Facts&Opinions

Meet the journalists training AI models for Meta and OpenAI The gig work platform Outlier is one of several companies courting journalists to train large language models (LLMs).

Not sure what we think about this. Are journalists helping kill our profession?

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Homepage Reporters sans frontières assure la promotion et la défense de la liberté d'informer et d'être informé partout dans le monde. L'organisation, basée à Paris, compte des bureaux à l'international (Berli...

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on Brazil to lead global regulation and a "clear and firm accountability regime for digital platforms."
"The technology giants (endanger journalists and are) amplifying misinformation and intensifying online violence against journalists."@rsf-inter.bsky.social

The rise of Bluesky, a not-so-Seattle-based social media company Since November, over 10 million users have flocked to the site, which aims to provide a personalized feed not driven by an algorithm, in contrast to X.

PBS attempts to describe what this blue thing is, exactly. Good try. Better luck next time.

CNN to lay off hundreds as TV group faces ‘profound’ shift in news habits Shake-up comes as network contends with weak ratings and looks to future beyond traditional television

FT (paywall):
Due to" “profound and irreversible shifts” in the way audiences engage with news CNN chief executive Mark Thompson said 200 jobs, or about 6 per cent of CNN’s workforce, would be affected ... the company was investing $70mn into its digital business."
on.ft.com/4aw8xnp

Who Ya Gonna Call? Trump threats: revoke broadcast licenses; investigate outlets critical of him;
threaten journalists; alliance with anti-journalism Elon Musk; threatened Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg with jail for concessions on content moderation; sued multiple media outlets.
@rsf-inter.bsky.social

Knight Institute X-it from “surveillance capitalism,” the subordination of public interest to private caprice, the consolidation of influence over public discourse …
BlueSky’s challenge: “shed its early image as a sandbox for liberals and progressives (& be) lively, polyphonic, and truly diverse.”

Check sources. Cite original sources. Give credit.

Israeli government imposes sanctions on Haaretz, cuts all ties and pulls advertising ***

Anyone recall this?
“I Disapprove of What You Say, But I Will Defend to the Death Your Right to Say It.”
The adage needs caveats, about good faith and evidence-seeking. But when we let religious and ideological extremists curb freedom of speech, thought and knowledge, we invite in a dark age.

The myths that made Elon Musk The tech billionaire’s backing of Donald Trump is part of a worldview that draws on Silicon Valley’s wildest frontiers

Who is this dude?The FT attempts an answer and a wager:
“if you spend $200mn on a candidate’s campaign you’re going to expect some return on your investment…What could possibly go wrong? …I give the Trump-Musk bromance a less than 50-50 chance of surviving its first 100 days.”
on.ft.com/4g0C35U

The myths that made Elon Musk The tech billionaire’s backing of Donald Trump is part of a worldview that draws on Silicon Valley’s wildest frontiers

Who is this dude?The FT attempts an answer and a wager:
“if you spend $200mn on a candidate’s campaign you’re going to expect some return on your investment…What could possibly go wrong? …I give the Trump-Musk bromance a less than 50-50 chance of surviving its first 100 days.”
on.ft.com/4g0C35U