From Amanda J. Crawford, writing for NiemanLab… Conspiracy theories are powerful forces in the U.S. They have damaged public health amid a global pandemic, shaken faith in the democratic process and helped spark a violent assault on the U.S. Capitol in January 2021. These conspiracy theories are part of a dangerous misinformation crisis that has been building […]
From Ashley Carman, writing for The Verge… You’ve probably seen this by now, but to catch you up if not: On Monday, Neil Young issued an ultimatum to Spotify: keep Joe Rogan or me. It can’t have both on the service. “I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines — potentially causing death […]
By Richard Tofel, writing in NiemanLab… Sometime early next month, I will formally retire from the practice of law after 26 years at the bar, including more than 21 years as a full- or part-time newsroom attorney.1 As I do this, I want to take stock of a few of the more important things I think […]
By Hennes Communications Q: A reporter wants to interview me, and I don’t want to be identified as the source of the information. What do I do? A: The reporter’s goal is to interview you with no strings attached – everything you say and do can be reported. This is called “on the record” and […]
By Thom Fladung/Hennes Communications Even in this era, when the news barrage can be numbing, the report that Jeffrey Epstein had apparently hanged himself in jail and the immediate flurry of conspiracy theories took a run at qualifying as “shocking.” The least surprising element: Much of it started and played out on Twitter. In an […]
By Thom Fladung/Hennes Communications This 4th of July, amid the fireworks, hot dogs and parades, let’s remember another grand American tradition: making stuff up. Or, as John Adams noted with delight in his diary in 1769, he’d spent the evening in “a curious employment. Cooking up Paragraphs, Articles, Occurrences etc. – working the political Engine!” […]
By Thom Fladung/Hennes Communications Spurred by The Boston Globe, more than 300 newspaper editorial boards answered the call to stage a coordinated effort to publish editorials on the same day, August 16, defending the role of a free press and, in many cases, decrying President Trump’s attacks on the news media. “We are not the […]
By Thom Fladung Hennes Communications Plenty of people have talked about what’s wrong with journalism over the last decade. Shrinking newsrooms. More mistakes as fewer people do more work under more time pressure. Too much bias. Plummeting public confidence in the media. Some of the criticism is valid. Some is a tried-and-true tradition. (Check out […]