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Jeffrey Goldberg got the push notification of all push notifications — and a hell of a story
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Jeffrey Goldberg got the push notification of all push notifications — and a hell of a story
His inclusion on a high-level Signal chat about American war plans highlights how the Trump administration is operating — and how much of a threat it is to a free press.
By Joshua Benton
There’s another reason the L.A. Times’ AI-generated opinion ratings are bad (this one doesn’t involve the Klan)
At a time of increasing polarization and rigid ideologies, the L.A. Times has decided it wants to make its opinion pieces less persuasive to readers by increasing the cost of changing your mind.
By Joshua Benton
The NBA’s next big insider may be an outsider
While insiders typically work for established media companies like ESPN, Jake Fischer operates out of his Brooklyn apartment and publishes scoops behind a paywall on Substack. It’s not even his own Substack.
By Jordan Teicher
Wired’s un-paywalling of stories built on public data is a reminder of its role in the information ecosystem
Trump’s wholesale destruction of the information-generating sectors of the federal government will have implications that go far beyond .gov domains.
By Joshua Benton
New York Times bundles give European publishers a subscription boost
“There’s no reason to think this shouldn’t work in most markets where subscription-based payment is already well advanced.”
By Hanaa' Tameez
A pipeline company is suing Greenpeace for $300 million. A pay-to-play newspaper is accused of tainting the jury pool
Though Central ND News promises to “fill the void in community news after years of decline in local reporting by legacy media” with “100% original reporting,” no staff are listed on the site and few stories have bylines.
By Miranda Green
Local newsrooms are using AI to listen in on public meetings
Chalkbeat and Midcoast Villager have already published stories with sources and leads pulled from AI transcriptions.
By Andrew Deck
You can learn a conference’s worth of data journalism through these NICAR tipsheets
From AI to OSINT, maps to the sports section, it’s a data journalism jubilee.
By Joshua Benton
“More alarming by the day”: New York Times investigations editor on the legal threats faced by news publishers
“The rhetoric and actions that Trump and his allies take at a national level are being mimicked across the country at a much smaller level. Whether they’re Trump supporters or not, they’re taking cues from the President of the United States.”
By Sarah Scire
Jeffrey Goldberg got the push notification of all push notifications — and a hell of a story
His inclusion on a high-level Signal chat about American war plans highlights how the Trump administration is operating — and how much of a threat it is to a free press.
By Joshua Benton
There’s another reason the L.A. Times’ AI-generated opinion ratings are bad (this one doesn’t involve the Klan)
At a time of increasing polarization and rigid ideologies, the L.A. Times has decided it wants to make its opinion pieces less persuasive to readers by increasing the cost of changing your mind.
The NBA’s next big insider may be an outsider
While insiders typically work for established media companies like ESPN, Jake Fischer operates out of his Brooklyn apartment and publishes scoops behind a paywall on Substack. It’s not even his own Substack.
What We’re Reading
The Atlantic / Jeffrey Goldberg and Shane Harris
The Atlantic has published the texts from the Signal group chat
“The statements by Hegseth, Gabbard, Ratcliffe, and Trump — combined with the assertions made by numerous administration officials that we are lying about the content of the Signal texts — have led us to believe that people should see the texts in order to reach their own conclusions. There is a clear public interest in disclosing the sort of information that Trump advisers included in nonsecure communications channels, especially because senior administration figures are attempting to downplay the significance of the messages that were shared.”
The Washington Post / Jeremy Barr
The Trump White House shut out the AP. Its reporters keep showing up anyway.
“On a recent trip in early March, AP’s chief White House correspondent, Zeke Miller, was stationed in a parking lot while the official pool gathered inside a West Palm Beach library to await the president’s movements. Over the weekend, Miller ‘thoughtfully’ provided doughnuts and layer cakes for his colleagues in the pool, Birnbaum wrote in one of his dispatches. ‘One of the cakes was intended for “celebration,” per its label. We celebrated the First Amendment.'”
WIRED / Andy Greenberg and Matt Burgess
How to enter the U.S. with your digital privacy intact
“Citizens are far from immune. CBP detainees from journalists to filmmakers to security researchers have all had their devices taken out of their hands by agents.”
The New York Times / Benjamin Mullin
PBS and NPR prepare for a showdown with Congress
“They’re all getting ready for a hearing on Wednesday — ominously titled ‘Anti-American Airwaves’ — organized by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia Republican who leads a House subcommittee tied to Elon Musk’s efforts to cut federal spending.”
The New York Times / Katie Robertson and David Enrich
Chris LaCivita is the latest Trump ally to file a defamation suit over unfavorable reporting
“The Daily Beast said in a statement that the outlet stood by its reporting on Mr. LaCivita. ‘His lawsuit is meritless and a transparent attempt to intimidate The Beast and silence the independent press,’ the statement said. ‘The Beast will defend itself vigorously and looks forward to following the money to confirm where every penny flowed in LaCivita’s LLC.'”
The Washington Post / Laura Wagner
Asking “Who are you with?” is Trump’s latest way to pick at the media
“When the reporter replied that she worked for NBC News, Trump waved her off and ignored the question. ‘I don’t want to talk to NBC anymore. I think you’re so discredited,’ he said. The president has employed the same strategy in recent weeks to dismiss questions from reporters at other news organizations, including The Washington Post, HuffPost and Voice of America.”
Vanity Fair / Anna Peele
Nick Denton on moving to Hungary and life past Gawker
“My line is that Musk did not take over Twitter, Twitter took over Musk.”
Bloomberg / Richard Zoglin
A look back at The Onion’s history previews how comedy can deal with a satire-proof presidency
“As Trump has entered his second term with guns blazing, the comedians aren’t backing off. But the stridency can be wearing. [Stephen] Colbert’s gleeful Trump-bashing, in particular, has become hard to watch — an insult comic throwing out red meat to the cheers of a like-minded audience. ‘I don’t even know what to say anymore,’ [Seth] Meyers pleaded after one of Trump’s loonier riffs on the California wildfires. ‘I’m so over this guy. I’m running out of clever retorts.'”
The Washington Post / Sammy Westfall
Israeli strikes kill two Gaza journalists, including Al Jazeera reporter
“Al Jazeera reporter Hossam Shabat was killed in an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza on Monday, months after the Israeli military accused him of being a member of Hamas, an allegation rejected by Al Jazeera and condemned by the Committee to Protect Journalists as a ‘smear campaign.'”
The Washington Post / Tobi Raji
Six Voice of America journalists sue Trump officials for dismantling the outlet
“The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of New York, asks a federal judge to order officials to restore VOA, effectively reversing part of President Donald Trump’s executive order issued earlier this month that dismantled the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). The agency oversees Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting and Radio Free Asia.”
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