“Bluesky’s underlying technology, the AT Protocol, could offer a new pathway for the social web. Yet as it stands, it is still venture-capital backed. This important initiative aims to safeguard Bluesky’s underlying technology and put it on an independent pathway, so that the future of social media can be freed from the whims of any one company or group of billionaires.” – Wikipedia co-founder and Free Our Feeds supporter Jimmy Wales.

“‘We’re like the people who hear that a hurricane or tsunami is coming, but we don’t know where it’s going to land or how strong it’s going to be,’ said George Freeman, the executive director of the Media Law Resource Center, which supports news outlets in legal matters. ‘It’s a matter of guesswork right now, but people are still boarding up their houses.’”

“After [David] Smith acquired the Sun in January 2024, the Banner saw a ‘big surge in new subscribers and new donors,’ [Baltimore Banner editor-in-chief Kimi Yoshino] said. Sources are also going to the Banner…Some are blunt about why they’ve switched news sources. Asked what she likes about the Banner, high school teacher Leigh Caputo didn’t miss a beat: ‘I like that it’s not owned by Sinclair.’”

“While the show remains one of the most popular weekly podcasts and radio programs in the country, it recently split from The New York Times, which sold its ads for several years following the Times’ acquisition of Serial…TAL was one of many that faced a significant drop in downloads when Apple stopped automatically downloading new episodes of podcasts to the devices of subscribers who hadn’t listened to several episodes.”

“Rather than anti-Trump, the founders [former Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin and former White House ethics czar Norm Eisen] describe their venture as pro-democracy. They said they have already enlisted about two dozen contributors, including people who played prominent roles in debunking 2020 election denialism and investigating the January 6, 2021, attack at the US Capitol.”

“Their work has been funded reliably through grants from Meta’s third-party fact-checking program. Meta’s support has not only helped them combat falsehoods at scale, in what is arguably the world’s disinformation capital, by volume, but also made room for other important journalism: an immersive multimedia feature to help readers detect AI-generated images, a deeply reported video series on how online disinformation has led to real-world harm, and a series scrutinizing claims by politicians. Crucially, the fact-checking grants have been large enough to subsidize the work of other Quint colleagues.”

“Every morning I’m like, can my lungs take another day in the Palisades? It’s a terrible thought. My family’s worried about that, and I’m worried about that, and wearing masks and being as safe as I can, but I feel this responsibility to be there regardless of the situation.” – KABC reporter and Pacific Palisades native Josh Haskell, who texted his parents evacuation instructions between on-air segments and later saw them drive by his live remote setup on their way out.

“Just as much as ‘star’ reporters can elevate an outlet, they can wreak havoc inside it too. Resentments flourish; even in the most well-managed scenarios, it’s natural to be jealous of someone who you think gets more freedom and attention than you do…Great journalism doesn’t happen in a vacuum; colleagues talk a story over, point a reporter to sources, lend their expertise, give feedback, edit, suggest a headline, provide art…A good leader, and a good organization, doesn’t leave those teammates behind or use them to build up other people’s names.”

“The startup, called Core Memory, has the unusual ambition of producing high-end documentaries along with the typical ‘digital’ products: a YouTube show, a podcast, and a Substack newsletter…Vance’s 14 years at Bloomberg (plus a stint at The New York Times) turned him into a favored reporter for tech visionaries with big dreams.”

“What could possibly possess these ultra-competitive, stop-at-nothing, take-no-prisoners shooters to venture out amid Los Angeles’s most devastating natural disaster in pursuit of celeb photos? They offer two opposing perspectives on the situation. One of them understands exactly why paps end up in the line of fire. The other calls them ‘fucking idiots.'”