Gregory Laski
@greglaski.bsky.social
Professor, Scholar, Journalist * Culture and US civic life—past and present * English PhD * Books: "Untimely Democracy" & "Democracies in America" * Bylines: LARB, Public Source, Chronicle of Higher Education, &c. * www.gregorylaski.com
Pinned
Gregory Laski
@greglaski.bsky.social
· Sep 11
Searching for the Humanity, No Matter How Good or Evil, of Every Character - Electric Literature
Nathan Harris’s “Amity” pores through the historical horrors of the post-Civil War United States and reminds us why Reconstruction still matters today
electricliterature.com
💡 My @electricliterature.com interview with author Nathan Harris on his new @littlebrown.bsky.social novel AMITY and why Reconstruction matters today electricliterature.com/searching-fo...
Reposted by Gregory Laski
Dawnita Brown left her job to become a caregiver for her parents. Brown says it's a gift to care for her parents, but it can also be difficult. That's why respite is an important part of her life.
She cares for her aging parents full time. That requires taking care of herself, too
Dawnita Brown left her job to become a caregiver for her parents. Brown says it's a gift to care for her parents, but it can also be difficult. That's why respite is an important part of her life.
n.pr
November 23, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Dawnita Brown left her job to become a caregiver for her parents. Brown says it's a gift to care for her parents, but it can also be difficult. That's why respite is an important part of her life.
“The things people click on are exclusives and anything that has a distinct voice or a really strong opinion,” said a Hearst staffer.
November 3, 2025 at 11:45 AM
“The things people click on are exclusives and anything that has a distinct voice or a really strong opinion,” said a Hearst staffer.
“We’re now starting to face some challenges with email that are similar to search challenges because Google is essentially bringing AI to the inbox,” said an executive at a product-recommendation site, who has noticed a reduction in click-through rates on email but not reductions in open rates
November 3, 2025 at 11:43 AM
“We’re now starting to face some challenges with email that are similar to search challenges because Google is essentially bringing AI to the inbox,” said an executive at a product-recommendation site, who has noticed a reduction in click-through rates on email but not reductions in open rates
@jokenty.bsky.social loved your renovator post today about the new civic ed movement. I am working on new book called “thinking like a citizen.” Would love to talk —would you be open to a conversation?
October 30, 2025 at 4:02 PM
@jokenty.bsky.social loved your renovator post today about the new civic ed movement. I am working on new book called “thinking like a citizen.” Would love to talk —would you be open to a conversation?
Reposted by Gregory Laski
It's not just the newspapers.
"While declines to print readership are almost a foregone conclusion, 'digital traffic to local news sites is experiencing a cratering similar to that of print,' State of Local News Project director Zach Metzger writes in the report. www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/in-m...
"While declines to print readership are almost a foregone conclusion, 'digital traffic to local news sites is experiencing a cratering similar to that of print,' State of Local News Project director Zach Metzger writes in the report. www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/in-m...
October 24, 2025 at 5:28 PM
It's not just the newspapers.
"While declines to print readership are almost a foregone conclusion, 'digital traffic to local news sites is experiencing a cratering similar to that of print,' State of Local News Project director Zach Metzger writes in the report. www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/in-m...
"While declines to print readership are almost a foregone conclusion, 'digital traffic to local news sites is experiencing a cratering similar to that of print,' State of Local News Project director Zach Metzger writes in the report. www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/in-m...
Reposted by Gregory Laski
“That this debate is happening in terms of skills versus content is itself unsettling, subsuming Shakespeare into that category of internet clickbait produced to keep hits coming, rapidly being overtaken now by A.I. slop”
let’s gooooo
let’s gooooo
In which Johanna Winant (@johannawinant.bsky.social) and I make the case for teaching whole books. And argue for a model of close reading that would bridge high school, college, and professional practice slate.com/life/2025/10...
There’s a Literacy Crisis. One Classroom Solution Should Be Obvious.
You can't get better at reading until you care about a text.
slate.com
October 24, 2025 at 2:17 PM
“That this debate is happening in terms of skills versus content is itself unsettling, subsuming Shakespeare into that category of internet clickbait produced to keep hits coming, rapidly being overtaken now by A.I. slop”
let’s gooooo
let’s gooooo
Reposted by Gregory Laski
A kid ate Doritos at his high school and an AI-powered gun-detection system mistakenly flagged the bag of chips as a weapon.
Police were called and when they showed up, they pointed guns (real ones) at the student. www.thebanner.com/education/k-...
Police were called and when they showed up, they pointed guns (real ones) at the student. www.thebanner.com/education/k-...
Baltimore County school gun detection system mistook a bag of chips for a weapon
The false alarm was triggered by Omnilert, Baltimore County Public Schools’ gun detection system.
www.thebanner.com
October 23, 2025 at 2:33 PM
A kid ate Doritos at his high school and an AI-powered gun-detection system mistakenly flagged the bag of chips as a weapon.
Police were called and when they showed up, they pointed guns (real ones) at the student. www.thebanner.com/education/k-...
Police were called and when they showed up, they pointed guns (real ones) at the student. www.thebanner.com/education/k-...
Where are examples of reporting on White House East Wing demolition that address, and seek to answer, legal and democratic questions involved?
October 23, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Where are examples of reporting on White House East Wing demolition that address, and seek to answer, legal and democratic questions involved?
Reposted by Gregory Laski
👀The conclusion of a 2001 article from Journalism & Mass Communcation. #journalism #civiced
October 22, 2025 at 6:12 PM
👀The conclusion of a 2001 article from Journalism & Mass Communcation. #journalism #civiced
Reposted by Gregory Laski
"There are positive developments in local news but they’re being swamped by the negative trends. We’re losing the race against time."
By @stevenwaldman.bsky.social commenting on the State of Local News 2025 report, an annual study from Northwestern U.
www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/were...
By @stevenwaldman.bsky.social commenting on the State of Local News 2025 report, an annual study from Northwestern U.
www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/were...
October 22, 2025 at 3:28 PM
"There are positive developments in local news but they’re being swamped by the negative trends. We’re losing the race against time."
By @stevenwaldman.bsky.social commenting on the State of Local News 2025 report, an annual study from Northwestern U.
www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/were...
By @stevenwaldman.bsky.social commenting on the State of Local News 2025 report, an annual study from Northwestern U.
www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/were...
Reposted by Gregory Laski
"Digital news sites don’t come close to replacing the number of newspapers and journalism jobs being lost. And the digital news providers are almost entirely concentrated in metro areas, leaving vast swaths of the country with little to no access to local news.” www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/in-m...
In Medill’s latest State of Local News report, a “festering, 20-year-old problem” looms larger than ever
“Digital news sites don’t come close to replacing the number of newspapers and journalism jobs being lost. And the digital news providers are almost entirely concentrated in metro areas, leaving vast…
www.niemanlab.org
October 22, 2025 at 7:41 PM
"Digital news sites don’t come close to replacing the number of newspapers and journalism jobs being lost. And the digital news providers are almost entirely concentrated in metro areas, leaving vast swaths of the country with little to no access to local news.” www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/in-m...
👀The conclusion of a 2001 article from Journalism & Mass Communcation. #journalism #civiced
October 22, 2025 at 6:12 PM
👀The conclusion of a 2001 article from Journalism & Mass Communcation. #journalism #civiced
Reposted by Gregory Laski
a thing about human teachers—it’s not just about having someone around who’s “nice” or “encouraging,” there’s no substitute for a teacher who likes ideas and enjoys being in a room full of thinking students
October 15, 2025 at 1:11 AM
a thing about human teachers—it’s not just about having someone around who’s “nice” or “encouraging,” there’s no substitute for a teacher who likes ideas and enjoys being in a room full of thinking students
“When democracy deteriorates, you need more and better civic education” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/w...
Civics Education Struggles, Even as Government and Politics Saturate Daily Life
www.nytimes.com
October 20, 2025 at 2:10 PM
“When democracy deteriorates, you need more and better civic education” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/w...
Reposted by Gregory Laski
In about three years the entire university pivot to AI curricula and schools and programs is going to be so deeply embarrassing. We will all pretend it never happened and I will be standing there, looking at people with a mirror in my eyes. This is all so embarrassing.
October 17, 2025 at 12:16 PM
In about three years the entire university pivot to AI curricula and schools and programs is going to be so deeply embarrassing. We will all pretend it never happened and I will be standing there, looking at people with a mirror in my eyes. This is all so embarrassing.
Reposted by Gregory Laski
“The Defense Department has confiscated the badges of the Pentagon reporters from virtually every major media organization in America,” the Pentagon Press Association said
October 15, 2025 at 9:52 PM
“The Defense Department has confiscated the badges of the Pentagon reporters from virtually every major media organization in America,” the Pentagon Press Association said
Reposted by Gregory Laski
"People often ask me what journalism I trust. So today I’m handing out letter grades to some major players." —Mark Jacob. www.stopthepresses.news/p/im-handing...
I’m handing out pro-democracy grades to the media
The Guardian gets an A, the NY Times gets a C, CBS gets an F
www.stopthepresses.news
October 14, 2025 at 11:45 PM
"People often ask me what journalism I trust. So today I’m handing out letter grades to some major players." —Mark Jacob. www.stopthepresses.news/p/im-handing...
"As a Times loyalist, I kind of resent the implication: Come join our resistance, New York Times! As if that’s what we want from the journalism, to do our politics for us"
I am often told I should not read or pay for the New York Times. Just now, for example. @skyfog.bsky.social said, "You shouldn’t be paying for that rag."
I consider myself a Times loyalist, and I explain what I mean by that here. pressthink.org/2019/08/bad-...
I consider myself a Times loyalist, and I explain what I mean by that here. pressthink.org/2019/08/bad-...
October 13, 2025 at 4:33 PM
"As a Times loyalist, I kind of resent the implication: Come join our resistance, New York Times! As if that’s what we want from the journalism, to do our politics for us"
Reposted by Gregory Laski
Danielle has a new report out with the Council on Civic Strength - thanks to Hans Zeiger and @thefulcrum-us.bsky.social for this great story about its origins!
"The task force rightly argues that student learning, not issue advocacy, is the proper purpose of this kind of education."
"The task force rightly argues that student learning, not issue advocacy, is the proper purpose of this kind of education."
Experiential Civic Learning Is Key to Reviving American Democracy
New bipartisan task force urges hands-on civic education to build youth leadership and democratic skills.
thefulcrum.us
October 13, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Danielle has a new report out with the Council on Civic Strength - thanks to Hans Zeiger and @thefulcrum-us.bsky.social for this great story about its origins!
"The task force rightly argues that student learning, not issue advocacy, is the proper purpose of this kind of education."
"The task force rightly argues that student learning, not issue advocacy, is the proper purpose of this kind of education."
Reposted by Gregory Laski
🧵 I'm excited to share that my article "Democratic Backsliding and the Limits of Civilian Control of the Military" has been accepted @thejop.bsky.social.
It answers the question "how ought militaries act when civilian leaders turn on democratic institutions?"
1/
#CivMilSky #PolTheory
It answers the question "how ought militaries act when civilian leaders turn on democratic institutions?"
1/
#CivMilSky #PolTheory
October 12, 2025 at 1:32 PM
🧵 I'm excited to share that my article "Democratic Backsliding and the Limits of Civilian Control of the Military" has been accepted @thejop.bsky.social.
It answers the question "how ought militaries act when civilian leaders turn on democratic institutions?"
1/
#CivMilSky #PolTheory
It answers the question "how ought militaries act when civilian leaders turn on democratic institutions?"
1/
#CivMilSky #PolTheory
Reposted by Gregory Laski
If as a journalist you don't know which photos or videos to trust on social media any more you might ask why the news media is not positioning itself to prosper from the pending consumer rush back to trusted sources.
October 12, 2025 at 12:04 AM
If as a journalist you don't know which photos or videos to trust on social media any more you might ask why the news media is not positioning itself to prosper from the pending consumer rush back to trusted sources.
Reposted by Gregory Laski
Inspired by @marcwatkins.bsky.social and wanting to share his piece with my newsletter subscribers, I put my two cents in. open.substack.com/pub/engagede...
October 10, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Inspired by @marcwatkins.bsky.social and wanting to share his piece with my newsletter subscribers, I put my two cents in. open.substack.com/pub/engagede...
Reposted by Gregory Laski
Learned a lot at #accessfest25! Thanks @ire.org !
October 11, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Learned a lot at #accessfest25! Thanks @ire.org !
"Journalism — the practice of it — belongs not only to the people who call themselves journalists, but to everyone who does civic work with its tools. "
Did you miss it this week?
I have a new job: president of News Creator Corps. Goes like this.
Via the people now called creators, audiences are migrating to the social layer in the internet stack. Maybe there's a way to move with, rather than against that.
newscreatorcorps.org/2025/10/news...
I have a new job: president of News Creator Corps. Goes like this.
Via the people now called creators, audiences are migrating to the social layer in the internet stack. Maybe there's a way to move with, rather than against that.
newscreatorcorps.org/2025/10/news...
October 11, 2025 at 6:33 PM
"Journalism — the practice of it — belongs not only to the people who call themselves journalists, but to everyone who does civic work with its tools. "