If you’re roughly my age, it’s wild to reflect on the optimism for the future Americans felt when Obama was elected — young Americans spontaneously took to the streets to celebrate! — and contrast with what we face today. The falloff over the past 18 years is hard to process.
The tech press told everyone this guy was a genius for a decade plus because they didn't know what the fuck they were looking at. Although now I'm wondering if pubs specifically picked their least talented reporters to cover tech in the early days because they didn't know where else to put them
"For the next phase of my career, I look forward to some independence and finding new spaces to share my work in line with my personal goals."
Another CBS News journalist leaving and talking about independence. Bit of a not-so-subtle hint at what's happening over there.
My name is Marisa Kabas, and I'm an independent journalist who publishes The Handbasket. I'm reaching out about a matter that involves your team and that continues to trouble me. In June of last year, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and I filed a FOIA lawsuit against the DC Metropolitan Police Department to compel them to release body camera footage from the March 17, 2025 DOGE raid on the US Institute of Peace. What followed was months of back and forth with their lawyers, arguing why it was in the public interest to release the un-redacted footage in its entirety. Though tiny segments were handed over, that wasn't enough: We wanted all of it. On February 18, 2026, a DC judge ruled in our favor, and your reporter Mark Segraves sent a kind note of congratulations that day. Then on Monday, March 2nd, the footage was handed over to me and excitedly announced I'd received it and would be reviewing it in the coming days and sharing what I learned. When Segraves emailed me this past Thursday asking for my phone number, I didn't think much of it. But when he called me just before 2pm on Friday to let me know NBC4 Washington would be airing a segment at 5pm, I grew concerned. Segraves said he'd obtained some of the footage via a FOIA request that week after he heard the footage had been released to me. He said he'd credit the work of RCFP and me, but it was little comfort. I asked if he'd known the day before when he emailed me for my number, why didn't he tell me then? He didn't have a good answer for that. He acknowledged all the hard work I'd done getting this footage released. I asked him if he could hold the story until Monday, to which he replied that he's "not just a blogger" (implying that that's all I am, presumably) and that he'd have to check with his editor. I said fine. Nearly an hour later he called back to say his editor refused to hold the story, but that they were happy to interview me via Zoom to add to the package, and I said I would.
What followed was two hours of furiously writing and posting clips of the footage to Youtube so I could get something published before the 5pm broadcast, and in the midst of that, recording a quick Zoom interview with a person who was about to take credit for my work. At 4:59pm ET, The Handbasket published a piece titled "Police body cam footage shows DOGE knew Institute of Peace was private property during raid." Then I tuned into NBC4 Washington via your website to catch the broadcast, and my instinct to rush to get something out first was proven right. "It's a story you're seeing first on News4," your newscast began. "For the first time we're getting an inside look at what happened the day the Trump administration took over the US Institute of Peace. News4 obtained more than four hours of police body camera video from that day." What followed was more than six minutes of clips and commentary from Segraves, but it's not until six minutes and 21 seconds into the piece that he mentions my name (mispronounced though he asked for the correct pronunciation on Zoom), "The Handbasket blog," and the RCFP's foundational role in bringing this footage to light. I was angry, but didn't feel there was much I could do. Then I saw the version NBC4 posted to Instagram and TikTok—the video itself made ZERO mention of the RCFP or my work, only briefly acknowledging it in the written caption on Instagram, and not even bothering to do that on TikTok. An average viewer with no background on the case is lead to believe that this footage was released because of your efforts. When I saw that, I decided I couldn't let this go. It's difficult to explain what it's like to spend nearly a year working on a story only to have another reporter and outlet surreptitiously take credit for it; months of work and personal risk only to have another reporter lying in wait to swoop in. What NBC4 did was immoral, unethical, and to be frank, just truly sucked.
I just sent this email to the news director at NBC4 Washington about the unprofessional and disrespectful way they handled publishing the body camera footage of the DOGE raid on the US Institute of Peace that was obtained via my FOIA lawsuit:
it is genuinely very funny how many big name/shop analysts have gone on tv in the last 24-48hr and been like "man we didn't think this administration would be so stupid" like, come on
Thought I would have gotten used to it by now, but I’m still grappling with the realization of just how stupid the men running this country are.
Just another normal morning where the President of the United States shares completely false claims from a conspiracy theory site. I’ve confirmed with election officials in Maricopa County that this is 100% BS.
The data economy has made us dumber in ways that also make us vulnerable to authoritarian takover. We are have become both cynical and gullible in the sense we think we are too jaded be fooled and as a result are tricked more easily www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
There is apparently credible evidence that the president of the United States is a pedophile. The comforting phrase “accused him without evidence” no longer fits this situation, and journalists must resort to the more perfunctory “hasn’t been formally charged.” www.thedailybeast.com/key-details-...
if you believed this you should be fired on the spot because you are one of the dumbest people alive
NTSB is the last exemplar of independent professionalism in federal government, because we used to think stopping plane crashes was a goal beyond partisanship
The DOJ released evidence, which the FBI deemed credible, that the President of the United States sexually and physically assaulted a 13 year old girl AND she was afraid to talk about it because Trump would kill her—and it’s somehow not the biggest scandal in American history?
Yes but is Trump a redhead now?
Are the libs owned yet?
How will this affect the Riyadh comedy scene
“Don’t worry guys. We have top men dealing with the situation”
Narrator: they created the situation.
Me: Jujutsu Kaisen can’t possibly be as emotional as Demon Slayer
Also me: BAWLING
Racism and hate are expensive but why do I have to pay too!!?!
DC folks actually sort of need to demand that heads roll over this. It’s a real problem if law enforcement in the capital is so pathetic, weak, and supine that their instinct is to act as stormtroopers for illicit federal power grabs.
While Trump bravely persevered through another round of golf despite bone spurs.
X is a fascist propaganda website.
me paying $30 in gas to buy imported things that have been hit with tariffs bc joe rogan is learning about politics at age 58
CNBC screenshot showing oil currently at $106.77
WELCOME TO THE BLUNDERDOME
Elon Musk * x @elonmusk X.com True iamyesyouareno • @iamyesyouareno • 2d Tucker: "Every other group in the world has a right to its own homeland except White people? What? Explain how that makes sense." White people deserve a homeland. FATI rOCKeL: SHOW 12:43 AM • 3/7/26 • 21M Views
Seems bad that these two guys who have the ear of the US president are out here promoting Richard Butler-style white nationalism.
Bhattacharya loves his anti-vax pals almost as much as he loves railing against the “politicization” of science.
And he loves that almost as much as he loves blaming scientists for the loss of public trust in vaccines.
Note this is being shared by Children’s Health Defense, Kennedy’s old group.
Highly recommend this pod on AI where @chrislhayes.bsky.social interviews Gideon Lewis-Kraus, author of a big recent New Yorker piece on the subject. Tons of interestng discussion, especially for us ex-philosophy geeks.
Forthwith, a short 🧵
Thank you so much!
Can we get a TL;DR for non-German speakers?
I always hesitate to promote my German-language stuff here because I know y’all are more international than that BUT if you speak German and you’re at all interested in the science behind artificial sweeteners, then boy do my colleagues and I have a lineup for you today:
