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Reposted by Jack Carter Benjamin

News Eye @newseye.bsky.social · 3h

BREAKING: ICE agents just abducted a press camera operator in Chicago.

WGN-TV’s Debbie Brockman was dragged to the ground, cuffed and bundled into a van - which then rammed her vehicle to escape.

What the hell is happening in America?

(🎥 Original footage via Josh Thomas/FB)

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Reposted by Jack Carter Benjamin

Oliver Darcy @oliverdarcy.bsky.social · 10h

News: Bari Weiss just sent a memo to staffers at CBS News asking them to produce a memo explaining "how you spend your working hours—and ideally, what you've made (or are making) that you're most proud of."

One CBS News staffer puts it like this to me: "We just got Elon Musked."

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Reposted by Jack Carter Benjamin

Will McKinley @willmckinley.bsky.social · 10h

"CBS is no longer independent, but under the tutelage of a conservative billionaire who is putting more than his thumb on the scale."

Kudos to Dan Rather, a 44-year veteran of CBS News, for speaking truth to power.

deadline.com/2025/10/dan-... #CBS #Paramount

Dan Rather Says Bari Weiss Hire And Skydance-Paramount Merger Mark “A Dark Day In The Halls Of CBS News”

Rather said that Weiss' hire will add to fears journalists have of losing their jobs.

deadline.com

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 10h

“A destructive A.I., like a nuclear bomb, is now a concrete possibility. The question is whether anyone will be reckless enough to build one.”

Opinion | The A.I. Prompt That Could End the World

www.nytimes.com

Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 15h

Watch there be "retaliatory" tariffs against Norway now.

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 15h

Interesting new start-up out of the UK - don't want to see banner ads on The Guardian or The Independent? Into-It has partnered with the publishers to replace them with "notifications" about musical artists you like.

Details:

(Yes I am a huge BCNR fan)

Into-It relaunches Chrome extension to 'bring music industry budgets to publishers'

The UK-based startup seeks to replace banner ads with notifications about musical artists, giving users greater choice and relevance over what they see. After a modest start this year, the new extension and a subsequent marketing campaign will look to accelerate user uptake.

uk.themedialeader.com

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Reposted by Jack Carter Benjamin

Patrick LaForge @palafo.bsky.social · 1d

We live in Pynchon’s world www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/m...

Thomas Pynchon Saw Where America Was Headed. What Does He See Now?

www.nytimes.com

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 1d

Exclusive from me this morning: ITV has launched a generative AI production service that can create TV ads for small- and medium-sized businesses in under thirty seconds, with a low entry cost.

Details on The Media Leader:

ITV launches GenAI Ads Manager

Exclusive: The broadcaster has partnered with Streamr.ai to form the basis of its new AI-driven production service, aimed at making it easier for SMEs to invest in TV.

uk.themedialeader.com

Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 2d

It's crazy to me that Johnson is happy to share his opinion on something as relatively insignificant, and totally unrelated to his job, as who is performing the Super Bowl halftime show, but when asked to respond to the President's statement in favor of jailing political enemies, it's crickets.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Q: Do you agree that the mayor of Chicago and governor of Illinois should be in prison?

MIKE JOHNSON: Should they be in prison? I'm not the attorney general. I'm not following the day to day on that

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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 2d

Pritzker/Newsom see it as a defining fact of the moment that Trump is consolidating authoritarian power daily and using it to subjugate Blue America like an enemy nation within. Other Dems should stop the Beltway-speak about Trump laying "traps" for them and engage.

newrepublic.com/article/2014...

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 2d

The number of PRs I've seen pitching stories relating to Prime Week is absurd.

And PRs massively outnumber journalists, which doesn't help.

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 2d

I spoke to The Guardian's US managing director Steve Sachs about the title's growth prospects in the US.

The outlet currently reaches between 40m-50m monthly readers, and US revenue has grown across all categories in the past year.

Yet 43% of Americans are still totally unfamiliar with the brand.

The Guardian promotes its creative canvas amid US investment drive

At its upfronts Thursday, The Guardian revealed new research evidencing the effectiveness of low-ad environments. It comes as the publisher is seeking strong commercial and reader expansion in the US.

uk.themedialeader.com

Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 2d

The willful ignorance required to not understand that your new AI video generator would not be immediately used to infringe upon copyright or create harmful disinformation, in the year 2025, is just astonishing.

I actually cannot believe OpenAI didn't expect this reaction. That is insanity.

Dare Obasanjo @carnage4life.bsky.social · 2d

Sora is a stunning technical achievement, but 2 choices were poorly thought out:

1. Letting people create & share copyright violations like Pikachu vs. Sonic fistfights is a DMCA minefield.

2. Allowing users to deepfake others into crimes or slurs is an abuse disaster waiting to happen.

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Trump calls for Brandon Johnson and JB Pritzker to be imprisoned

Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also!

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 3d

a black and white photo of a man smoking a cigarette .

Alt: a black and white photo of a man smoking a cigarette .

media.tenor.com

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 3d

Good piece on this yesterday:

What Will Bari Weiss Do to CBS News?

A change in leadership at the network has been seen as part of an effort to appease Donald Trump. But there may be other motivations.

www.newyorker.com

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 3d

This is plausible, and equally it might've been true that someone like Weiss might've been hired regardless of Trump anyway.

Redstone has praised Weiss. Meanwhile, the Ellisons approached Redstone to buy Paramount before Trump's win. And they all align with Weiss on Israel, among other matters.

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 4d

I honestly wish I’d not have bothered pushing to Act III because the sunk cost is getting to me.

Basically every enemy has its health doubled and the only remaining needle upgrade to make it easier is behind finding every Flea, which, just like, whyyyyy

Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 4d

You get to watch in real time as they discover why the whole world switched to digital.

"Wait, film looks grainy? You can accidentally over/underexpose? Who would want that?"

Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 4d

I beat Act II after doing pretty much everything I could beforehand. Didn't struggle too much with the boss.

Act III on the other hand? Yeah, nah. Not fun - back to the outrageous difficulty curve.

Playing Hades II instead to remind myself I can actually find video games fun and not rage-inducing.

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 4d

After a long hard day at work I like to wind down by tearing my hair out over 2 mask contact damage like a dedicated member of the labor force, thank you very much.

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 4d

Ratings are down because all linear TV ratings are down.

It’s a legitimate question to ask how CBS News should modernize to reach more audiences and drive more revenue.

But dressing this up as a business decision rather than an ideological decision is intellectually dishonest.

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 4d

The irony

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 4d

So not only is Bari Weiss about to head CBS News despite not having any newsroom experience, she is also going to juggle that responsibility while still remaining EIC and CEO of The Free Press.

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 4d

The success of Weiss has led and will lead to more copycat ideologues running Substacks that are really just hot takes dressed up as journalism.

Big money is behind those that are sympathetic to big money. Actual journalists speaking truth to power are getting starved out.

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