How Well Is the Progressive Left Actually Doing? Its wins have been largely confined to highly educated and heavily Democratic parts of urban America. But two races could change that. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/04/u...
C.J. Robinson
@cj-robinson.bsky.social
2026-27 @upshot.nytimes.com Fellow Previously @towcenter.bsky.social https://cj-robinson.github.io/
I Tried Investigating a Mysterious Media Company. A Police Report Was Filed Against Me. Who was in charge—Pleroma, the International Business Times, or something else? Read @riddhisetty.bsky.social's strange tale. www.cjr.org/feature/i-tr...
I tried investigating a mysterious media company. A police report was filed against me.
Who was in charge—Pleroma, the International Business Times, or something else?
cjr.org
🚨DATA ALERT🚨 I started a 🤓 newsletter w/ @caitlingilbert.bsky.social & @jdharden.bsky.social, check it out if you wanna go down some fun data rabbit holes unrelated to our day jobs 🧵 wrongnumber.beehiiv.com
Home | Wrong Number
a newsletter for our data hyperfixations
wrongnumber.beehiiv.com
Catherine Herridge, a former Fox News reporter, is being compelled to pay $800 a day until she reveals confidential sources. Read @riddhisetty.bsky.social www.cjr.org/analysis/pri...
Private matters.
Catherine Herridge, a former Fox News reporter, is being compelled to pay $800 a day until she reveals confidential sources.
cjr.org
Graham Platner announced his plans to drop out of the Maine Senate race yesterday. We counted how often this has happened in the past 30 years. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/09/u...
Replacing a Senate Nominee Is Rare. Has It Ever Worked?
nytimes.com
How Restoration News, a media outlet funded by conservative donors, is “waging a permanent campaign to defeat the radical left,” by C.J. Robinson. www.cjr.org/tow_center/i...
Inside Restoration News, a political nonprofit’s “newsroom.”
How a media outlet funded by conservative donors is “waging a permanent campaign to defeat the radical left.”
cjr.org
If you have index funds — such as in a 401(k) — they may soon include shares of the mega company. Here’s a rough calculation. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/12/u...
How Much SpaceX Are You About to Own?
nytimes.com
The SpaceX IPO is a big deal. How big? We built a calculator to see how SpaceX might impact your index funds in the coming days: www.nytimes.com/2026/06/12/u...
How Much SpaceX Are You About to Own?
nytimes.com
While open-protocol tools show some promise in helping publishers take back control over how AI bots access and present their content, technical solutions alone cannot resolve what is a systemic problem. (w/ @aisvarya17.bsky.social for @columjournreview.bsky.social) www.cjr.org/tow_center/a...
AI agents are coming for news. Can publishers reclaim control?
The good news and the bad news about AI agents for journalism.
cjr.org
The folks at Northwestern are holding an Agentic AI Investigative Journalism Challenge using press releases from my Congress Press project. First place is $5,000. www.gain-agent-challenge.northwestern.edu
The Agentic AI Investigative Journalism Challenge |
An Open Competition for Investigative TeamsThe Agentic AI Investigative Journalism ChallengeCoding agents can now work through messy document dumps, sur...
gain-agent-challenge.northwestern.edu
Hello -- I'm looking for active X Community Notes contributors who want to talk to me for a piece on @indicator.media. Happy to use their pseudonym in the story. Please share with your networks!
some really, really exciting news. we're hiring a two-year reporting fellow to cover higher ed in NYC but especially CUNY!! come work with me and dive into an amazing, complicated and under-covered beat
Higher Education Reporter at THE CITY
About THE CITYThe Organization THE CITY is New York City’s award-winning nonprofit, nonpartisan local news organization. Working across all five boroughs, our stellar journalists bring diverse skills ...
city-report-inc.breezy.hr
Tow Center's @dmil.bsky.social on the use of AI in newsrooms from our latest panel event "Using AI to Map Charlotte's Local News and Civic Landscape". www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pm0... View the full report here: tow.cjr.org/charlotte-20...
Prediction markets have evolved drastically since 2024. New from me in @columjournreview.bsky.social looking at how--and if--journalists should cover these markets in the upcoming election cycle. www.cjr.org/tow_center/a...
A bet is not a poll.
Polymarket and Kalshi offer to predict the future. Journalists should be wary, especially during elections.
cjr.org
Similes are all around us. But, if you haven’t considered this figure of speech since grade school this visual essay is for you: pudding.cool/2026/05/simi...
Incredible graphic
Andrew Ba Tran@abtran.bsky.social · 3mo agoWe got our hands on internal ICE records that show how widespread use of force, like punches, kicks, takedown maneuvers, restraint holds, and less-lethal weapons such as Tasers and pepper spray in detention centers has grown wapo.st/4tdgBRA (1/)
Jane's Walk is BACK for another year of niche neighborhood and history-themed city strolls, and we've rounded up some of the best ones on offer — sign up now before they sell out! nygroove.nyc/best-janes-w...
Walk smart, not hard: The best of Jane's Walk 2026
The annual event of niche historical walks is back, and we combed through the calendar for you
nygroove.nyc
Google’s attempts to repackage news are encroaching on publishers. As a cofounder of WTF Is SEO?, an industry newsletter, has observed: “A growing sentiment is that Google is not a partner but a competitor.” Read C.J. Robinson for @towcenter.bsky.social. www.cjr.org/tow_center/t...
The identity crisis coming for news SEO.
Google’s attempts to repackage news are encroaching on publishers. As a cofounder of WTF Is SEO?, an industry newsletter, has observed: “A growing sentiment is that Google is not a partner but a compe...
cjr.org
NEW on @indicator.media: I found a group of X accounts that worked together to remove Community Notes from British Conservative Party accounts during the 2024 UK general election.
Inside a pro-Conservative influence operation on Community Notes
Inside a pro-Conservative group effort to influence X's Community Notes
indicator.media
Tech companies say that LLMs work better if they remember things about you. But people may find themselves “insulated from the truth by the very tools they use to seek it.” @aisvarya17.bsky.social for Tow and @columjournreview.bsky.social www.cjr.org/tow_center/c...
Your chatbot’s memory of you can shape the information you see.
Tech companies say that LLMs work better if they remember things about you. But people may find themselves “insulated from the truth by the very tools they use to seek it.”
cjr.org
excited to be joining The Upshot in June as a 2026-27 New York Times fellow! www.nytco.com/careers/earl...
2026-27 Fellows | The New York Times Company
nytco.com
AI companies - ‘helping’ journalism…. by borrowing authority without bothering to fix citation . Me in CJR www.cjr.org/tow_center/d...
“News” accounts tied to betting markets are filling a demand for breaking news on X with false, misleading and unattributed claims. New analysis by @cj-robinson.bsky.social of @towcenter.bsky.social. Read more: www.cjr.org/tow_center/p...
Dispatches from X: new story from me on how betting market affiliates are posting about news. Several viral posts were misleading, lacked credible sourcing, or were just wrong.
Polymarket affiliates are spreading misinformation on X.
“News” accounts tied to betting markets are filling a demand for breaking news on a platform many journalists have abandoned.
cjr.org
The Upshot is hiring a data graphics/multimedia editor. Come work with us and make weird things that help people understand the world! job-boards.greenhouse.io/thenewyorkti...
We've been tracking nearly 200 lawsuits against the Trump administration over its attempts to leverage federal funding to impose the president's agenda. The most startling pattern: The administration seems entirely undeterred when it loses in court. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Trump Has Been Sued 198 Times for Withholding Funding. It Hasn’t Stopped Him. (Gift Article)
Immigration demands for highway dollars, D.E.I. rules for homeless grants: how Trump has tried to wield spending to get his way.
nytimes.com
speaking at two #NICAR26 sessions with some wonderful @towcenter.bsky.social colleagues! come say hi!
The world feels quite precarious right now—and sometimes we forget what it feels like to pursue happiness. @alv9n.com digs into a study that asked more than 10,000 people to share their joy. From personal growth to friends and family, here’s our happiness mapped. pudding.cool/2026/02/happ...
When asking AI about the news, readers “know the answers they are getting are not perfect.” They keep asking anyway. @klaudia.bsky.social @aisvarya17.bsky.social www.cjr.org/tow_center/a...
AI versus accuracy? We're willing to make the trade-off.
When asking AI about the news, readers “know the answers they are getting are not perfect.” They keep asking anyway.
cjr.org