“The average influencer earns $91,991 per year, according to Indeed. For perspective, the average registered nurse earns $93,600 per year” I wish we had degree programs focused on understanding exactly what that phrase “for perspective” could and should mean.

Mediamorphis@mediamorphis.bsky.social · 4d ago

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

“Artificial intelligence labs are in a new arms race to buy up millions of rare books, slicing them open, scanning the pages and pulping the remains — sparking concerns that the last remaining copies of out-of-print texts are being destroyed on an industrial scale.”

Social Media Lab@socialmedialab.ca · last wk.

This aught to be illegal ... "AI labs buy, scan, shred millions of rare books" www.news.com.au/technology/o...

The U.S. government has charged Samuel Tunick with allegedly typing in a passcode to wipe his phone before officers could search it. “I hope people understand that the charges against me are meant to intimidate people." @josephcox.bsky.social reports. Read now: www.404media.co/the-governme...

I guess I should thank the @nytimes.com oped section — every time I’m feeling insecure about something I’m working on they show me how mediocre, poorly researched, problematic writing can be celebrated. (Thanks as always to @davekarpf.bsky.social for a clear-eyed call-out.)

Dave Karpf@davekarpf.bsky.social · last wk.

I'm reading the "environmentalists are wrong about data centers" piece from the NYT and ohmygoditssofuckingbad. Apparently, so long as you're punching left, they'll just let you say any goddamn thing you please... www.nytimes.com/2026/07/25/o...

We created a new data dashboard for scholars, journalists & policymakers as part of the Global Media & Internet Concentration Project. It helps bring to life the data behind our analysis of the l/t evolution of the communications, internet & media industries in 36 countries. gmicp.org/dashboard/ 1/

Watch this, sound on, to see how messed up both US journalism & the US government are.

derek guy@dieworkwear.bsky.social · 2w ago

🚨Lauren Gutterman, former chair of the American Studies department and AAUP UT Austin Chapter VP: “Iván’s case is a warning for all faculty across the university, because it suggests that achieving excellence in your field is no longer enough to secure tenure and promotion.” ⬇️

UT border surveillance scholar was a shoo-in for tenure. UT denied him.

American Studies scholar Iván Chaar López fears UT’s unexplained tenure denial violated his academic freedom amid scrutiny of controversial fields.

statesman.com

“A Writer in the Nuclear Age: A Conversation” with Margaret Laurence www.nfb.ca/film/writer-... (Canada’s National Film Board is a treasure.)

A Writer in the Nuclear Age: A Conversation with Margaret Laurence

In this short film, internationally acclaimed author Margaret Laurence passionately addresses several issues related to peace: the social responsibility of the writer; language usage and reality; jarg...

nfb.ca

With big thanks to editors extraordinaire @katehennessy.bsky.social & Stephanie Takaragawa, of forthcoming "Bad Habitus" volume, I'm thrilled to share my new essay: "Good Enough Generative AI? The Ambivalences of Settling for Sufficient Synthetic Media" Preprint: drive.google.com/file/d/1qxm4...

Canadian firefighters hauled ass to get down here when half of Los Angeles was on fire last year. What a characteristically classy way to repay that favor.

Global News@globalnews.ca · 3w ago

"If Canada will not manage its forests to prevent these fires, the United States will look elsewhere, and act on our own, to protect our people,” said a group of U.S. lawmakers. globalnews.ca/news/1196860...

Most people know prisons through stereotype, TV, or political talking points. We believe people should also hear from the people on the inside.

Donate | Prison Journalism Project

Prison Journalism Project is supported by people like you. Support Prison Journalism Project today.

prisonjournalismproject.fundjournalism.org

5-year-old Camila's crayon drawings in detention look just like my 5-year-old's drawings. We need this to end, and then we need prosecutions for everybody who had a hand in harming these families. www.ctinsider.com/news/article...

5-year-old spent 118 days on her own in federal immigration custody in CT

On any given day there are more than two dozen immigrant children detained without a parent or guardian in programs run by Connecticut nonprofits.

ctinsider.com

“‘I don’t think that’s very realistic,’ said the artist, who was serving as a volunteer from an Irish American service society. ‘This was a jet engine, not a propeller plane.’ ‘I’d like them anyway,’ the woman said. ‘Just do what you can.’”

n+1@nplusonemag.com · 3w ago

“At 7 AM on a Saturday, I participated in a mass-casualty simulation drill held in the firefighter training area of O’Hare International Airport.” New: Morley Musick participates in a fake plane crash. www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...

Come join us in Salt Lake City for a workshop on the promises and pitfalls of public scholarship. Applications due by 8/15. Workshop is October 10, part of the CSCW conference. Should be a fun and meaningful conversation!

Dr. Casey Fiesler@cfiesler.bsky.social · 3w ago

If you're attending the CSCW conference this Fall in Salt Lake City: I am co-organizing a workshop on public scholarship! The application process is very lightweight (just a form, no papers required). Please share with folks interested in this topic! Deadline 8/15. sites.google.com/cornell.edu/...

Reminder that Carney has cut funding for Natural Resources Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Indigenous and Northern Affairs, and Indigenous Services. And he has rolled back climate protections, abandoned emissions targets, and is building more pipelines.

In 2024, 42 Prison Journalism Project contributors in 27 states described extreme temperatures behind bars for a special project on heat in prison.

Prison Journalism Project@prisonjournalism.bsky.social · 3w ago

"I know it’s too hot in my prison when prisoners start checking into suicide-watch cells in our medical area. People employ various excuses, but most know they do it because the infirmaries have air conditioning."

Lots of big talk about digital sovereignty from the Canadian federal government, but these Palantir deals show Solomon/Carney willingness to let the country rely on unscrupulous US tech companies. ( @jeff.doctor curating stories )

Jeff Doctor@jeff.doctor · 3w ago

“'They’re becoming further and further reliant on American tech companies to consolidate and make value out of all these massive data sets... [Palantir will] offer services relatively cheap up front, and then [they] get that organization or government hooked,' Doctor said" theijf.org/article/defe...

“the real policy question is increasingly shifting from whether Canadian businesses will use AI to whether they can turn rapidly expanding use into meaningful gains. Canadian AI policy should begin with that question, not an adoption crisis that the government’s own data has already overtaken.”

Michael Geist@mgeist.bsky.social · 3w ago

The assumption in Canada’s AI strategy is that we lag behind peer countries on AI business adoption. I took a closer look at the numbers and was surprised to find the government cited outdated data and ignored warnings to approach comparisons with caution. www.michaelgeist.ca/2026/07/outd...

This morning in Biddeford, Maine, a 26-year-old man said goodbye to his wife and daughter and left for work. Moments later he was dead, shot in the head by ICE agents, the second man ICE has killed in six days. ICE is killing our neighbors. ICE cannot be reformed. Abolish ICE.

Interesting choice by NYT to publish an op-ed bemoaning America’s projected population decline by a guy who’s massively racist against immigrants and compares IVF to “Nazi eugenics.” The “pronatalists” only want more of a very specific kind of person in this country. It gives the game away.

🧵A quick note to translate what's really happening in this NYT op-ed: Eric Schmidt has always had contempt for non-tech people, reflective of a deeper orientation in the industry. This is more of that. Short 🧵🧵🧵

Opinion | We Must Address the Growing Rage Against the A.I. Machine

A.I. demands a populist approach that treats the technology as a public project.

nytimes.com

Age-verification laws claim to protect kids from porn, but in the UK, they’ve blocked minors from r/gaytransguys, r/transDIY, and menstruation forums. Canada’s Bill S-209 could do the same. When “obscenity” swallows queer identity, who’s protected? https://thewalrus.ca/internet-queer-censorship/

This sentence captures my entire scholarly field.

Brendel@brendelbored.bsky.social · 4w ago

In a way, anything can be The News

Not sure what this says about me, but the more I explore the capacities of generative AI the less it interests me. I'm not denying its potential power, just that how it does what it does is not nearly as interesting as the thoughts and expressions of some other, any other, human being.

The thing about Trump is he tells us what he wants & what he intends to do. He wants to end democracy. Freeze MAGA in power forever. Have zero accountability. Just seize power & keep it. We are so close to true authoritarianism. We must use every ounce of power & leverage we have to stop them.

FactPost@factpostnews.bsky.social · last mo.

Trump: If we pass the SAVE Act, Republicans won't lose an election for 100 years.

Two years ago, my colleagues and I were sued by Stephen Miller's America First Legal. The Hines v Stamos case — built atop a number of false allegations — was a central element of the "censorship industrial complex" myth. Today, that case was dismissed (by a Trump judge in LA). We won.

I’m shocked.

MIT Technology Review@technologyreview.com · last mo.

AI may be making our brains lazy. When we outsource writing, summarizing, and evaluating to tools like ChatGPT, we skip the "depth of processing" that helps us actually learn and think critically—and those cognitive muscles can atrophy from disuse.

There’s a journalism ethics textbook from about 10-12 years ago that had a case that looked at DC-journo buzz around “hot young bloggers” Ezra Klein, Matt Yglesias, etc. and asked students to really think about who gets elevated into the best careers and who don’t. I think about that case a lot.