media – Page 2 – Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 3

Carole Cadwalladr’s Final Column for The Observer

But she hasn’t stopped observing.

A couple of weeks ago I linked to Carol Cadwalladr’s recent return to the TED conference to deliver a speech entitled This Is What A Digital Coup Looks Like. It’s worth a watch if you care about such things. Heck, it should be required reading if you care at all about what’s happening in our digital and non-digital lives.

This post is linking to her farewell column in The Observer, the Sunday sister paper to The Guardian and The Guardian Weekly papers in Britain. Like all media outlets it’s been through some things in recent years. The Observer was purchased late in 2024 and like all such transactions that prompted staff layoffs and terminations, including Carole Cadwalladr and a number of her colleagues. You can read all about that on in her post Fuckty bye in How To Survive The Broligarchy. I suggest you do that as well as read her final Observer column It’s Not Too Late To Stop Trump and The Tech Broligarchy From Controlling Our Lives, But We Must Act Now.

I happen to believe she’s fighting the good fight. That last column provides some excellent behind the scenes during her preparation and anxiety leading up to that recent TED speech, as well as some reactions she received while at the conference, including an interchange between her and OpenAI’s Sam Altman, in addition to making the important case she continues to make.

She’s paying attention and raising alarm bells. We should too. She’s standing in the way. We should too.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Sunday Morning Reading

We’re all circling. We’re not listening. We should be reading.

Everything changes. Everything remains the same. Damnit. With that said, here is this week’s Sunday Morning Reading with links to articles worth sharing and perhaps pondering over. There’s a bit of satire, a golden toilet heist, and the evolving nature of a piece from draft to final polish. And, yes, there is politics. Everything changes. Everything remains the same. Damnit.

Let’s kick off with Tina He and The Last Human Choice. That link is to the final version of the story. I also strongly encourage you to check out the draft version she shared here.

Alex Reisner takes on The Unbelievable Scale of AI’s Pirated-Books Problem. The technical scale may indeed boggle, the human greed behind it is a story told too often.

The Apple Intelligence/Siri sucks discussion continues and will certainly do so for quite awhile. Andrew Williams in Wired says To Truly Fix Siri, Apple May Have To Backtrack on One Key Thing–Privacy. I hate to say it, but I think he’s right and wish he weren’t.

Good satire can often be hard to distinguish from the real thing. Eli Grober walks that line well in Sergey Brin: We Need You Working 60 Hours A Week So We Can Replace You As Soon As Possible.

John Passantino takes a look at the unraveling of Threads in Hanging by a Thread.

Clearing the throat and clogging up the arteries with a bit of political writing here’s James Thorton Harris with Imagine Deportation: When Nixon Tried To Pull A Trump On John Lennon. Everything changes, everything remains the same. Damnit.

In the category of “be careful what you wish for,” Phoebe Petrovic in ProPublica gives us How A Push To Amend The Constitution Could Help Trump Expand Presidential Power. We’ve already let quite a few demons out of Pandora’s Box, I’m not so sure we want to crack it open any wider.

Speaking of demons, Elizabeth Lopatto tells us How Trump And Musk Built Their Own Reality. Excellent piece.

John Pavlovitz says we all make mistakes in America Chose The Monster.

Mark Jacob always has a great look at the media, especially in this moment, In this one he examines When The Media Take MAGA Liars At Their Word. I mentioned to Mark that what infuriates me is not just the media taking him at his word–ignorance and stupidity know no bounds–but that they know better and report it out as if they don’t.

And to flush away politics Clodagh Stenson, Jonathan Eden and William McLennan tell the tale of The Inside Story of Blenheim’s Gold Toilet Heist.

Bringing my words at the top full circle, NatashaMH once again delves deep into the personal past through a contemporary moment (her reaction to the streaming hit Adolescence) in A Requiem For My Dreams. I’ll close with a quote from her piece about the series that applies to everything, everywhere all at once:

People say the series is about a new world that’s happening. Fuck that, ignoramuses. It’s about a world that has always been out there behind closed doors when ears weren’t listening

(Image from Ashni on Unsplash)

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here. You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

Sunday Morning Reading

Reading to aid recovery is sometimes recommended.

This hasn’t been much of a week for reading because I’ve been down with a bout of pneumonia. Not fun. Consequently moments of clarity have been few and far between. When awake a few pieces caught my eye, so here’s links to share for this week’s Sunday Morning Reading. Thermometer reading.

Jonathan Mahler and Jim Rutenberg have put together one heckuva piece on the goings on in the Rupert Murdoch succession drama. It’s long, it’s full of gory details. It could have been a book. Of course most think it already was a streaming series. Check out ‘You’ve Blown a Hole in the Family’’: Inside The Murdoch’s Succession Drama. McKay Coppins has published Growing Up Murdoch, which is essentially another shot in this rich folks’ war, this time from the point of view of James Murdoch, the supposedly better son. It’s surprising how totally unsurprising this is. Lots of things are being broken at the moment yielding anger, disappointment, and dismay. No sector of life or business is immune. Dominic Patten takes a look at how Dissent Grows At Disney Over Perceived “Capitulation” To Trump As DEI Initiatives Diminished. It’s sometimes difficult to find good information in this dangerous moment we’re living through, because you never know what marching orders reporters and analysts are operating under, or what boots they’ve been licking in anticipation of a kick or kick back. Anne Applebaum is one writer you can always count on to nail not only the frame, but the stakes. Please check out Trump and Musk Are Pushing For Regime Change. Matt Gemmell wrote a terrific piece about going Back To Mac after spending eight years using an iPad as his primary computing platform. This isn’t your typical preference piece of this type as Matt shows the attractions and flaws of both platforms and how they align with his way of working as it and he have changed. Here’s hoping someone at Apple reads this. A pot of coffee is a good start to any morning. But did you know How A Pot of Coffee Started An Imaging Revolution? Check out Alex Cooke’s excellent piece to find out. And to wrap things up this week check out NatashaMH’s A Walk Through Changing Times. We’re all doing that walk right now one way or another, even if laying in bed. If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here. You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. *images used in Sunday Morning Reading are often generated via AI.

Reading List For The Moment We’re In

Good reporting and good info are getting harder to find in these dark times.

These are difficult, stressful, head spinning times. What’s happening politically is not only wrong and dangerous, it is made more so because it is increasingly difficult to know where to turn to find good information. Now that the “Main Stream Media,” previously derided by those now in power, has capitulated and chosen a different main stream to drown in, I imagine that challenge will only continue.

It’s challenging to keep up with the pace of events and some ask why bother trying given that those we’ve relied on in the past have either turned coats or can’t keep up themselves. My answer is simple. I’d like to know more about the disease is causing me pain. As is my habit, I follow a lot of sources. I’ve compiled and will continue to compile a list of those I find the most valuable. Some on this list cover news, some provide important context, and all are worth my while in my opinion. So, I’m sharing them here. I’ll add to this list as I discover other sources worth recommending, so you might want to check back every now and then. Mostly on a political front, Josh Marshall’s Talking Point Memo has always been an excellent source. It’s even more so now. Mark Jacob covers not only the politics but those that cover the politics in Stop The Presses. ProPublica has been a go to source for me for a while and it should be for you as well. Their investigations provide important context, but it is not a breaking news source. Rolling Stone’s political coverage is solid reporting and solid context within this overwhelming pace of events. The Tennessee Holler certainly covers the things going on in Tennessee as it competes to be ranked below Mississippi in most category measurements for success, but also is providing some excellent coverage and commentary on the larger U.S. picture. Given that tech is now incestuously intertwined with our politics and governance, I highly recommend for recent, and I hope ongoing, coverage Wired, TechDirt and 404Media. Reporters from those publications are doing excellent work and it’s a good way to filter through some of the nonsense. Feel free to leave a comment if you have a good source you’d like me to include. Feel free to refrain from offering sources such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, and others crossing the River Styx. You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Add ‘Good Night and Good Luck’ To Your Streaming Cue

Worth a watch or a re-watch.

Last night after a rough, though totally not surprising day, I posted the following on social media:

Certainly it was how I felt and was indeed an homage to Mr. Murrow and what he stood for. I didn’t go immediately to bed after posting that “good night” message. Instead I re-watched the excellent film containing Murrow’s famous sign-off, “Good Night and Good Luck.”

As we all go through what we’re going to continue to go through (and who really knows what that is), I’d recommend watching or re-watching the film again. It’s on most streaming services so it’s easy to find.

There are and will be pressures all the way around and certainly a dramatization of any kind compresses events to create that drama. Given that we may never hear about any of the recent conflicts that I can only hope happened inside corporate media headquarters before they folded up their tents to march willingly in step with the new administration, the story of taking on McCarthy, while also relevant to our current moment, is really just the stage for the one behind the scenes that impacts what we see or don’t see on our screens of so many sizes.

This isn’t some moment of nostalgia for a time gone by. It is a recognition that where we are now is a place we’ve been before. This time around those that control the media and messaging have, for the moment, much more control than they did in Murrow’s day. Make no mistake, they had some control then, but now it’s more pervasive and the Murrow’s, Friendly’s and Paley’s are fewer in number.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Sunday Morning Reading

Some festive fare, and some not quite so for this week’s Sunday Morning Reading.

Christmas and Hanukkah are almost upon us. There’s that traditional feeling of magic in the air, but it’s tempered a bit by apprehension about what may come in the New Year. But it’s Sunday and it’s before all of that, so it’s time to share some Sunday Morning Reading.

First up are a couple of Christmas gifts that seem appropriate both for their historical holiday context and in today’s current one. Shannon Cudd takes on The Surprisingly Corporate Retail Origin Story Behind ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.’ Feels appropriate in this approaching age of oligarchy even if that age seemed a bit more innocent.

Follow that up with Olivia Jordan’s A Christmas Carol in Context: Dickens’ Beloved Festive Fable. Having directed many a production of ‘The Carol,’ I’m always amazed that its story of goodwill and redemption is at once so popular, yet always so quickly forgotten. It’s a puzzler. But then the great messages told around Christmas typically lose their resonance once we move away from the season.

Speaking of puzzlers, Generative AI is still on everyone’s mind and Gary Marcus thinks Generative AI Still Needs To Prove It’s Usefulness. Yes, he means beyond the hype it’s generated that has made some fabulously wealthy.

Journalism is having a moment and not a good one in today’s political climate. Most of that is of its own making and a good deal of it is by the owners. Podcaster and tech journalist Kara Swisher might be fed up enough to try and do something about it. She is seeking to round up investors to fund a bid to buy The Washington Post, after Jeff Bezo’s weak capitulation to the incoming Trump regime. I hope she succeeds. Meanwhile, John Gruber has written a terrific piece on this titled Journalism Requires Owners Committed To The Cause. He’s spot on.

Meanwhile Om Malik takes a look at the just how dark things may be for traditional media in these dark days in Musings On Media In The Age of AI. Here’s a quote:

None of the media business models will work in the future — neither advertising nor paywalls. Today’s content deals, like the one The Atlantic signed with OpenAI, are akin to the sugar high you get from soda. The sugar high is followed by the inevitable crash.

Jennifer Berry Hawes, Nat Lash, and Mollie Simon for ProPublica take a look at The Story Of One Mississippi County Shows How Private Schools Are Exacerbating Segregation. Good reporting on a story that somehow feels more than a little Dickensian.

Folks seek validation in many ways. Climbing mountains and overcoming obstacles can be a part of that game. So too is recognizing that “not everything in life needs to be conquered.” Check out Ain’t No Mountain High Enough from NatashaMH.

And to close out this week’s Sunday Morning Reading with a bit of grace, check out The Laundromat On Sixth Avenue by Grace 🎶 @notesofgrace

May whatever holiday you celebrate this time of the year bring you some peace and perhaps some joy. Here’s hoping we all can find that comfort surrounded by the company of family and good friends.

The Verge’s Election Coverage Is Top Notch

The Verge is rocking its political coverage.

Kudos to Nilay Patel and his team at The Verge. In an era when many businesses, including those in media and journalism, are working overtime to hedge their bets in the event of a victory by the decaying orange convicted felon/child rapist, who promises to exact retribution on his enemies, The Verge is producing some outstanding and unflinching political content.

You can check out each of the posts they’ve published in The Verge’s Guide to the 2024 Presidential Election. They are each well done. I’d like to highlight two of them:

A Vote For Donald Trump Is A Vote for School Shootings and Measles is Nilay Patel’s endorsement for democracy, solving problems, and Kamala Harris. Here’s a quote:

Donald Trump is a dangerous maniac who can barely complete a sentence, and it is lunacy to believe he can even recognize the existentially threatening collective action problems facing our nation, let alone actually solve them.

In an age when we’re seeing the former top dogs of the journalism profession tuck tail and retreat into their dog houses and not issue endorsements, this one is not only worth a read it is worth sharing.

Sarah Jeong lays out the stakes when it comes to our justice system in Trump’s Takeover Of The Entire Legal System Hinges On This Election. Here’s a quote:

Legal observers understood at the time the enormity and lasting impact of what was happening, but few clocked that the problem was about to become exacerbated by a recursive power grab.

Again, well done and well worth your time as are each of the posts on the blog.

I say posts, because The Verge has resumed a blogging format for its work. Don’t let that fool you. There’s real quality journalism happening on that blog. Much better, much more thorough than what we’re seeing in what used to be called the Main Stream Media.

Certainly we can’t say we weren’t warned.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Deadlock: An Election Story on PBS Worth a Watch

Deadlock an Election Story doesn’t quite achieve its aim.

Last night I watched Deadlock: An Election Story on the PBS YouTube channel. It’s a worthwhile viewing of a worthy exercise in trying to simulate how foes of different political allegiances might try to resolve an election dispute. That said, it feels more than a little academic and the mere event nature of the moment I’m sure restricted some (not all) viewpoints, given what we know of some of the participants’ history in the 2020 election.

It also has what I found to be a somewhat forced introduction from Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Sonia Sotomayor. Actions speak louder than words in a scripted intro. I also found much of the framework of the simulation (making up place names and assigned role playing), designed to remove the discussion beyond the real-time circumstances we all know that are at play, distancing in a way that I don’t think was intended.

The other large missing link is side stepping the simple fact that in this election we’re dealing with a convicted felon who will do anything to rig the system to keep himself out of jail. Call me crazy, but I just don’t think you can ignore that reality in any discussion about the upcoming election in November, and what will happen following it.

All of that said, it is worthwhile viewing to see that at least under the glare of the spotlight, there are those who believe integrity and civility, while perhaps lost virtues in American politics these days, are something worth attempting to regain.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

They Shoot Horse Race Journalism, Don’t They?

Close but no cigar, James Risen almost provides and answer.

James Risen, an excellent journalist, dances right up to the point of winning, but then quits dancing instead of leaving it all on the floor in an terrific piece, Why The Media Won’t Report the Truth About Trump.

Decrying the “horse race journalism” of political campaigns, he hits his marks early on saying the deplorable coverage of the twice impeached, four time indicted, once already convicted conmen fronting the GOP party feels like the press has amnesia. He wonders why the crimes and behavior everyone is aware of get such short shrift.

But then he falls back into discussing the history of political coverage from the 1960’s onward through our digital age and media business model pressures. You know that argument, the system is at fault. All of what he lays out so very well is true, especially the part about how the candidates and the campaign professionals take advantage of a the news media’s continued failings.

What he leaves out is a simple truth. The media likes it this way. Regardless of why and how the traditional news media remains stuck in a rut of its own making, it is a choice. An exhausting one surely, but a devastatingly addictive one.

All choices have consequences. As Risen points out there are and will be consequences on the media dance floor when the music stops, especially when you think you’re the one making the music. But there are also deadly dangerous ones for those of us who once thought we could rely on them.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

The Chattering Class is Discombobulated with Walz

Harris/Walz sends the media into a tizzy

I didn’t realize just how much the chattering class dislikes middle America. I also didn’t realize how many of them would be trying to figure out where Minnesota is. Listening and reading most of the media deal with the fact that Kamala Harris pulled a fast one and named Minnesota governor Tim Walz as her running mate, it feels like they are all looking for the floor after someone pulled the lever on a trap door.

Apparently the nattering nabobs were all in for Josh Shapiro to be the choice. According to one friend I have in one large newsroom they were already deep into preparing the pros and cons articles on the pick and hadn’t even gotten anything going on Tim Walz.

Who knows how the pick of Walz will help beyond the initital enthusiasm bounce. Certainly he will in some quarters. I happen to like the guy and imagine quite a few others do as well. No one knows how Shapiro or any of the other good choices would have helped or hurt either.

Face it, we’re very much still in unchartered waters with the MAGAt’s thinking beyond election day to how they can rig this election into the House of Representatives or the Supreme Court. Keep in mind that’s the real threat.

Perhaps, just perhaps, given the opponents and the hateful and vindictive agenda they are pushing, the Harris/Walz campaign might just succeed in not only winning enough votes to make it an argument in November and December, but changing the conversation in ways that can get us out of the slop our politics have become in this century.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.