while the adrenaline was still pumping through their veins and before they had the chance to conduct the cynical calculus of how speaking the truth might impede their career ambitions. As Trump spent the past four years both evading criminal accountability for his actions and mounting a stunning political comeback, many of these erstwhile critics have engaged in an aggressive retconning of their own words.”

https://www.mediaite.com/opinion/destroying-his-legacy-remembering-trumps-media-boosters-who-condemned-him-over-jan-6/

On Cartoonist Resignation by WAPO Media Critic

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Article from The Washington Post by Eric Wemple, media critic, 1/6/25

Question answered:  Resignation of WAPO Cartoonist

“Okay, let’s dig into the facts first: Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes, a staple of this section, announced her resignation from The Post in a Substack piece on Friday. Her resignation followed the spiking of a cartoon depicting Post owner and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, alongside other billionaires, genuflecting before a statue of President-elect Donald Trump. “As an editorial cartoonist, my job is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable. For the first time, my editor prevented me from doing that critical job,” Telnaes wrote in a post that prompted much critical commentary of The Post. David Shipley, who leads The Post’s Opinions section, issued a statement saying, “Not every editorial judgment is a reflection of a malign force. My decision was guided by the fact that we had just published a column on the same topic as the cartoon and had already scheduled another column — this one a satire — for publication. The only bias was against repetition.” Without context, Shipley’s explanation sounds as if it comes from left field. But actually: Reducing the duplication of opinions in column after column, video after video, cartoon after cartoon *has* been a steady emphasis of Shipley’s since he took over Post Opinions in September 2022. The section that he inherited was more of a freewheeling place where columnists often wrote off the news, with the frequent result being a number of pieces pegged to a single event and often expressing similar sentiments. He set out to fashion a more curated assortment of opinions with greater topical breadth. Also: Shipley told me last night that he made the decision on the Telnaes cartoon without consulting Bezos or Post Publisher Will Lewis. All that said, I find the explanation for killing the cartoon unconvincing and the decision demoralizing.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/01/06/erik-wemple-media-live-chat/

WAPO – Going No-Po?

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Article in The Guardian by Michael Sainto, 1/6/25

Headline:  “Washington Post expected to lay off dozens of staffers in coming week – report”

Subhead:  ” ‘Cuts will be deep’, media reporter writes, after paper faced scrutiny for halting endorsement of Harris in October”

“Dozens of employees are expected to be laid off at the Washington Post in the coming week in what is another of several tumultuous episodes in recent months for the storied title, according to a report by the media reporter Oliver Darcy.

“The layoffs are slated to hit the Jeff Bezos-owned … newspaper’s business division, I’m told. One person familiar with the matter said that the cuts will be deep, impacting many dozens of employees,” Darcy, the former CNN reporter, wrote in his newsletter Status.”

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/jan/06/washington-post-layoffs

The Law vs. The Media

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Article in Axios by Felix Salmon, 1/3/25

Headline:  “The hot new publishing platform is a legal filing”

“Filing a legal complaint is rapidly becoming the self-publishing option of choice for individuals looking to make explosive public allegations — regardless of whether they actually care about a judge finding in their favor.

“Why it matters: In an era of steadily declining trust in media, the dry formalities of a legal template provide not only an imprimatur of institutional credibility, but also the freedom to go into extreme amounts of detail without seeming petty, tedious or self-indulgent.”

https://www.axios.com/2025/01/02/lawsuits-publishing-platform-lively-baldoni

Snake Oil in the Media

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Article in Raw Story by Carl Gibson, 1/4/25

Headline: ” ‘Failing to tell the central story’: Reporter reveals what media misses in Trump coverage”

“n a recent post to his blog, veteran journalist Dan Froomkin argued that mainstream media outlets’ coverage of President-elect Donald Trump has been dismal in its grasp of who Trump is on a fundamental level. He then relayed advice from another experienced reporter on how journalists can more accurately cover the incoming administration over the next four years.

“On his website Press Watch, Froomkin argued that Trump should be viewed not merely as a politician, but as a ‘proverbial snake-oil salesman.” He opined that media outlets that failed to ‘situate Trump’s words and actions in the context of an ongoing con” were engaging in ‘deception’ by ‘failing to tell the central story.’ Froomkin cited Pulitzer Prize winner David Cay Johnston, who referred to the 45th and 47th president of the United States as ‘the greatest con artist in the history of the world.’ ”

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-media-coverage/