inkwell.vue.553
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State of the News 2025
permalink #251 of 264: RTFM, people. RTFM. (sunbear) Tue 26 Aug 25 09:01
permalink #251 of 264: RTFM, people. RTFM. (sunbear) Tue 26 Aug 25 09:01
And here's a grim article about the effects in Alaska of cuttingâ
funds for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/us/politics/public-broadcast-cuts.html?unlo
cked_article_code=1.hE8.G7xQ.9T04Cmr0Znse&smid=url-share
inkwell.vue.553
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State of the News 2025
permalink #252 of 264: Emily Gertz (emilyg) Thu 28 Aug 25 10:48
permalink #252 of 264: Emily Gertz (emilyg) Thu 28 Aug 25 10:48
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will go all-digital at the end ofâ
the year.
"For the past three years, the AJC has worked to transform theâ
newspaper, which traces its origins back 157 years, into a modernâ
media company, investing millions in new reporting capabilities andâ
technology. That strategy has centered on an ambitious goal to reachâ
500,000 paid digital subscribers."
https://www.ajc.com/business/2025/08/ajc-to-move-to-fully-digital-publication-
phase-out-print-dec-31/
inkwell.vue.553
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State of the News 2025
permalink #253 of 264: Ari Davidow (ari) Thu 28 Aug 25 10:55
permalink #253 of 264: Ari Davidow (ari) Thu 28 Aug 25 10:55
I see less and less point to print newspapers. We still subscribe toâ
our local daily (and the Sunday Times), but every time they raiseâ
the rates or the carrier forgets to deliver, I have to wonder,
"why"?
inkwell.vue.553
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State of the News 2025
permalink #254 of 264: Emily Gertz (emilyg) Thu 28 Aug 25 10:57
permalink #254 of 264: Emily Gertz (emilyg) Thu 28 Aug 25 10:57
These move by newspapers to all-digital are probably good forâ
forests (even tree plantations absorb some carbon from theâ
atmosphere), and make sense for the business.
It's no longer a strain to imagine the US going the way of China inâ
terms of internet surveillance and access, though. So even asideâ
from nostalgia or preference for reading the news on paper, thisâ
makes me uneasy.
inkwell.vue.553
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State of the News 2025
permalink #255 of 264: Emily Gertz (emilyg) Thu 28 Aug 25 10:57
permalink #255 of 264: Emily Gertz (emilyg) Thu 28 Aug 25 10:57
Before this year, I would have largely agreed with you, Ari.
inkwell.vue.553
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State of the News 2025
permalink #256 of 264: Ari Davidow (ari) Thu 28 Aug 25 11:57
permalink #256 of 264: Ari Davidow (ari) Thu 28 Aug 25 11:57
I agree, but I also think that ship has sailed - we'll need to fightâ
surveillance overtly. Somewhat depressing to realize no progressâ
will be likely made to change things over the next few years.
There is still something uniquely satisfying about opening a fullâ
sheet newspaper to scan all the various stories. We do get theâ
Sunday Santa Rosa Press Democrat, but alas we canceled because it isâ
too expensive.
I have to go with books for reading print on a page, which I doâ
every night before retiring. But as we all know, reading withâ
reflected light (paper and kindle) is quite different than readingâ
with generated light (glowing screens on laptops, monitors pads andâ
phones).
inkwell.vue.553
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State of the News 2025
permalink #258 of 264: Emily Gertz (emilyg) Wed 10 Sep 25 06:53
permalink #258 of 264: Emily Gertz (emilyg) Wed 10 Sep 25 06:53
Despite many grim predictions to the contrary in the Aughts, printâ
books seem to be doing great! I don't keep up with book industryâ
news, but can say anecdotally that there are now three or fourâ
excellent independent small bookstores within a 20-minute walk of myâ
building in Brooklyn. One of them is just blocks away.
When I moved here in 2001, the only nearby bookstore was the Barnesâ
& Noble about 25-30 minute walk away (depending on walking speed;â
and just 10 minutes by subway). The first independent bookstore wasâ
a 40-minute walk.
inkwell.vue.553
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State of the News 2025
permalink #259 of 264: Emily Gertz (emilyg) Wed 10 Sep 25 07:02
permalink #259 of 264: Emily Gertz (emilyg) Wed 10 Sep 25 07:02
Soo much news about news in the past week, and mostly veryâ
"concerning," to use a favorite word of the remaining bigâ
newspapers.
Before getting into that, I want to share a quote from an essay byâ
Filipe de la Hoz in Flaming Hydra. He's teaches at the NYU j-school,â
and is also a civic reporter for a local community news site calledâ
Epicenter (itself a really interesting story.
In this portion of his essay (and please read the whole thing), heâ
explains why legacy media remain so crucial to reporting the news:
"Say what you will about the New York Times, and I certainly have aâ
lot of problems with it, few other papers have the bandwidth andâ
resources, for example, to painstakingly report out the story of aâ
botched U.S. Navy Seal incursion into North Korea that ended withâ
special forces gunning down a boatful of civilians and sinking theirâ
bodies into the ocean. Though it is helpful to be able to dedicateâ
reporters to protracted investigations that may or may not pan out,â
thatâs just the beginning.
"To do this type of work effectively, publications also needâ
security teams, cybersecurity tools, the ability and willingness toâ
defend against legal threats, attempted boycotts, and so on. This isâ
only really possible at scale, and so at the risk of pissing offâ
some of my dear co-writers here, I think journalism needs somethingâ
like the big legacy outlets in addition to our smaller projectsâ
(which can also act as a bit of a check on the bigger outlets, asâ
our Jonathan Katz did in March, when he scooped everyone on theâ
story of Sen. Katie Britt misrepresenting the story of a traffickingâ
survivor in her State of the Union response)."
https://flaminghydra.com/tomorrows-journalists/
inkwell.vue.553
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State of the News 2025
permalink #260 of 264: Emily Gertz (emilyg) Wed 10 Sep 25 07:03
permalink #260 of 264: Emily Gertz (emilyg) Wed 10 Sep 25 07:03
Whups, actual journalism work intervenes. More soon.
inkwell.vue.553
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State of the News 2025
permalink #261 of 264: Ari Davidow (ari) Wed 10 Sep 25 09:57
permalink #261 of 264: Ari Davidow (ari) Wed 10 Sep 25 09:57
I think most ecosystems rely on a complex weave of big and littleâ
systems. There is a lot of thinking as though only the bigâ
ecosystems matter - the Walmarts, the NY Times, etc. And, they doâ
for the reasons you state, Emily (at least in the case of the NYâ
Times). But, having smaller, more nimble organizations, or simplyâ
smaller places trying different ideas, is also vital.
And, yet, jumping back up a few replies, I treasure the small,â
independent bookstores in ways that I don't treasure their megaâ
cousins. On the very rare occasion I order a book from Amazon, itâ
feels like a failure to me. My local independent can order justâ
about anything (other than Amazon imprints) for me. I do miss theâ
fun of huge B&N stores, but by the time they were disappearing fromâ
the ecosystem, they didn't actually seem to hold a large variety ofâ
books - just a wide variety of book-related stuff and some books.
inkwell.vue.553
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State of the News 2025
permalink #262 of 264: Emily Gertz (emilyg) Mon 15 Sep 25 14:41
permalink #262 of 264: Emily Gertz (emilyg) Mon 15 Sep 25 14:41
In a gut-wrenching capitulation to the Trump administration, CBSâ
News last week announced that its ombudsman (having one was aâ
condition of approval for the Paramount-Warner Bros merger) will beâ
a longtime, pro-MAGA conservative policy wonk and operative, whoâ
heads a conservative think tank that has long had it in for theâ
so-called "liberal media".
There is also talk that Bari Weiss, who is far from an even-handedâ
information broker, will become news director.
It's going to feel weird to write off CBS News, but that feelingâ
proves I'm getting old. Millions of people probably barely know thatâ
CBS News exists, at this point.
inkwell.vue.553
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State of the News 2025
permalink #263 of 264: jelly fish challenged (reet) Tue 16 Sep 25 13:47
permalink #263 of 264: jelly fish challenged (reet) Tue 16 Sep 25 13:47
Bari Weiss? oi.
inkwell.vue.553
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State of the News 2025
permalink #264 of 264: Emily Gertz (emilyg) Fri 26 Sep 25 07:31
permalink #264 of 264: Emily Gertz (emilyg) Fri 26 Sep 25 07:31
Hi all. Been a bit ill so fell behind on posting about the state ofâ
the news.
This morning I'm reading a new piece by David Kurtz in Talkingâ
Points Memo: "Trump's Retribution Requires a New Way of Coveringâ
Bogus Criminal Cases."
https://morningmemo.talkingpointsmemo.com/p/trumps-retribution-requires-a-new?
r=2690ey
(The link is via The Daily Blast podcast - I think it's a gift-typeâ
link.)
Kurtz's key point is that reporters can't cover this Comeyâ
indictment in the way federal cases have been covered ever since theâ
Watergate-era. I'll let him explain since he does it so well:
"The key thing to remember is that weâre already well beyond theâ
event horizon in the corruption of the Justice Department. Ifâ
federal judges, having dispensed with the presumption of regularityâ
in the functioning of the government, no longer give the Justiceâ
Department the benefit of the doubt in court, then we shouldnâtâ
either.
"The implications of that shift are enormous, but too many editorsâ
and producers are not fully grappling with them yet.
...
"The incremental drip-by-drip news coverage of criminal cases,â
especially in public corruption cases â a highly competitive newsâ
environment that rewards the best access and quickest triggerâ
fingers â now does a public disservice. Continuing to cover bogusâ
prosecutions in the traditional ways gives a veneer of legitimacy toâ
what should be framed instead as illegitimate retribution, abuse ofâ
power, and public corruption in its own right."
It's dismaying to me that a decade into Trump's rise to power in theâ
US, major news outlets (including MSNBC's field reporters, asâ
opposed to its commentators) and a good many of the next-biggestâ
tier of outlets, are still ineffectively reporting on how he - writâ
large to include everyone involved - are using the regulatory, legalâ
and administrative systems in such bad faith.
A few weeks ago (an eternity), I helped write a story on theâ
response/debunking, by 85 scientists and other experts, to theâ
Energy Department's bogus "state of climate science" report. Thatâ
report was created solely as cover, however thin (and it's nearlyâ
transparent), for rescinding the legal basis for regulating carbonâ
pollution.
What struck me as we prepared this story was how good it felt toâ
simply call things by their real names:
- The five people who prepared the report have long histories asâ
prominent climate deniers.
- They are extreme outliers in the wide world of climate andâ
environmental science.
- The used several very common reality-denial debate tactics to tryâ
and prove their points.
- The scientific proof â the lived-experience proof â thatâ
carbon emissions are air pollution is even stronger now than when itâ
was established at the federal level nearly two decades ago.
We - I and my colleague Sharon - got to do this in plain termsâ
because our story was for DeSmog.com, which has spent 20 yearsâ
calling climate disinformation by its real name.
This is starting to happen widely now in terms of public health andâ
vaccine coverage, for obvious reasons, but in mcuh climate,â
environment and energy coverage it remains hit-or-miss.
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