Wailin Wong

While not as clear-cut as roads, clean water, and air, the democratic value to society of public interest journalism is, in my book and many others, a public good, writes Daily Maverick's Styli C.. "The recent tsunami of bad news about the news has raised an interesting question. Are we seeing the effects of a market failure playing out, or are we seeing the death of an industry that failed to innovate and keep up with the times?" #journalism #publicinterest #news #publishing

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Eric Idle interview: ahead of an Australian tour, the Monty Python co-founding writer, performer and musician reflects on comedy, genius, libido and facing life’s final curtain with a bow. Q: Do you have any strategies for lifting yourself out of a funk, when you become sad? A: You have to face life as a privilege every day. It’s not going to last. George Harrison told me all about that: you can have the most money in the world, you can be the most famous person in the world, but you’re still gonna have to die. And that is, of course, the great equaliser for all of us. We spend a lot of our time in denial. I worked out you only have 30,000 sunsets if you live to be over 80. That’s a good thing to remember, I think. Because we tend to forget that we’re on a planet, and we’re going round, and we’re buzzing through space – and all of this is going on while we worry about whether the mail has arrived (laughs), or whether our TV’s working. We tend to forget where we are in the larger view of things. To remember (that) is to just consider how amazingly unlikely it is that we are here, and able to communicate and think, and actually see photographs of the beginning of the universe, which was about 13.5 billion years ago. I find all that very exciting. Q: I’m 36. Have you found an upside to growing older that might surprise me? A: Yes, I think so. I think your dick drops out of controlling you. That’s always a good idea – eventually, about 50 or 60 – you stop being led around by your dick. Men, in particular (laughs). There are very many consolations with age. It’s not the end of the world, quite – but it’s close (laughs). I mean, I’m 81 and I look forward to being 82. That becomes the big achievement. Read the full interview (~16 minute read) at The Australian: https://lnkd.in/gewngc54 #ericidle #alwayslookonthebrightsideoflife #montypython #montypythonsflyingcircus #theaustralian

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For those of you who are hunters, here's a reminder and brief explainer about why "shooting your way out of a pig problem" doesn't help and actually makes things worse with wild pigs.

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This year's election may be a Biden vs Trump rematch, but it's not the same electorate as four years ago. In a new Bloomberg News / Bloomberg Businessweek story out today (see gift link below), we estimate that at least 10% of most states' 2020 eligible voter population is gone and has been replaced with new potential voters. In some states that number is closer to 15%, including in key swing states like Arizona and Nevada. That level of churn easily dwarfs the 2020 presidential margin of victory in the seven battleground states we're watching. This analysis brings together a lot of government and private datasets to understand not only the impact of the Great American Migration of the last few years, but also the number of deaths (including from the Covid pandemic), those who've turned 18 since 2020, and newly naturalized US citizens. Many factors will likely shape the 2024 presidential result, but knowing how the electorate has changed and what that means for key demographic shifts will be crucial for any serious election watcher. As always, it takes a village: with graphics magic from Elena Mejía, reporting help from Gregory Korte and the work of editor trio Laura Bliss, gregory white and Chloe Whiteaker.

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My latest article on how last Thursday's debate may have already determined the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. The stakes were high, and the debate's impact could make the rest of the campaign a mere formality. "The debate's impact was so significant that it could very well have sealed the fate of this year's election." "Many analysts believe that the performance gaps between the candidates were too large to overlook." 🔗 Read the full article here https://lnkd.in/e9X4tDkt #USelection #Election2024 #DebateImpact #PresidentialDebate

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"Trump, of course, has been welcomed back on X and other social networks. And as Navaroli writes, tech companies across the board have slashed their trust and safety teams. “Going into the 2024 election season, that has left social media—and, by extension, American democracy—more fragile than it has ever been in the digital era,” she observes. “We face adversaries hell-bent on destroying the integrity of our elections, forces”—Russia, China, and Iran, among others—“that have used the past two presidential cycles to hone their manipulation strategies.” Many researchers find that it’s now more difficult to map foreign disinformation campaigns than it has been for years. As Nora Benavidez—a senior counsel at Free Press, a media-focused research group—told Golding, “Ultimately, what we see is that democracy is a much lower priority for these companies than making sure they keep costs in line.”' ​--The Election Issue - Columbia Journalism Review https://lnkd.in/gktJ4iMQ

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Putting a human being at the center of a story was always the most effective way to talk through a bigger narrative, and as a journalist, getting to the core of a narrative was a critical part of my work. Now, with Prosek Partners, my work centers on establishing similar relationships with our clients that I once did with my sources, competitively developing a messaging that stands out, and putting it to work with our colleagues in the press. https://lnkd.in/edCPU_8m

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My latest piece from The Pre-Postmodernist on Substack. We are continually getting it wrong in terms of unseen costs when combatting societal ills. In fact, we’re often terrible at identifying the ills themselves. Link in Comments. #opportunitycost #tradeoffs #liberty

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How will AI impact the world of journalism? This report from Columbia Journalism Review is worth a read (or skim, it's lengthy). Felix M. Simon examines the use of AI across editorial, commercial, and technological domains and looks at the structural implications of AI in news organizations. Based on 134 interviews with news workers at 35 news organizations in the US, UK, and Germany and 36 international experts, the report explores the integration of AI with newsrooms and the question of whose interests are served by the increasing adoption of AI in the news and how this shift stands to reshape the public arena.

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Misinformation and disinformation, the threat of deepfakes, the rise of AI, dwindling workforces and resources - are converging trends undermining the quality of and trust in the media? Have a read of this excellent piece by Tom Harper, APCO European head of media and former Sunday Times journalist, in POLITICO today.

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You're probably already taking in a lot of information on how to cover this year's elections. These guides are aimed at helping you talk through that information with your news organization, and strategize or decide on how you'll navigate different scenarios long before they arise and leave you thinking, "I wish we'd talked about how we'd actually handle this." Our first two guides help you consider your coverage of misinformation and polling, and we've got more in the works! Let us know if there are other topics you'd like to see addressed.

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In this monologue, Dan Harris, political and current affairs commentator and co-host of the 'Over Here, Over There' podcast, discusses the anxiety surrounding the upcoming 2024 presidential election - and has a clear message for President Joe Biden: https://lnkd.in/eyasNc6G

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