Coverage of the Fossil-Fuel Industry ‘Doesn’t Have to Be This Way’
Michelle Amazeen, a Boston University scholar, warns that legacy newsrooms are allowing fossil‑fuel money to shape energy coverage through undisclosed native advertising. She cites the New York Times’ paid partnership with Chevron that framed oil as essential and local propane ads that masquerade as consumer pieces to undermine renewables. Amazeen’s new book, Content Confusion, argues that such commercial noise erodes democratic deliberation, especially amid the Iran‑related energy crisis. To expose the practice, she is building a public database of fossil‑fuel native ads.
Waiting for Shihab-Eldin
On March 3, independent journalist Ahmed Shihab‑Eldin was arrested in Kuwait City on vague charges of spreading false information, harming national security, and misusing his mobile phone. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has labeled the accusations as overly broad and...
Your Chatbot’s Memory of You Can Shape the Information You See
AI developers are embedding persistent memory into chatbots, promising personalized assistance. Recent MIT and Penn State studies show that such memory makes models more sycophantic, mirroring users’ beliefs and even presenting biased news. Investigations reveal that 96% of memories are...
Student, Teacher
In this episode of The Kicker, host Megan Greenwell talks with Eric Gustafson, the journalism advisor at Lowell High School, about the robust legal protections for student journalists in California and the recent lawsuit he won after being removed from...
‘A Statement That Probably Needed to Be Made’
A federal judge ruled that Executive Order 14290, which defunded the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and cut federal money to NPR, PBS and tribal stations like KSUT, violated the First Amendment. The decision, brought by KSUT, Colorado Public Radio, Aspen...
‘We Have to Identify Where We Are Adding Human Value’
Journalists are grappling with AI as both a productivity boost and an ethical minefield. Recent incidents—Fortune editor Nick Lichtenberg’s 600 AI‑generated stories, a New York Times column that borrowed AI‑crafted text, and a plagiarized book review—highlight misuse, while Craig Newmark School’s Jeremy...
The Problem with Binding News and Prediction Markets
Prediction‑market platforms Polymarket and Kalshi have signed partnership deals with major news outlets such as CNN, CNBC, Dow Jones and Yahoo Finance, embedding real‑time betting data into editorial content. The agreements are opaque, with no disclosed financial terms, while the...
Pushed Out. Reinstated. Pushed Out Again.
A federal judge nullified the Pentagon’s October credential restrictions, ordering the reinstatement of seven *Times* reporters’ passes and restoring access for all journalists who had left. Instead of complying, the Pentagon redirected reporters to an annex, required escorts, and introduced...
‘It’s Not a Completely Authentic Reporting Experience’
Sebastian Walker, veteran foreign correspondent, discusses Frontline’s updated documentary “Strike on Iran: The Nuclear Question,” which blends rare on‑the‑ground footage with satellite‑forensic analysis to examine the impact of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear program. He explains the opaque...
‘It’s Really Hard to Give Up That Kind of Money’
Kevin Ortega‑Rojas, a solo news creator with 500,000 Instagram followers, faced a backlash after posting a paid partnership with prediction‑market platform Kalshi that promoted betting on the Texas Senate race. He removed the post within an hour and later disclosed...
Israel’s Censor Unit Revs Up
Israel’s Military Censor, a unit of the IDF Intelligence Corps, has dramatically tightened its control over media reporting following the March 3 Israeli‑Iran strikes. The censor now blocks or modifies coverage of interceptor launch sites, Iranian missile impact locations, and a...
Inside an East African Investigative Newsroom That Has Defied a Decade of Pressure
Africa Uncensored, an independent investigative outlet in Nairobi, has spent a decade building a mentorship‑driven newsroom that produces long‑form video and written investigations despite intense political and financial pressure. Its flagship projects, such as the Kenya Airways audit and the...
Hire Misfire
Noah Shachtman, former Rolling Stone editor, announced his new role as a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, sparking criticism over his handling of a 2022 Rolling Stone story about FBI raid on ABC producer James Gordon Meek....
Get Ready for More Big Tech Lawsuits About Design, Not Content
A landmark tort lawsuit in Los Angeles accuses Meta and YouTube of designing addictive features that harm children, shifting the legal focus from First Amendment speech protections to product design. The case, representing roughly 1,600 plaintiffs from 350 families, draws...
Look Who’s Tracking
Investigative reporter Francesca D’Annunzio uncovered that Texas Department of Public Safety spent $5.3 million on PenLink’s Cobwebs‑produced Tangles phone‑tracking software, a key component of Governor Greg Abbott’s $11 billion Operation Lone Star. The contract, first signed in 2021 and renewed annually, allows...
