Commentary on links that caught my attention around the web.
Media
[Anna Betts in The Guardian] He's not wrong: "Marty Baron, a highly regarded former editor of the Washington Post, has said that Jeff Bezos’s announcement that the newspaper’s opinion section would narrow its editorial focus was a “betrayal of the very idea of free expression”
Technology
[Bill Fitzgerald] What a missed opportunity. As Bill Fitzgerald points out: "Mozilla has given a masterclass, yet again, in how to erode trust among people who have loved your work." Mozilla rolled out a new terms of service and privacy policy that rolled back a key promise never
Technology
[Edwin Wong and Andrew Melnizek at The Verge] This is much-needed research: "The Verge partnered with Vox Media’s Insights and Research team, along with Two Cents Insights, to better understand how American consumers are embracing this shift. The goal of the work was to redefine what online communities
Media
[Brad Reed at RawStory] This is incredibly disappointing to see: "David Shipley, who has spent the last two-and-a-half years running the Washington Post's editorial page, has stepped down from his position over new demands being made by Post owner Jeff Bezos. In a letter sent out to
Technology
[Craig Silverman at ProPublica] Let the attention dollars flow: "Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also said in January that the company was removing or dialing back automated systems that reduce the spread of false information. At the same time, Meta is revamping a program that has paid bonuses to creators
Notable Links
[Dan Sinker] This story doesn't feel like it's going to end up inspiring, but bear with it: "George Dale printed their names in his newspaper, part of his unrelenting, unceasing, and unflinching attack on the Muncie Klan. [...] When he wrote an editorial accusing circuit court
Technology
[Bert Hubert] A European point of view: "We now have the bizarre situation that anyone with any sense can see that America is no longer a reliable partner, and that the entire US business world bows to Trump’s dictatorial will, but we STILL are doing everything we can
Notable Links
[Lizzie Presser, Andrea Suozzo, Sophie Chou and Kavitha Surana at ProPublica] My colleagues at ProPublica conducted a first-of-its-kind data analysis on health outcomes after Texas banned abortion in 2021. Here's what it found: "The rate of sepsis shot up more than 50% for women hospitalized when they
Indieweb
[Matt Webb] I love this: "Slowly, slowly, the web was taken over by platforms. Your feeling of success is based on your platform’s algorithm, which may not have your interests at heart. Feeding your words to a platform is a vote for its values, whether you like it
Media
[Alissa Quart in Columbia Journalism Review] This article cuts right to the core of why media is failing to connect with mass audiences in America. It doesn't report from a perspective that they can identify with - largely because it doesn't hire people like them. What
Technology
[Allison Hantschel in DAME] Hand-wringing over people leaving overtly unsafe spaces like X to find communities that are actually enjoyable to hang out in (like Mastodon and BlueSky) is absolute nonsense. "With that user growth, mostly from liberals disgusted with Musk’s nonstop promotion of conservative disinformation, came criticism
Indieweb
[PJ Onori] I can't disagree with anything here: "Web 2.0 seemed like such a great idea in a more innocent time. We’re at a point where it’s only prudent to view third-parties as guilty until proven innocent. Not as some abstract, principled stance, but