k.e. harloe

The American Media Polycrisis: Cascading Layers of Capture In countries facing democratic backsliding, attention often centers on state capture of the press. Recent U.S. media failures, however, demand a wider lens. Authoritarian encroachment here rests on…

The polycrisis afflicting our media necessitates a political economic analysis that focuses on ownership, control, and market structure.

@victorpickard.bsky.social's newest essay for @lpeproject.bsky.social examines cascading layers of "media capture" and necessary policy interventions.

And now we are two Celebrating Flaming Hydra’s second birthday

TODAY: celebrate our second birthday with us with some free selections from the archive! 🎈🎂 www.google.com/url?q=https:...

insisting on calling every mass day of protest or one-day boycott a "general strike" is not the move. it's good to see people rallying around the cause, it matters, but if you want to be part of a large-scale labor action that shuts down the gears of capital, start by unionizing your workplace!!!

The Political Economy of the US Media System: Excavating the Roots of the Present Crisis - Roosevelt Institute Bilal Baydoun, Shahrzad Shams, and Victor Pickard trace the roots of the US media crisis to decades of deregulation and commercial capture, outlining how consolidation, news deserts, and platform domi...

Thrilled to announce the publication of our @rooseveltinstitute.org report that uncovers the policy roots of the current crises facing our news, information & communication systems. We argue that media reform must become central to a US pro-democracy movement. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

my lil' story on public media in NY hits the big screen 😮 nysfocus.com/2025/07/30/p...

Zohran Mamdani’s Next Big Battle Is in Albany - The American Prospect Mamdani convinced New York City voters to back his agenda—now he needs to convince Albany politicians. The money his administration needs to fund his priorities will not be won without a fight.

The story I've been wanting to read is about the actual obstacles in Albany to Mayor-elect Mamdani's agenda, what the political dynamics are, and what might be the competition for any revenue increases. Our friends at @nysfocus.bsky.social told that story and we're proud to elevate it.

Louisiana Hands Meta a Tax Break and Power for Its Biggest Data Center Mark Zuckerberg’s company faces backlash after rowing back promises to create between 300 and 500 new jobs to man its subsidiary’s new data center.

SCOOP: I FOIA'd economic development agreements & the ground lease for Meta's massive data center in Louisiana and found the state secured no explicit mandates for Meta to create locally-hired full time jobs to receive property tax breaks
www.wired.com/story/louisi...

From reckoning to retreat: Journalism’s DEI efforts are in decline Diversity-related newsroom jobs haven't totally disappeared — but they also haven't stuck.

This story — which asks what happened to all of those newsroom DEI jobs, committees, and promises from 2020 — is the hardest one I've ever worked on. I hope you'll spend some time with it today.

www.niemanlab.org/2025/09/from...

PSA from Flaming Hydra reader Ralph Haygood: "Google's artificial intelligence, whose results appear first now like it or not and I do not": PSA: If you wish to continue using Google at all, start your searches from https://udm14.com/ and you won't see that shit.

PSA from a @flaminghydra.com reader, recommending this AI-free Google search link

udm14.com

How WIRED Got Rolled by an AI Freelancer We retracted a story in May. Here’s what happened.

Prism almost worked with this person, but we didn't because she was being weird & non-human via email. I'm also surprised Wired doesn't top edit and fact-check every piece. Prism runs every piece through 3-4 different editors and fact-checks everything.

www.wired.com/story/how-wi...

also @flaminghydra.com referenced on this episode 👀

Class consciousness Mark Yarm interviews Karen Attiah, Washington Post opinion columnist and head of Resistance Summer School

TODAY: @markyarm.bsky.social talks with @karenattiah.bsky.social about her Resistance Summer School program, and about what's going on at Columbia: "This is not an environment conducive to academic freedom at all, particularly if you’re a marginalized professor." flaminghydra.com/issue-384/#a...

New York Public Media Will Lose At Least $57 Million in Federal Funds Nearly $50 million will come specifically from public radio and TV stations, including rural ones that rely heavily on federal money.

New York’s public radio and TV stations are facing major blows to their budgets after Congress two weeks ago approved a bill that cancelled over $1 billion in federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.https://nysfocus.com/2025/07/30/public-radio-tv-cuts-npr-pbs-new-york

TODAY: @kimkelly.bsky.social on all the friends and lovers and cultural memory we can’t find on Facebook anymore, and what still remains. “My heart warmed, then cooled. As I was searching for the image I wanted, I saw other dead men looking up at me.” flaminghydra.com/r/6b663d52?m...

I strongly encourage freelancers to join @fspnwu.bsky.social, to share rates and information about publishers, to advocate for themselves in an increasingly hostile media climate. And I urge other indie pubs to work with @nwu.org on policies of their own.

Over 100 ppl (& counting) are registered for this @fspnwu.bsky.social convo abt funding news under fascism, happening TMRW @ 12 pm EST!

Signing up is free and takes 2 min. You won't wanna miss out: bit.ly/FundingUnder...

Summers Are Brutal in New York’s Prisons. This Year Is Worse Than… Short-staffed since a strike this winter, the prison system is keeping people locked in their boiling cells and dorms for upwards of 21 hours a day.

Thousands in New York state prisons are left in scorching cells for 20+ hours a day as the system continues to grapple with the effects this winter's guard strike.

“You have no sense of relief. ... You’re just sitting in a cell, baking.”

New in @nysfocus.bsky.social:

nysfocus.com/2025/08/04/s...

I will be moderating this talk on funding the news under fascism!! How do we pay the bills when even the nonprofit news model is under attack??? I don't know but we're gonna figure it out!

Text reads "Journalism Futures: Funding Under Fascism, register: bit.ly/FundingUnderFascism". The panelists are listed as Alicia Bell, Director, Racial Equity in Journalism Fund; Lara Witt, E.I.C. of Prism; and Mazin Sidahmed, Co-Founder of Documented. Roshan Abraham, freelance journalist/FSP member, will moderate. The date reads August 5th, 12pm EST. The logos for FSP and NWU are displayed at the bottom left. The background is red, and a black lightning strike trails down the right side ending in a red fist holding a pen. The words "a virtual panel series about funding the news" are written above it.

The journalism industry is facing economic breakdown. What promises and pitfalls does the nonprofit news model offer? Hear from Mazin Sidahmed of @documentedny.bsky.social, Alicia Bell of @borealisphil.bsky.social, & Lara Witt of @prismreports.org on August 5. Register: bit.ly/FundingUnderFascism

Got the nonprofit industrial complex on your mind? Us too. Join
@fspnwu.bsky.social, moderator @roshanabraham.bsky.social, and these stellar speakers for a chat about ~funding under fascism~ next week!

Register & send us your burning q's here - it's totally free & takes 2 min: tinyurl.com/mrxubuyj

New York Public Media Will Lose At Least $57 Million in Federal Funds Nearly $50 million will come specifically from public radio and TV stations, including rural ones that rely heavily on federal money.

Excellent roundup from @keharloe.bsky.social of the impact public broadcasting cuts on New York's rural stations

New York Public Media Will Lose At Least $57 Million in Federal Funds Nearly $50 million will come specifically from public radio and TV stations, including rural ones that rely heavily on federal money.

Maybe you've heard @nysfocus.bsky.social reporters on Radio Catskill or Capitol Pressroom or NCPR - we're regularly partnering with public radio organizations across the state.

Read @keharloe.bsky.social's report on the federal cuts coming to public radio and tv.

Thanks Nicholas!

Rural stations like @ncprnews.bsky.social @wskg.bsky.social will be hit esp hard: Stations that serve rural areas will lose roughly $22.7 million — a far greater share of their annual budgets than the $27 million loss New York City stations face.

For @nysfocus.bsky.social, I reported on what New York state will lose as a result of the federal cuts to public media: at least $57 million, and probably more when all is said and done.

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Tell everyone you know to subscribe to @flaminghydra.com ! It is $36/year for top shelf criticism, interviews, comics, essays, and more, from the 60+ talented members of our cooperative.

I love it so MUCH

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Remembering Brandi Collins-Dexter Brandi Collins-Dexter was a force of nature who spent her entire career serving others.

Free Press is grieving the loss of our dear friend Brandi Collins-Dexter, who devoted her career to improving the material conditions of humankind and redressing anti-Black racism.

https://www.freepress.net/blog/remembering-brandi-collins-dexter

How Hotels, Once a Last Resort, Became New York’s Default Answer to Homelessness Statewide spending on hotels has more than tripled in recent years. The shift away from shelters has prevented families from accessing services like child care and help finding housing.

NEW: Hotels and motels have quietly become New York’s most common solution for emergency shelter for homeless people outside NYC. Many stay in dilapidated rooms without the social services that shelters are required to provide.

With @nysfocus.bsky.social