Gregory Laski

Breaking the news

Headline: The 2028 Democratic Presidential Contenders, Ranked by Nate Silver.

1) Haven't read this.
2) You shouldn't.
3) Here were "strongest" Dem candidates at comparable points, 2.5 years before elex that Dems won:

—1974: Teddy Kennedy early leader. 1976: Prez Jimmy Carter.
—1990: Mario Cuomo leading. 1992: Prez Bill Clinton.
—2006: HRC leading. 2008: Prez Obama.

Yes, so many book pages gone, so many outlets gone. And the NYT has shifted its focus to more reviews of commercial fiction under its current editor

Notebook: Return of the Freestanding Book Review! On the happy occasion of the revival of The Washington Post's stand-alone book review section, Book World, we take a look at the rocky recent history of the newspaper book review.

Also with digital reading habits what reviews there are do not get seen by the circumstantial reader as they once were in newspapers & magazines; they are seen by people who seek them out. Why we started Book Post books.substack.com/p/notebook-r...

Bc so many places have cut back on reviews?

Our founders, though deeply flawed, understood that democracy requires an informed citizenry and a government accountable to it people. That’s why the press is the only profession protected by the Constitution. It’s also why autocrats and oligarchs seek to control and destroy it.

Ty for this thread. (also and ND grad) I often think of Astra Taylor‘s book us.macmillan.com/books/978125...

I do not make this comparison lightly.

The real threat of AI is the collapse of trust - Poynter Why journalism needs to prove which images are authentic — not just label deepfakes

We're unprepared for AI's big threat.

It isn't just deepfakes. It’s a world where nothing is trusted, including real evidence.

I wrote in Poynter about fake images from MN, Trump's Maduro photo, and AI "enhanced" ICE agent faces.

Instead of labeling what's fake, we need ways to label what's real.

The real threat of AI is the collapse of trust - Poynter Why journalism needs to prove which images are authentic — not just label deepfakes

"But in the longer term, the greatest danger posed by AI isn’t fake images themselves, it’s the collapse of trust in real evidence. Seeing is no longer believing — and our institutions are unprepared for it." www.poynter.org/commentary/2...

The Troubling Trend of Combat-Uniform Creep | National Review What law enforcement officers wear matters.

Getting officers out of combat gear will help cooler heads prevail.

Our DHS secretary cosplaying in full combat gear and ICE and CBP officers costumed like Delta Force have only raised the temperature in what’s already a heated situation. | Karl Marlantes

https://ow.ly/zP7j50Y7otc

Truth-seeking is what journalists see themselves as always doing. Find the truth. What could be simpler, right?

Refuge-seeking includes common practices like false balance, "both sides do it," steering the story "down the middle," and the depiction of "dueling realities" in a divided nation. 12/

Jay's third key distinction: truth-seeking vs. refuge-seeking behavior in journalism.

Truth-seeking needs no definition. It is finding out what actually happened— and telling us.

Refuge-seeking involves telling the story in a way that protects against anticipated attacks... 10/

"Instead, at least in their initial articles, the Washington Post and the New York Times barely addressed the constitutional issue — only toward the bottom of their stories, and attributed to others. Neither cited “freedom of the press” at all."

SPJ joins a coalition of press freedom and civil liberties organizations led by Demand Progress in urging Congress to intervene against what the groups call a “perilous escalation” of government power targeting the free press.

🔗 View the full letter: bit.ly/49FNeRm

Don was taken into custody by federal agents last night in Los Angeles.

The Trump administration condemned the demonstrations, accusing the protesters of intimidating Christian worshipers.

Lemon said he did not know the demonstration would disrupt the service.

Don Lemon is not the only reporter who was arrested by federal agents overnight — local independent journalist Georgia Fort just went live on FB to say federal agents were also at her door to take her into custody over her protest coverage in Minneapolis.

They did, for a while, over the weekend. It was wonderful to see. Then, best I can tell, the gutless senior editors nixed that. presswatchers.org/2026/01/mome...

" As journalists, we must remember that our responsibility is not to present both sides evenly; it is to make a determination about the facts that helps audiences understand a chaotic world."

" As journalists, we must remember that our responsibility is not to present both sides evenly; it is to make a determination about the facts that helps audiences understand a chaotic world."

Screenshot from the book the elements of journalism talking about the obligation of journalism to the truth first

Screenshot from the book elements of journalism talking about journalism’s loyalty to citizens

Elements #1 and 2

Seek truth and report it.

Redburn Reads (Jan. 25, 2026) The identity crisis at the New York Times

2/2
And very good piece by my longtime friend (and longtime @nytimes.com reporter/editor) @redburntom.bsky.social on apparent shift in approach at the paper.

redburnreads.substack.com/p/redburn-re...

Seek truth and report it.

seek truth & report it

“The family first learned of the shooting when they were called by an AP reporter.”

Colorado parents of man killed in Minneapolis urged him to be careful at ICE protests Alex Jeffrey Pretti “loved this country, but he hated what people were doing to it,” his father said from Colorado.

Alex Pretti's parents found out about his death when the Associated Press called them. They then had to make phone calls until they reached the county medical examiner. So heartbreaking. coloradosun.com/2026/01/24/c...

Journalists, please remember that repeating obviously false statements is not balance or fairness. It is actively participating in deception.

democratic rules and norms anyone?