Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by David Folkenflik

Dan Kennedy @dankennedy.net · 1d

Bari Weiss' biggest challenge at CBS News is the unprecedented dominance of David Muir at ABC, writes @michaelsocolow.bsky.social. And yes, as I tell my students, everything — everything — goes back to Richard Nixon. linttrapofhistory.substack.com/p/bari-weiss...

Bari Weiss's Greatest Challenge at CBS

It's not the Murrow-Cronkite Legacy. It's not the newsrooms & bureaus filled with journalists more experienced than her. It's not the scale of the operation. It's David Muir's incredible dominance.

linttrapofhistory.substack.com

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Bobby Allyn @bobbyallyn.bsky.social · 1d

I talked to trust and safety professionals and former OpenAI employees about how Sora could change the internet forever

"It's as if deepfakes got a publicist and a distribution deal”

www.npr.org/2025/10/10/n...

Sora gives deepfakes 'a publicist and a distribution deal.' It could change the internet

OpenAI's new hit app has unleashed a new wave of AI slop across the internet. But what happens when there are no rules over hyper-realistic synthetic videos?

www.npr.org

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Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 1d

Paul Ingrassia, Trump’s nominee to lead the office investigating Jack Smith, has recently been investigated for harassing a colleague, Politico reports.

“Eventually the woman discovered that Ingrassia had arranged ahead of time to have her hotel room canceled so she would have to stay with him..”

=
POLITICO
By DANIEL LIPPMAN
10/09/2025 08:22 PM EDT
f
In late July, Paul Ingrassia, the White House liaison for the Department of Homeland Security, arrived at a Ritz-Carlton in Orlando with a lower-ranking female colleague and others from their department. When the group reached the front desk, the woman learned she didn't have a hotel room.
Ingrassia then informed her that she would be staying with him, according to five administration officials familiar with the episode. Eventually the woman discovered that Ingrassia had arranged ahead of time to have her hotel room canceled so she would have to stay with him, three of those officials said.

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Kurt Andersen @kurtandersen.bsky.social · 2d

When @JBPritzker.bsky.social joked on Tuesday, "I'm asking any of you to come visit me in the gulag in El Salvador,” I thought back to when that was not yet a meme and more of a pure joke. Specifically back to the 2016 conversation Graydon Carter and I had with NPR about about Trump and Spy.

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Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 5d

JUST IN: Chicago journalistsa re suing DHS and ICE over force used against reporters:

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

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David Folkenflik @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social · 5d

Bari Weiss to be editor in chief of CBS News as Skydance set to annnouccne acquisition of Free Press

What does it mean for CBS? My story and chat with Steve Inskeep on NPR's Morning Edition

www.npr.org/2025/10/06/n...

CBS' next top editor to be Bari Weiss of The Free Press

CBS' parent company will buy The Free Press and install Bari Weiss, its contrarian founder, as editor in chief of CBS News.

www.npr.org

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Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 5d

Law enforcement investigates fire at South Carolina judge's home

SLED investigating fire at SC circuit judge's Edisto home, 3 injured

The S.C. Law Enforcement Division is investigating a residential fire at a home near Edisto Beach in Colleton County that began the evening of Oct. 4.

www.postandcourier.com

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Bobby Allyn @bobbyallyn.bsky.social · 7d

my colleague @gbrumfiel.bsky.social did a great story looking at how Sora’s AI slop machine can collapse our collective sense of reality and create wildly new disinfo problems www.npr.org/2025/10/03/n...

Kiss reality goodbye: AI-generated social media has arrived

With the launch of Sora 2, OpenAI has opened a new chapter in addictive, and some worry dangerous, AI video content.

www.npr.org

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Reposted by David Folkenflik

Bobby Allyn @bobbyallyn.bsky.social · 7d

Apple bowing to Trump admin’s pressure on ICEBlock invites even more jawboning, says @gshans.bsky.social.

"Compliance will only incentivize further government demands."

www.npr.org/2025/10/03/n...

Legal experts condemn Apple bowing to White House's request to remove ICE tracking app

It's the latest example of tech giants bowing to pressure from the Trump administration. Legal experts say the developer of the app has free speech rights that may have been violated.

www.npr.org

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David Folkenflik @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social · 8d

I don't represent NPR, Elaine, I cover media for it, which includes NPR.

May I ask, for whom do you work?

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Reposted by David Folkenflik

Andrew Couts @couts.bsky.social · 8d

NEW: ICE is planning to hire a team of nearly 30 people to surveil social media 24/7, build dossiers on people, and flag them for arrest and deportation. @dell.bsky.social has the scoop: www.wired.com/story/ice-so...

ICE Wants to Build Out a 24/7 Social Media Surveillance Team

Documents show ICE plans to hire dozens of contractors to scan X, Facebook, TikTok, and other platforms to target people for deportation.

www.wired.com

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David Folkenflik @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social · 8d

Public media charts new path after Congress cancels funding

My report from South Dakota

www.npr.org/2025/10/03/n...

A public broadcaster's path after losing U.S. funds: Youth sports and less local news

South Dakota Public Broadcasting says there's an ironic result to President Trump's successful attack on public media: It will have to rely more on NPR programs.

www.npr.org

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Bobby Allyn @bobbyallyn.bsky.social · 11d

"This is straight influence-peddling," said @ericgoldman.bsky.social "This YouTube settlement is not a sign of any legal merit."

www.npr.org/2025/09/29/n...

YouTube agrees to pay Trump $24 million to settle lawsuit over Jan. 6 suspension

YouTube is the latest social media company to pay Trump tens of millions of dollars to resolve lawsuits brought before he returned to power. The money will fund a new ballroom at the White House.

www.npr.org

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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 14d

New on MSNBC: According to the court transcript, only 14 of the 23 grand jurors voted in favor of indicting James Comey on the two counts that went forward.

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NPR @npr.org · 14d

A judge ruled the firing of thousands of federal employees was illegal. But he stopped short of ordering the government to reinstate them, predicting the Supreme Court would overturn it.

A judge ruled their firings were illegal. The government got to do it anyway

A judge ruled the firing of thousands of federal employees was illegal. But he stopped short of ordering the government to reinstate them, predicting the Supreme Court would overturn it.

n.pr

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 14d

Page One in Indy:

The tariff/trade war “consequences for US farmers could be catastrophic in the coming years.”

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Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 14d

Sept. 4: Microsoft CEO says “We are so grateful to the president, first lady and the entire administration for making it a national priority to prepare the next generation to harness AI's power.”

Sept. 26: ⤵️

www.cnbc.com/2025/09/26/t...

Trump calls for the firing of Lisa Monaco, Microsoft president of global affairs

Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo brought up Monaco's position at Microsoft during her show. The appointment happened in July.

www.cnbc.com

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Roger Parloff @rparloff.bsky.social · 14d

Six hrs after advising Border Patrol chief to comply with a court order requiring "reasonable suspicion" for stops, acting US Atty in Sacramento is fired & escorted from office.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/u...

Trump Fired a U.S. Attorney Who Insisted on Following a Court Order

www.nytimes.com

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David Folkenflik @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social · 14d

As federal funds wane, NPR ruefully clashes with CPB

My story for NPR:

www.npr.org/2025/09/27/n...

As federal funds wane, NPR ruefully clashes with CPB

NPR asked a federal judge to block CPB from awarding a $57.9 million grant to a new consortium of public media institutions to operate the satellite that connects the public radio system.

www.npr.org

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Bobby Allyn @bobbyallyn.bsky.social · 15d

NEW: The Trump admin asking TikTok investors for a multibillion-dollar payment to US is the latest extractive “fee for service” from WH.

"These are shakedown schemes…I'd even call it extortion…Privately, CEOs are horrified."

www.npr.org/2025/09/26/g...
w/ @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social

Trump's TikTok deal payment criticized as 'shakedown scheme' by experts

The U.S. government will collect a multibillion-dollar fee from the American investors who will take over TikTok. Some experts call the fee and other deals like it "extortion."

www.npr.org

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Noah Shachtman @noahshachtman.bsky.social · 20d

If you want to understand this Trump administration's rampant corruption ... you have to go back to Eric Adams, and how they made the case against him disappear.

I got a bunch of new details on this deep dive for @nytimes.com ...

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/o...

Opinion | Eric Adams, Donald Trump and the Case That Broke American Justice

www.nytimes.com

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David Folkenflik @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social · 15d

Trump’s TikTok deal terms called a ‘shakedown ’ by experts

By @bobbyallyn.bsky.social and me for NPR

www.npr.org/2025/09/26/g...

Trump's TikTok deal payment criticized as 'shakedown scheme' by experts

The U.S. government will collect a multibillion-dollar fee from the American investors who will take over TikTok. Some experts call the fee and other deals like it "extortion."

www.npr.org

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Leslie Levin @leslieclevin.bsky.social · 17d

Excited to announce our Connecticut Law Review Symposium on Oct 17: The Fourth Estate in a Time of Crisis.

Keynote speaker - David Folkenflik, NPR Media Correspondent @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social

Panelists include many distinguished media law scholars

events.uconn.edu/law-school/e...

The Fourth Estate in a Time of Crisis

Connecticut Law Review’s annual symposium. Keynote Speaker: David Folkenflik, NPR News, Media Correspondent

events.uconn.edu

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Prospect Magazine @prospectmagazine.co.uk · 17d

🎧: NPR’s @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social joins Media Confidential with @arusbridger.bsky.social and @lionelbarber.bsky.social to discuss Donald Trump’s $15bn lawsuit against the New York Times.

America’s assault on free speech

Alan and Lionel discuss Charlie Kirk, and Trump’s NYT lawsuit with David Folkenflik

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk

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Buddy Stone @buddystone.bsky.social · 21d

"How will we know what we don't hear?"
David Folkenflik, NPR reporter, on a free press and the First Amendment.

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