Notices by Ben Werdmuller (ben@werd.social)

My local news website started running casino keyword ads. It's disappointing and probably means they're desperate. I emailed them some ideas and some feedback, but I wish I could help more (or that someone smarter than me could). We need a strong local press everywhere, now more than ever.

A rising tide may lift all boats, but it turns out some people would prefer only their boat is lifted.

"I’m a political scientist, and I found that Americans were far less likely to publicly voice their opinions than even during the height of the McCarthy-era Red Scare." #Democracy https://werd.io/self-censorship-and-the-spiral-of-silence-why-americans-are-less-likely-to-publicly-voice-their-opinions-on-political-issues/

I’m beginning to feel like the people who love vibe coding resent software engineers, the people who love making music with AI resent musicians, the people who love AI art resent artists. It’s more than not understanding what good is. It’s active pushback.

Take my money. https://www.theverge.com/news/693566/bbc-online-tv-content-paywall-subscription-us

Publishers are spending time and money on AI chatbots that nobody will use. If AI succeeds (which is far from a given), here's why it will live in your browser and operating system - and what I think news orgs should build instead. https://werd.io/ai-wont-live-on-publisher-sites/

I just think it's very sad that people are cheering for the oppression of a very vulnerable group of people and justifying it as overreach by people who have simply been advocating for their rights. https://objectivejournalism.org/2025/06/new-york-times-cited-29-times-to-justify-decision-limiting-trans-healthcare/

"There are clear indications from oppressive governments around the world that biometrics will be used to harm human rights, regardless of their accuracy or fairness." #Democracy https://werd.io/the-high-stakes-of-biometric-surveillance/

"ProPublica spent 14 months investigating the FDA’s oversight of foreign drugmakers that send medications to the U.S. These are the key takeaways." Including waivers for manufacturers otherwise banned from the U.S. market. https://www.propublica.org/article/fda-drug-safety-foreign-manufacturers-takeaways

Ten years ago, Google crawled two pages for every visitor it sent to a publisher. Today, Anthropic crawls 60,000. #AI https://werd.io/publishers-facing-existential-threat-from-ai-cloudflare-ceo-says/

Congrats to everyone who voted for the guy because they thought he was anti-war. You complete fucking morons.

One of the things I find the most depressing is that some people will be genuinely cheering for war.

If you really want to make a difference to news, journalism, and democracy, and you're an experienced engineering manager, supporting SecureDrop is a great opportunity. https://freedom.press/careers/job/?gh_jid=4571168005

"What many see as the most dangerous assault on American democracy in the nation’s history [Curtis] Yarvin dismisses as woefully insufficient—a “vibes coup.”" What a pathetic little man. #Democracy https://werd.io/2025/curtis-yarvins-plot-against-america

Journalism treats technology like something that happens to it - like an asteroid. But newsrooms need to take control of their tech destiny.

I wrote about how to build technology leadership and culture in newsrooms in order to preserve their own futures: https://werd.io/2025/building-a-newsroom-technology-culture

#journalism #media

New datacenters should be required to support themselves using renewable energy.

@aburka @mattsains @Infoseepage @ProPublica @lenfestinstitute Oh, I want to be very clear on this point: nobody involved (Lenfest, OpenAI, Microsoft) has any say or input on what we say or do. Nor do we need to use any specific technology.

@aburka @mattsains @Infoseepage @ProPublica @lenfestinstitute Correct: there isn't.

The JD and post are deliberately worded. This is a research post. Is there a way to use these technologies in a way that's aligned with our values and need for safety? "No" is a very viable outcome here. Either way, we need to do our due diligence rather than knee-jerk it away or join the hype cycle.

The position is funded by Lenfest and doesn't come out of our existing donations.

However you feel about AI, it's a big part of the modern software landscape.

@ProPublica is hiring a two-year AI engineering fellow in collaboration with @lenfestinstitute.

We're not cheerleaders or naysayers; we want to explore ways that it might support the newsroom, while remaining anchored in real human problems and strongly adhering to our values, standards, and strict need for safety.

https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/propublica/jobs/4563500006

#media #journalism #ai

Still baffling to me how people asking for basic human rights and civil liberties are painted as far left. They’re normal asks and enjoyed in many other countries. The rhetoric is just designed to stop the conversation; it’s not a serious discussion.