The Chompsky Weekly #72
In which I doubt whether Enough is Enough, yet.
Hi everyone,
The Bristol Cable, my new workplace, is hiring another journalist, a great role for someone who wants to work in an investigative community newsroom, rather than write 9 clickbait stories every day.
Anyway, don’t take my word for it, Gary Younge thinks you should apply:
The BBC has announced it plans to air “a series of “escapist and resilience advice shows” designed to help viewers through the “tough times ahead” caused by the cost of living crisis.
One of the headline programmes billed as an example of this is Wild Isles, a new Attenborough series about the UK that “features baby toads trying to escape giant leeches” in a Somerset “killing zone”, reminiscent of the ‘snakes vs iguanas’ scene from Planet Earth II.
I cannot tell whether or not this is meant to be funny.
It’s Saturday Oct 1, 2022
Media News
The inquest into Molly Russell’s death has illuminated the effects of social algorithms on children’s mental health, revealing Russell ended up in an online “vortex of despair”, regularly consuming a barrage of “bleak” material that encouraged self-harm and eventually led to her death. Representatives for Meta (who own Facebook and Instagram) were called to the hearing, as well as perhaps lesser-expected reps from Pinterest - which the inquest heard had delivered content recommendation emails with titles such as “10 depression pins you might like”. (The Guardian)
Liz Truss embarked on a spate of local BBC radio interviews on Thursday morning, widely perceived as a move No.10 hoped would yield ‘softball’ questions. She faced, and struggled to answer, tough questioning from all local journalists involved. (The Bristol Cable)
Several major companies (Dyson, Forbes, and others) have pulled their Twitter marketing campaigns after their ads appeared next to tweets soliciting child abuse material. One executive said "either Twitter is going to fix this, or we'll fix it by any means we can, which includes not buying Twitter ads." (Reuters)
In its pursuit of a digital-first model, and after cuts of £30 million were announced, the BBC will relocate a number of World Service journalists away from the UK and axe 382 jobs. (Deadline)
The McCormick Foundation, the trust which distributes the endowment of former Chicago Tribune owner Robert McCormick, has announced it will invest $7.5 million in Chicago and Illinois-based nonprofit news organizations Block Club Chicago, Capitol News Illinois, Injustice Watch, and also Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism (named for his grandfather Joseph Medill). (McCormick Foundation)
The Guardian has collected foreign press takes on the political and economic moment in Britain, describing it as a collection of “post-Brexit schadenfreude”. (The Guardian)
Two former eBay security executives have been sent to prison for a harassment campaign carried out against a couple whose online newsletter, EcommerceBytes, was critical of the company. They sent threats and “disturbing home deliveries” such as cockroaches and a funeral wreath after then-CEO Devin Wenig suggested it was time to ‘take them down’. (Reuters)
“Asia’s richest men” are enacting a hostile takeover of New Delhi Television Ltd., which will lead to them “dominating the sector” and hurting smaller media firms, says Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)
KERA, a Texas public television station, is buying the Denton Record-Chronicle, a daily newspaper with the support of the National Trust for Local News, a nonprofit “working to keep local news in local hands”. KERA says the purchase would “keep the Record-Chronicle locally owned and serving Denton County with local news and information connected to the community.” (Radio + TV Business Report)
Bruce Willis has sold the commercial video rights to his likeness to Deepcake, an “AI-solutions” company delivering “celebrity and influencer branding”. The Telegraph reported that Willis is the first to do this, whereas ars Technica says they “could not verify that claim outside of the context of a first license with the firm Deepcake” and notes that “deepfakes have already been used in several Star Wars films and TV shows”. (ars Technica)
The Financial Times is paying every member of its staff a one-off £1,800 payment to help with the cost of living. (Press Gazette)
Campaigns + Content
The Enough is Enough campaign continues, and has been touring the country. A rally with local speakers was held at St Georges in Bristol the other day, and today sees another rally next door to Temple Meads.
I’m excited to hear more about the campaign - I like their clear demands but I don’t know who we’re demanding this of, and what happens if they’re not met? General strike, anyone?
The website says the campaign “starts with holding rallies across Britain, forming community groups, organising picket line solidarity and taking action against the companies and individuals profiting from this crisis.”
I guess I’m eager to get to the taking action bit.
In an eerie report that demonstrates the difficulties emerging in the present and future of climate journalism, Poynter hears from on-the-ground reporters in Hurricane Ian’s climate-devastated path, where movement is all but impossible and radio towers are down.:
On the ground with local journalists reporting on Hurricane Ian
That’s all for this week, folks.
Love.Eliz