J. Emory Parker 🏳️‍🌈
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jaspar.bsky.social
J. Emory Parker 🏳️‍🌈
@jaspar.bsky.social
Pulitzer prize winning editor and news developer. Bluesky elder. Now: Data Editor at @statnews.bsky.social
✉️ [email protected] 📸 jemoryparker 🐘 @[email protected] | Signal: jaspar.01
Pinned
New from me: Here it is, everything I know about every change I've been monitoring on data.cdc.gov plus an archive of every file that's been removed or altered.

www.statnews.com/2025/02/14/t...
STAT is backing up and monitoring CDC data in real time: See what's changing
STAT is backing up and monitoring CDC data in real time: See what's changing.
www.statnews.com
Reposted by J. Emory Parker 🏳️‍🌈
Internet culture reporter Tatum Hunter: bsky.app/profile/tatu...
Lost my job at the Washington Post today, along with many of the best in the business. I want to keep covering tech and the internet. If you have leads on jobs for me or my colleagues, please reach out. I’m so proud of our work.
February 4, 2026 at 4:25 PM
Reposted by J. Emory Parker 🏳️‍🌈
Senior Video Journalist JM Rieger: bsky.app/profile/rieg...
Well, I was laid off at The Washington Post today.

It's been an honor to work with some of the best journalists in the business.

I'm hoping to continue reporting, producing videos and finding long-forgotten archival footage.

If you have any openings, reach out.
February 4, 2026 at 4:24 PM
Reposted by J. Emory Parker 🏳️‍🌈
Whatever you think of the Washington Post at this moment, here's a chance to support the dedicated, hard-working journalists who were just laid off. If you have the means, your donation is most welcome. If you don't, a kind thought and maybe spreading the word to others is support enough 💙
Donate to Washington Post 2026 layoff fund, organized by Rachel Siegel
On Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, The Washington Post laid off hundreds of journalists. We ar… Rachel Siegel needs your support for Washington Post 2026 layoff fund
www.gofundme.com
February 4, 2026 at 3:58 PM
Reposted by J. Emory Parker 🏳️‍🌈
This cannot be accepted. This is a bullshit move to try and keep the status of the occupation basically unchanged but try and play it off as a compromise
With the immediate removal of 700 federal agents from Minnesota, border czar Tom Homan put the total number of agents remaining in the state at approximately 2,000.

That’s still a dramatic increase from the normal immigration and enforcement staffing in Minnesota of around 150 agents.
Live: Border official Tom Homan announces hundreds of agents will leave Minnesota
White House border czar is negotiating with local officials on a deal for county jails to cooperate with federal immigration officials.
www.startribune.com
February 4, 2026 at 3:21 PM
This is just returning to the original number of agents that invaded the state when the occupation began. It is not a meaningful deescalation.
The headline should be, "DHS to keep 2,000 immigration officers in Minnesota."

Instead, it seems the entirety of the traditional media went with, "DHS to withdraw 700 immigration officers from Minnesota."

This presser worked like a charm.
Homan in Minneapolis: "Effective immediately, we will draw down 700 people effective today."
February 4, 2026 at 3:54 PM
Reposted by J. Emory Parker 🏳️‍🌈
New from 404 Media: the FBI has been unable to get into the iPhone of raided Washington Post journalist because the phone had Lockdown Mode enabled. Apple markets Lockdown Mode mostly to stop spyware like NSO. Here, a real world example of it stopping access too www.404media.co/fbi-couldnt-...
FBI Couldn’t Get into WaPo Reporter’s iPhone Because It Had Lockdown Mode Enabled
Lockdown Mode is a sometimes overlooked feature of Apple devices that broadly make them harder to hack. A court record indicates the feature might be effective at stopping third parties unlocking some...
www.404media.co
February 4, 2026 at 2:07 PM
Reposted by J. Emory Parker 🏳️‍🌈
Seven years ago yesterday, this ad ran during the Super Bowl.
'Democracy Dies in Darkness': Super Bowl commercial (2019)
YouTube video by Washington Post
www.youtube.com
February 4, 2026 at 2:28 PM
Reposted by J. Emory Parker 🏳️‍🌈
NEWS: The cuts were so severe that at least one department head asked to leave The Post rather than be included in the planning.

Peter Finn, The Post's international editor, requested that he be laid off once he learned about the scope of the cuts to his section.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/b...
Washington Post Begins Sweeping Layoffs
www.nytimes.com
February 4, 2026 at 3:11 PM
Reposted by J. Emory Parker 🏳️‍🌈
The suburban observers, heavily women, say they share a personality type.

“Many of us have encountered bullies our entire lives...I think that turns you into somebody that, even if that bully is wearing full tactical gear, I'm not interested in laying down for you.” www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
Pursued by federal agents, suburban ICE observers remain resolved
After a frightening pursuit by federal agents, suburban ICE observers say fear hasn’t stopped them from protecting their communities.
www.mprnews.org
February 4, 2026 at 3:42 PM
Reposted by J. Emory Parker 🏳️‍🌈
Most of the footage you see from ICE observers in Minnesota comes from the core cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. I talked to observers in the northern suburbs, who say they're taking on the same mission in very different conditions. (1)
share.google/ei9giIFLsuEJ...
Pursued by federal agents, suburban ICE observers remain resolved
After a frightening pursuit by federal agents, suburban ICE observers say fear hasn’t stopped them from protecting their communities.
share.google
February 4, 2026 at 3:31 PM
Reposted by J. Emory Parker 🏳️‍🌈
My time with The Washington Post is up. I was laid off with hundreds of folks I am so honored to call my colleagues.

I covered it all at The Post (really), so now I'm looking for my next adventure.

➡️ kbellware [at] gmail dot com
Website update coming soon

@postguild.bsky.social
forever
February 4, 2026 at 3:39 PM
Reposted by J. Emory Parker 🏳️‍🌈
Historical analogies are arguments. So when someone makes an analogy between today and the Holocaust, or today and anything, think about they are really arguing for. What is the analogy trying to get you to do?

New at @startribune.com
Perry: When is it OK to compare aspects of what’s happening in Minnesota to Nazi Germany?
Gov. Tim Walz has made some such analogies in relation to ICE and has been criticized for it, David M. Perry writes.
www.startribune.com
February 4, 2026 at 12:48 PM
I think the story is not that Bezos is bumbling and doesn't understand how to run The Post. The opposite. For several years, he understood exactly what The Post meant. And he does still, which is why he deliberately muzzled it to win favor with a vindictive, censorious government.
February 4, 2026 at 3:42 PM
Reposted by J. Emory Parker 🏳️‍🌈
These are the last words in the last column I wrote for The Washington Post, titled "When institutions crumble, strongmen step in". www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
February 4, 2026 at 3:26 PM
Reposted by J. Emory Parker 🏳️‍🌈
A staggering statement from former Washington Post editor Marty Baron: "This ranks among the darkest days in the history of one of the world's greatest news organizations."
February 4, 2026 at 2:34 PM
The people who run media outlets never fail, they can only be failed
One of the throughlines in this Post news (that anyone working in journalism will recognize) is how the people at the top take no responsibility for what is happening.
February 4, 2026 at 3:34 PM
Reposted by J. Emory Parker 🏳️‍🌈
One of the throughlines in this Post news (that anyone working in journalism will recognize) is how the people at the top take no responsibility for what is happening.
February 4, 2026 at 3:15 PM
I think a lot of people here are wanting to make sure the news communicates the sort of grassroots, groundswell nature of the movement here.

But I also think that's buying into the framing that there's something wrong with "protest" or "activism."
Soooo what’s this thing where people are pushing back so hard on calling their civil disobedience “protest”, like it’s a slur?
February 4, 2026 at 3:00 PM
It sucks to be worried about friends and colleagues at two major papers today.
BREAKING: @ajc.com on Tuesday evening said it will lay off approximately 50 staffers, about 15% of its headcount, as it seeks to cut costs and marshal resources to invest in its growth.

The AJC published its last print edition on 12/31. About half of those laid off will come from the newsroom.
The AJC to cut staff as it continues digital transformation
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said Tuesday it will lay off staffers in the newsroom and other segments of the business.
www.ajc.com
February 4, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Meaningless. It’s the kind of strategy you articulate when you’re rudderless.

Your north star for a subscription business needs to be understanding your audience and delivering the product they want.

The directive from Bezos, however, seems to be to manufacture an audience that doesn’t exist.
Speaking to WaPo employees, editor Matt Murray says cuts are about “positioning ourselves to become more essential to people's lives, and what is becoming a more crowded, competitive and complicated media landscape, and after some years when, candidly, the Post has had struggles to do that."
February 4, 2026 at 2:25 PM
Reposted by J. Emory Parker 🏳️‍🌈
I've been through some shitty times in my 20 years as a journalist but today just might take the shit cake
February 4, 2026 at 2:16 PM
Reposted by J. Emory Parker 🏳️‍🌈
A manager for the Immigrant Defense Network told MPR News that back in November, 2,500 people were trained as constitutional observers. Now, the total is nearly 30,000 trained observers in 77 of Minnesota's 87 counties.
Nearly 30,000 Minnesotans trained as constitutional observers
The Immigrant Defense Network works with more than 100 organizations to help train constitutional observers. At the end of November, there were 2,500 trained observers. That number has soared as more ...
www.mprnews.org
February 3, 2026 at 3:03 PM
Reposted by J. Emory Parker 🏳️‍🌈
Page One.

@wsj.com
February 4, 2026 at 10:52 AM
Reposted by J. Emory Parker 🏳️‍🌈
Spitballing/bargaining stage of grief: A “Washington Banner” outlet, spun off the successful Baltimore Banner and taking advantage of its backend, built out of laid off Washington Post Metro and Sports staffers and funded via a mixed nonprofit and subscription model…
February 4, 2026 at 12:09 PM
Bezos really needs to just sell The Post
February 4, 2026 at 2:01 PM