Journalism and politics are inescapably inter-twined.
anonymity
Talking of trolling, the New Yorker published an interesting piece by Adrian Chen, looking at what happened when a pro-Trump Reddit-dwelling troll was suddenly brought into the glare of publicity when his Gif went viral — and his true identity was established. [https://i1.wp.com/www.onemanandhisblog.com/content/images/
encryption
Here’s a photo of me trying to do a serious electoral face, and ending up just looking worried [https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10158721411170456&set=a.57066280455.133832.699710455&type=3&theater] . But I do think this is a serious election. I’m not
digital journalism
The last couple of years of campaigning – especially the last UK general election, the Scottish referendum with its “cyber-nats”, the Brexit vote and the Trump election – have made it plain to many that there’s a new set of elements at work in the public discourse – and they’re digitally-driven.
boris johnson
Fascinating quote in a New York Times piece on the Brexit-backing British newspapers [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/02/world/europe/london-tabloids-brexit.html] (and principally, The Sun): > With little regard for the truth — he was previously fired by The Times of London for making up a quote — Mr.
4chan
Dale Beran has written a fascinating and compelling long read, drawing a direct line from 4chan springing to life from Something Awful’s forums, to the rise of Trump [https://medium.com/@DaleBeran/4chan-the-skeleton-key-to-the-rise-of-trump-624e7cb798cb#.ka2rhjhhn] . And the bridging factor? Milo. He took the GamerGate movement and connected it up with
alt right media
When politicians can lie without consequence, our culture of fact-checking does little to stop them.
fake news
This really is a mark of just how efficient and savvy the media machine around Trump is [https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/its-time-to-retire-the-tainted-term-fake-news/2017/01/06/a5a7516c-d375-11e6-945a-76f69a399dd5_story.html] : > But though the term [Fake News] hasn’t been around long, its meaning already is lost. Faster than you
conspiracy theories
Beware political analysis from the tech world, says Sam Kriss for Politico [http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/02/liberals-on-the-edge-of-a-nervous-breakdown-214727] : > Silicon Valley doesn’t really approach politics as a sphere of competing social interests, a space in which people have the ability to make collective demands and collectively
Journalism
Here’s an interesting take on an issue that seems to be gripping American journalists right now: > In a nutshell, a statement can fairly be called a lie if there is abundant evidence to the contrary that a speaker should have known about. For example, you can argue that
bloggers
In some parts of the world, blogging is still very much a revolutionary activity [http://indianexpress.com/article/world/second-missing-pakistani-blogger-found-leaves-country-fearing-for-life-family-4497420/] : > Pakistani blogger Aasim Saeed who went missing earlier this month has been found but has quickly left the country fearing for his life, his family said on Sunday. Saeed’
analysis
This is a fascinating analysis of the way Donald Trump uses Twitter: The key message? Trump seems to instinctively understand what so many miss: you talk on social media, not write.[via Daring Fireball [http://daringfireball.net/linked/2017/01/03/nerdwriter-trump-tweets]]
humour
You won’t be missed, you utter bastard of a year.