Notices by Flipboard (flipboard@flipboard.social)

In the early 1870s, extremely wealthy businessmen began to dominate vital industries and exert influence on politicians. They came to be known as the Robber Barons, and their names — Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Carnegie — are still known in America today. Now, we’re in an era with an income gap not seen since the Gilded Age @damemagazine compares then and now — rent seeking, financial panic, cronyism, assaults on labor, and state capture.

https://www.damemagazine.com/2025/02/05/were-living-in-a-new-age-of-robber-barons/

#Oligarchy #RobberBarons #GildedAge #History @histodons #Tech #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

It’s #NewstodonFriday again, where we share a thread of stories from the independent newsrooms that have a presence in the fediverse, plus a couple of articles that our own editorial desks shared. This week we discovered yet another brilliant publication is here: @msfreepress. If there are any newsrooms or journos you’d like to put on our radar, please tell us in the comments — and don’t forget to read and boost the stories in this thread, donate to publishers, and support independent media doing incredible, brave, important work.

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#Media #Journalism #News #MastodonMigration #FollowFriday

If you live in the U.S., you may have encountered or even subscribed to a newsletter called Good Day or Good Daily. There are 355 different versions for cities and towns across the country; each is a roundup of links to stories from legitimate local sources. It's all created by one man, Matthew Henderson, and his AI tools. While he claims he's helping struggling local outlets, their teams say he's not — they're not getting traffic from the newsletters and Henderson's business practices are questionable. “From fabricated testimonials on his websites to the absence of contact information and zero transparency about his information-gathering process including AI usage, his approach completely undermines the principles of trustworthy journalism,” says Rodney Gibbs, head of audience and product at the National Trust for Local News. Here's more from NiemanLab.

https://flip.it/-ddikb

#News #Media #Journalism #LocalNews #AI #ArtificialIntelligence

On Monday, Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States, and the news will come at us thick and fast. So for today’s #NewstodonFriday, we’re trying our level best to avoid stories that are directly about Trump. That doesn’t mean it’s all unicorns and rainbows — we’re still in this timeline, after all — but there’s some lighter fare in there to bring a smile before the weekend. The stories here come from newsrooms that have an active presence in the fediverse, plus a couple of our own desks. We encourage you to support independent media by following the accounts here, boosting their stories, and donating money and subscribing if you can. Buckle up, folks!

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#Media #Journalism #News #MastodonMigration #FollowFriday

The announcement yesterday of David Lynch’s death was a shock to us all. For @TheConversationUS, Billy J. Stratton writes about Lynch’s skill at holding up a mirror to American society. “Lynch’s vital body of work warns that cruelty … isn’t really what we should fear most. It is, instead, those who laugh, cheer or simply turn away,” he writes.

https://theconversation.com/david-lynch-exposed-the-rot-at-the-heart-of-american-culture-247670

#Film #Movies #Cinema #DavidLynch #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

Liza Kalinina is a Russian who has actively protested against Putin’s regime since 2017. In fall 2023 she moved to Texas to study journalism. She writes for @TexasObserver about what happened when her husband, Igor Babkin, tried to join her in San Marcos and the perilous path for Russian asylum seekers.

https://www.texasobserver.org/lost-in-transit/

#Russia #VladimirPutin #Asylum #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

If you, like everyone else of a certain vintage, spent hours playing Snake on your Nokia phone, you might be interested in this @404mediaco story about the Nokia Design Archive at Aalto University in Finland. The collection goes from the mid-’90s to 2017 and allows you to see the company’s design process and concept art for never-realized ideas like the “Cricket Collection” that could be worn behind the ear, tied around the ankles, or clipped to glasses.

https://www.404media.co/nokia-design-archive-aalto-university/

#Design #Nokia #Retrotechnology #Tech #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

For generations, child services in Canada and the U.S. have been influenced by colonization, via boarding schools, the ’60s Scoop and more. For @thetyee, Tracy Sherlock writes about the fight in British Columbia for Indigenous people’s jurisdiction over their own children.

https://thetyee.ca/News/2025/01/17/We-Need-Take-Care-Own-Children/

#Canada #Children #Parenting #Indigenous #IndigenousRights #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

Here’s a very topical story from the peerless @ProPublica, featuring Jon Husted, who will replace J.D. Vance as Ohio senator. Last May, he participated in a “Prayer at the Statehouse” ceremony organized by the Center for Christian Virtue. Here’s a look at how the influential advocacy group and its network of religious schools are benefiting from the state’s school voucher program.

https://www.propublica.org/article/school-vouchers-ohio-church-state-tax-dollars-private-religious

#Ohio #USEducation #Religion #SchoolVouchers #JonHusted #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

Years ago, Nigerian writer Roseline Mgbodichinma Anya Okorie tried little green slimming pills at the encouragement of a chemist (pharmacy worker). It turned out they were full of senna, also used as a laxative. She writes for @thexylom about that experience, and how she’s learned to ignore the world’s weight-loss noise. Every waking day, I fight to love my body and not leave it at the mercy of people like that chemist,” she says. “Learning to be comfortable with my extra flesh is the hardest, most courageous thing I have had to do in my adult life.”

https://www.thexylom.com/post/perspective-take-the-green-pill-you-stay-out-of-wonderland

#Lifestyle #Diet #WeightLoss #Culture #BodyPositivity #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

The impact of the L.A. fires on celebrities is what’s currently garnering headlines. Sharisse Tracey writes for @damemagazine about the devastating effect on the Black community of Altadena, and the unhelpful narrative that every victim of the wildfires has been rich and famous. “179,000 Angelenos either no longer have a home, or their home is currently uninhabitable due to damage to their neighborhoods, infrastructure, or air quality. Let’s focus on them and stop all of this other nonsense.”

https://www.damemagazine.com/2025/01/16/alta-dena-eaton-fire/

#LAFires #Wildfires #LosAngeles #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

Almost from the moment of conception, genetic mutations start to occur in our bodies, and they continue to do so through our lives. “Only in recent years has technology been sensitive enough to catalog every genetic booboo. And it’s revealed we’re riddled with errors,” writes Amber Dance for @KnowableMag. Here’s her story on the causes and consequences of these.

https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/health-disease/2024/we-are-all-genetic-mosaics-clones

#Biology #Science #Genetics #MolecularBiology #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

The lakeside town of Kigoma is a gateway from Tanzania to its neighbours, Zambia, the DRC and Burundi. Ships that sail across Lake Tanganyika form one of East Africa’s most important economic networks. But now, the two major boats, the MV Liemba (the oldest ferry in the world) and the MV Mwongozo are out of action. @thecontinent explains what that means for the people of one of Tanzania’s poorest regions.

https://continent.substack.com/p/boats-to-nowhere

#Tanzania #Africa #Trade #Business #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

“Over the last few years, Ukraine’s firefighters have sadly become some of the world’s most experienced in fighting blazes in urban areas,” write the team at @timkmak’s Counteroffensive. They got advice from firefighters there on how to cope with the physical and emotional toll.

https://www.counteroffensive.news/p/ukraines-war-tested-firefighters

#Ukraine #UkrainianWar #LAFires #Fire #Wildfire #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

18 months ago,@gbhnews’s Paris Alston interviewed Vice President Kamala Harris when she was in Boston for the NAACP Convention. She looks back at their encounter and the feelings of connection, pride and patriotism it still engenders. “Perhaps patriotism remains accessible for all who want it, no matter who is in the Oval Office. For now, that person is not a Black woman. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t still represent America,” she writes.

https://www.wgbh.org/news/commentary/2025-01-17/to-be-female-black-and-patriotic

#KamalaHarris #BlackMastodon @blackmastodon #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

Wow! We've hit 10,000 followers! Thanks to all who have joined us for our eclectic mix of company updates, fediverse news, media and journalism stuff, random boosting and #NewstodonFriday posts. We so enjoy being part of this community. Tell us in the comments what kind of posts you'd like to see from us in the future!

#Flipboard #Media #Journalism #Fediverse

Happy new year, fedi friends and welcome to the fascinating world of 2025, which has already lasted approximately 15 months. Here’s a selection of stories from newsrooms with an active presence in the fediverse, plus a couple from our own desks.These include Meta employee reactions to their new policies (not good!), an exploration of the social worker shortage in Texas, an article on making peace with our younger selves, and a story for the ages about the man who infiltrated right-wing militia and shared his experiences with @ProPublica. Please follow all the newsrooms featured, click on their stories, boost them, subscribe, donate and support any way you can.
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#Media #Journalism #News #MastodonMigration #FollowFriday

Texas has a dire shortage of social workers. @TexasObserver explores how the state is shooting itself in the foot by imposing a lifetime ban on candidates who’ve been convicted of certain crimes such as assault. The law came into place in 2019 and does not allow for rehabilitation or glowing recommendations — it’s one strike, and you’re out. James Knight and Daryl James spoke to Katherin Youniacutt, a grandmother and recovering alcoholic with more than 10 years of sobriety who is still being punished for a mistake she made in 2007.

https://www.texasobserver.org/social-worker-license-lawsuit-texas-law/

#SocialWork #Crime #Texas #TexasObserver #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

Meta’s “anything goes” attitude to free speech doesn’t extend to its own employees. @jasonkoebler of @404mediaco writes about how the company is deleting internal criticism of new board member, UFC president Dana White. “Major W,” one employee posted. “We hire Connor [McGregor] next for after work sparring?.” Employees are also livid about changes where Meta users can now say LGBTQ people have mental illness. “I am LGBT and Mentally Ill,” one post by an employee on an internal Meta platform called Workplace reads. “Just to let you know that I’ll be taking time out to look after my mental health.”

https://www.404media.co/facebook-deletes-internal-employee-criticism-of-new-board-member-dana-white/

https://www.404media.co/its-total-chaos-internally-at-meta-right-now-employees-protest-zuckerbergs-anti-lgbtq-changes/

#Meta #Facebook #MarkZuckerberg #DanaWhite #Technology #Tech #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a Liberal, has stood down and the Conservative Party of Canada looks set to win the next election. @thetyee reports on the “highlights” of its leader, Pierre Poilievre’s conversation with Jordan Peterson.

https://thetyee.ca/News/2025/01/08/What-Pierre-Poilievre-Told-Jordan-Peterson/

#Canada #PierrePoilievre #JordanPeterson #CanPoli #CanadianPolitics #Newstodon #NewstodonFriday #FollowFriday