Category Archives: Social Media

Surveying the Damage: Counting the Cost of a Corrupted Court

 

This image is a fantasy: the Court is far from “done” — just taking a summer break. And I’m not even sure that “You can COME OUT now” is safe advice anymore. . . .

Continue reading Surveying the Damage: Counting the Cost of a Corrupted Court

“Is it good?” An Asian-American Writer Stands Up for Imaginative Freedom

From: “Rebecca F Kuang: ‘Who has the right to tell a story? It’s the wrong question to ask’”

The Guardian, May 20, 2023

“If I were a debut writer, I wouldn’t have dared to write this book,” Rebecca F Kuang says from her home in Boston. Then again, she wouldn’t have been able to. Her new thriller, Yellowface, could only have been written by an author familiar with the idiosyncrasies of the publishing industry: its petty politics, its bad faith, its best intentions gone hilariously awry. Continue reading “Is it good?” An Asian-American Writer Stands Up for Imaginative Freedom

NPR Dumps Twitter. But the REAL News Is Twitter’s Response

[NOTE: This post is in two parts. The first part, you may have seen or heard. The second part was news to me, and you can’t just make this sh*t up. Or you can, but I didn’t. Tho I did add some emojis.]

Washington Post

By  Paul Farhi — April 12, 2023 

[Excerpt #1 — You Probably Saw or Heard This Part]:

NPR, PBS suspend Twitter activity after Musk adds ‘government-funded’ tag

NPR said it will stop tweeting after Twitter labeled its accounts as government-funded media, in a growing backlash by public news organizations against the social media platform since Elon Musk purchased it last year.

Public TV broadcaster PBS also said it has suspended tweets since Saturday for the same reason — but unlike NPR, the organization left the door open to return at some point. At least three public radio stations have also left the platform in reaction to the labeling controversy.

NPR and PBS took action after Twitter and Musk tagged their main accounts as “state-affiliated media” this month, before softening the language to “government-funded” last weekend.

Twitter has also recently placed the “government-funded” label on other news outlets that receive some public support, such as PBS, BBC and Voice of America. The BBC has also objected but continues to tweet.

[EXCERPT #2 — Here’s the real news part, in my view]:

Washington Post-Twitter responded to an email seeking comment on Wednesday with a poop emoji, its response to all press inquiries lately.

 

Cartoons for an “Unfunny” Time

Upside down much?

It doesn’t seem there’s any way around it: so far, 2023 is a Big Bust as far as editorial cartoons go.

We now have proof of that, at least in the form that counts for the educated classes, a statement by an elite college professor, Continue reading Cartoons for an “Unfunny” Time

AFSC Impostor Scandal Going National & Viral

Brief: More AFSC Fallout  from Philly: 

USAToday & the New York Post have stories & videos up about the AFSC Fake DEI [Diversity, Equity & Invlusion] kerfuffle. They may only be online, but The NYPost has run 2 or 3 stories, and both “papers” have broad social media readership.

There’s no news in these reports, since Saraswati announced her resignation, as reported here. But the photos are vivid.

The wider exposure of how easily the feckless AFSC “leadership team” was taken in by “charm” and glib DEI palaver must be very embarrassing to the poohbahs of Race St.  Saraswati is gone, but the impact of her tenure and what it exposed is still unfolding.

The NY Post is ranked as having the #7 largest news site online readership; USAToday is second only to the New York Times.

Links:

Saraswati stories go national:

USAToday

New York Post