“It's morally bankrupt to do that, to know that these people are producing content that's in breach of your own regulations, yet you're actually not just allowing them, but you're encouraging them by paying them” www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08...

Facebook pays controversial creators to produce rage-bait content

An ABC NEWS Verify investigation reveals Facebook is directly funding some controversial Australian content creators including a white nationalist and an anti-vaxxer influencer.

abc.net.au

Seen this play too many times.

Guardian US@us.theguardian.com · 2d ago

The University of Minnesota withdrew an offer from Raz Segal to lead its Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies after an organized campaign against his hiring

Communications, internet and media scholars, are you preparing your syllabi for the fall term? Check out the following resource for media industries, political economy of communications and communication policy courses.

Mediamorphis@mediamorphis.bsky.social · 2d ago

Just in time for the new academic term, the @sshrc-crsh.canada.ca supported Global Media & Internet Concentration Project new and improved Data Dashboard aims to make its trove of data as accessible as possible. gmicp.org/dashboard/

make some research norms more difficult as an inherent affordance of the technology and as a a corporate strategy. (I am fleshing this out in a paper on "algorithmic agnotology" that I am finishing: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CRJ...

Algorithmic Agnotology: On AI, Ignorance, and Power – Alondra Nelson | IASEAI '26

YouTube video by International Association for Safe & Ethical AI

youtube.com

only just catching up with @alondra.bsky.social 's important article on social science and AI in Daedalus. A lot in it, but the following quote stood up for me: "There is a strong case that social science should refuse proprietary AI models entirely....

Just in time for the new academic term, the @sshrc-crsh.canada.ca supported Global Media & Internet Concentration Project new and improved Data Dashboard aims to make its trove of data as accessible as possible. gmicp.org/dashboard/

Delighted to have an article in this excellent new issue, titled "How to Fight Media Oligarchy"

The Progressive Magazine@theprogressivemag.bsky.social · 5d ago

The August/September issue of The Progressive magazine is OUT NOW! The stories throughout these pages document the crumbling of our most sacred and valued institutions and norms. Get your copy today for $7.50 at bit.ly/4zar4l4.

Just in time for the new academic term, the @sshrc-crsh.canada.ca supported Global Media & Internet Concentration Project new and improved Data Dashboard aims to make its trove of data as accessible as possible. gmicp.org/dashboard/

While the # of f/t journalists in Canada was cut from 12,600 to 9,300 between 2013 and 2014, the # of f/t PR, advertising & marketing pros soared to 240,000. Having 24 people working in the persuasion professions for every 1 journalist is bad for democracy. gmicp.org/canadas-netw...

The number of full-time journalists in Canada fell from a peak of 12,600 in 2013 to 9,300 in 2024. Meanwhile, the number of PR, advertising & marketing professionals soared. As a result, the 'persuasion professions' now outstrip f/t journalists by over 20 to 1. gmicp.org/canadas-netw...

In this @knightcolumbia.org piece I reflect on individualism as both a core feature & fundamental limitation of free speech. So many investments in free speech are actually investments in celebrities, billionaires, bots, branded critics—how could it be otherwise? knightcolumbia.org/blog/is-indi...

Is Individualism the Problem? Toward a System of Free Expression that Challenges the Media Individualism Complex

knightcolumbia.org

Talerico is right, the sources of people's discontent today are 50 years in the making: a corporate & elite driven effort to roll back the "great society" and democracy gains of the 20th century. They won, not just in the US but in liberal capitalist democracies almost everywhere, including Canada

Team Talarico@teamtalaricohq.bsky.social · 2d ago

James Talarico: 50 years ago, a corporate lawyer named Lewis Powell circulated a memo around DC — a blueprint for how corporations could amass political power, reverse the gains of the Great Society and the New Deal, and rig the system for themselves. And it worked.

Do chatbots just predict the next word? Here is a really, *really* nice overview that is thorough but also leads you step by step (haha) through how modern reasoning models work. magazine.sebastianraschka.com/p/controllin...

Controlling Reasoning Effort in LLMs

How LLMs Learn Low-, Medium-, and High-Effort Reasoning Modes

magazine.sebastianraschka.com

Attention Coms & Media Studies scholars (and others, too). Designing your syllabi for the fall term? The @sshrc-crsh.canada.ca supported Global Media & Internet Concentration Project's data visualization tool and other resources available on our website make for great teaching tools.

Prof. @daniellecitron.bsky.social argues that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is weaponizing privacy by monitoring online speech the agency says could endanger its mission. @wsj.com

How ICE Is Weaponizing Social Media Against Its Critics

The agency says its surveillance program searches for threats to agents, but critics see free-speech infringements.

wsj.com

This looks interesting. 👇👇👇

Robert Tally@roberttally.bsky.social · 3d ago

Today is the official publication day for the new book. I haven't received my own copies yet, and it's way too expensive for humans to buy, but if you can order it for your local library, that'd be great! www.routledge.com/Geocritical-...

Attention Coms & Media Studies scholars (and others, too). Designing your syllabi for the fall term? The @sshrc-crsh.canada.ca supported Global Media & Internet Concentration Project's data visualization tool and other resources available on our website make for great teaching tools.

Attention Coms & Media Studies scholars (and others, too), designing your syllabi for the fall term? The @sshrc-crsh.canada.ca supported Global Media & Internet Concentration Project's data visualization tool and other resources available on our website make for great teaching tools.

The work done by @adewaard.bsky.social, Shawna Kidman, @mirandabanks.bsky.social, @itstv.bsky.social, @ppopiel.bsky.social & others on this report from MACRO Lab challenging Paramount's takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery is excellent. It's a great example of engaged, policy relevant scholarship.

Pawel Popiel@ppopiel.bsky.social · 4d ago

Just as a corrective to the Ellison PR machine, some empirical data and analysis of the significant, pervasive, and detrimental impacts of the merger to the U.S. media system: macrolab.ucsd.edu/paramount-wa...

It will depress you! Sorry about that but it’s kind of my jam. I selected well-written books, some of them are even wryly funny at times — if you come from a culture with macabre humor. Still, the issue is big, complex, and scary. All the more reason for us to face it together.

John Robinson@jrobin.bsky.social · 5d ago

A reading list that I know will depress me, but one that also seems vital to understand (and fight this version of) the future. From the brilliant @tressiemcphd.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/o...

Without comment. finance.yahoo.com/small-busine...

Arizona State launches degree on becoming an influencer — exactly the career more than half of Gen Z adults dream of

Influencers are earning about as much as nurses, on average, with top content creators raking in millions. Now, Arizona State University is offering a degree in it.

finance.yahoo.com

From the cultural industries to the creator economy, some things don't: "This is why 'the Creator Economy is growing' can feel false to many creators. The market is expanding @ the platform, ad, & infrastructure level, but the income distribution remains brutal." newmarketpitch.com/blogs/news/c...

Is the Creator Economy growing now?

The Creator Economy is growing, but not how creators expect. See why ad spend, AI tools, TikTok Shop, and creator commerce are booming while average creator income stays fragile.

newmarketpitch.com

The disclosure marks the first time a bank has formally tied money laundering concerns to Trump's family business.

Capital One says it closed Trump Organization's accounts after anti-money laundering probe

The disclosure marks the first time a bank has formally tied money laundering concerns to Trump's family business.

reut.rs

Nice write-up of the "AI has gone rogue" gambit by @karlbode.com, why Altma, Amodei, Musk, and their ilk lean into it ... hard, and who wins and loses from its use.

Anthony B,@swearyanthony.bsky.social · last wk.

In @karlbode.com's scathing write-up of the "OpenAI rogue hacker" marketing stunt, he highlights the underreported detail that this extremely responsible AI company ran their exploit kit with safety guardrails disabled. Once again, I ask: why haven't they been charged? karlbode.com/ai-doomsday-...

“The world's richest man is also one of the world's most vociferous and vocal bigots," says Chris Hayes.

Musk to pour millions into GOP races as his extremist posts draw new scrutiny

YouTube video by MS NOW

youtube.com

Tapping the sign: perspectivesjournal.ca/megaprojects...

Why Does Canada Develop Megaprojects Instead of Innovation Systems? | Perspectives Journal

Canada’s political economy is characterized by the “staple trap” — a longstanding struggle to develop systems of complementary technology and industries against the pull of resource extraction lock-in...

perspectivesjournal.ca

Michael Karanicolas@karanicolas.bsky.social · last wk.

If our federal and provincial governments were like, a shade more forward thinking they'd be capitalizing on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to recruit young global talent. Instead we're gutting research funding and immigration because screw the tech economy - resource extraction forever!!!

People think "Hollywood" is rich and famous. The reality? Film and TV is a national industry. It's a blue collar industry. And it is an industry free fall. My latest for @newrepublic.com on how the Paramount merger would crush blue collar workers who can not afford it newrepublic.com/article/2136...

There’s a Blue-Collar Hollywood—and the Paramount Merger Will Kill It

Hollywood isn’t all glamour. It’s thousands of line workers. And a Paramount takeover of Warner will make their lives even more precarious.

newrepublic.com

PM @mark-carney.bsky.social govt's letter notifying the Fed. Crt of Appeal of its intention to “eliminate the base contribution requirement on streaming services" is the most egregious betrayal of regulatory independence I've seen in 30 yrs studying such matters. www.thewirereport.ca/2026/07/28/b...

Ottawa to scrap base contribution requirements for U.S. streamers - The Wire Report

In a recent letter to the Federal Court of Appeal, the government outlined its intention to “eliminate the base contribution requirement on streaming services and to provide government funding to repl...

thewirereport.ca

PM @mark-carney.bsky.social govt's letter notifying the Fed. Crt of Appeal of its intention to “eliminate the base contribution requirement on streaming services" is the most egregious betrayal of regulatory independence I've seen in 30 yrs studying such matters. www.thewirereport.ca/2026/07/28/b...

Ottawa to scrap base contribution requirements for U.S. streamers - The Wire Report

In a recent letter to the Federal Court of Appeal, the government outlined its intention to “eliminate the base contribution requirement on streaming services and to provide government funding to repl...

thewirereport.ca

This is good op-ed from Canada's former Deputy PM, Crysta Freeland. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/o...

Opinion | ‘You Aren’t Going to Like What Comes After America’ (Gift Article)

Remember when ‘blame Canada’ was a joke?

nytimes.com