Josh Cohen
@jcohenwrites.bsky.social
Former City Reporter at Cascade PBS covering the issues, government, and politics shaping life in Seattle.
Another grim example of AI's "utility"
Aided by genAI models like ChatGPT, “writers” hoping to get paid for fake stories have become an even bigger problem for publications big and small. One such writer almost pulled one over on COYOTE — until @soleilho.com, who is a nerd, spotted a key idiosyncrasy.
How COYOTE Almost Got Slopped by AI
The sordid tale of the freelancer who never was.
www.coyotemedia.org
February 11, 2026 at 5:33 PM
Another grim example of AI's "utility"
We love to see it
February 9, 2026 at 2:59 AM
We love to see it
The list of things we need to fix in society is long, but eventually we gotta address the celebrities in commercials problem
February 9, 2026 at 1:21 AM
The list of things we need to fix in society is long, but eventually we gotta address the celebrities in commercials problem
Reposted by Josh Cohen
By passing a ban on income taxes two years ago, Washington state lawmakers actually guaranteed their ability to consider an income tax on millionaires this session. www.axios.com/local/seattl... #waleg
Why Washington's income tax ban won't block a millionaire tax
A new proposal is testing how durable Washington's income tax ban really is.
www.axios.com
February 5, 2026 at 5:04 PM
By passing a ban on income taxes two years ago, Washington state lawmakers actually guaranteed their ability to consider an income tax on millionaires this session. www.axios.com/local/seattl... #waleg
Reposted by Josh Cohen
6/ The Post has lost over 375,000 subscribers in just over a year. If 10% of those readers subscribed to The 51st instead, we could hire 10 reporters and five editors, dramatically scaling our coverage of the city at this critical time. 51st.news/signup
Join The 51st
The 51st is a worker-led nonprofit news source for D.C. Our reporting is rooted in our conviction that local journalism is meant to make people’s lives better — no paywalls, ever. But that's only…
51st.news
February 4, 2026 at 7:21 PM
6/ The Post has lost over 375,000 subscribers in just over a year. If 10% of those readers subscribed to The 51st instead, we could hire 10 reporters and five editors, dramatically scaling our coverage of the city at this critical time. 51st.news/signup
Reposted by Josh Cohen
INBOX: Washington Post Ukraine Correspondent Lizzie Johnson announces that she has been laid off in the middle of a below-freezing war zone without power, heat, or running water.
February 4, 2026 at 5:11 PM
INBOX: Washington Post Ukraine Correspondent Lizzie Johnson announces that she has been laid off in the middle of a below-freezing war zone without power, heat, or running water.
Photojournalists across America preparing to apply to one of the only staff photo jobs available
February 3, 2026 at 6:45 PM
Photojournalists across America preparing to apply to one of the only staff photo jobs available
Reposted by Josh Cohen
Just experienced the most intense tear gassing of my life by federal officers outside the ICE facility in Portland where marchers gathered. There was no fast exit as they indiscriminately threw loads of gas and flash bangs. Children were in the crowd screaming. @oregoncapitalchronicle.com
February 1, 2026 at 12:50 AM
Just experienced the most intense tear gassing of my life by federal officers outside the ICE facility in Portland where marchers gathered. There was no fast exit as they indiscriminately threw loads of gas and flash bangs. Children were in the crowd screaming. @oregoncapitalchronicle.com
Reposted by Josh Cohen
January 31, 2026 at 11:08 PM
Reposted by Josh Cohen
January 31, 2026 at 11:36 PM
Reposted by Josh Cohen
Georgia Fort, an independent journalist and vice president of the Minnesota NABJ chapter, was also arrested by federal agents this morning
I was sent this video of agents at her door:
I was sent this video of agents at her door:
January 30, 2026 at 2:58 PM
Georgia Fort, an independent journalist and vice president of the Minnesota NABJ chapter, was also arrested by federal agents this morning
I was sent this video of agents at her door:
I was sent this video of agents at her door:
Reposted by Josh Cohen
Federal immigration agents detained a man in Shoreline, leaving his 2-year-old son sitting alone in the back seat for about 40 minutes. Here's what the activists saw:
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
January 30, 2026 at 3:44 PM
Federal immigration agents detained a man in Shoreline, leaving his 2-year-old son sitting alone in the back seat for about 40 minutes. Here's what the activists saw:
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
Reposted by Josh Cohen
I interviewed over half a dozen ICE and Border Patrol agents who describe an agency that sounds like Reno 911!
“I thought federal agents were supposed to be clean cut but some of them pass around a flask as we are watching a suspect,” one told me:
www.kenklippenstein.com/p/ice-unloads
“I thought federal agents were supposed to be clean cut but some of them pass around a flask as we are watching a suspect,” one told me:
www.kenklippenstein.com/p/ice-unloads
ICE Unloads
Immigration officers speak out: “Fuck this.”
www.kenklippenstein.com
January 27, 2026 at 2:38 AM
I interviewed over half a dozen ICE and Border Patrol agents who describe an agency that sounds like Reno 911!
“I thought federal agents were supposed to be clean cut but some of them pass around a flask as we are watching a suspect,” one told me:
www.kenklippenstein.com/p/ice-unloads
“I thought federal agents were supposed to be clean cut but some of them pass around a flask as we are watching a suspect,” one told me:
www.kenklippenstein.com/p/ice-unloads
Reposted by Josh Cohen
The memorial to Alex Pretti has grown here at Harborview.
Hospital staff say it's important to speak out against what they say is police violence and injustice in Minneapolis.
" It's just to the point where it's intolerable, says Kyla Haggith, a nurse here, "it's too much."
Hospital staff say it's important to speak out against what they say is police violence and injustice in Minneapolis.
" It's just to the point where it's intolerable, says Kyla Haggith, a nurse here, "it's too much."
January 27, 2026 at 2:24 AM
The memorial to Alex Pretti has grown here at Harborview.
Hospital staff say it's important to speak out against what they say is police violence and injustice in Minneapolis.
" It's just to the point where it's intolerable, says Kyla Haggith, a nurse here, "it's too much."
Hospital staff say it's important to speak out against what they say is police violence and injustice in Minneapolis.
" It's just to the point where it's intolerable, says Kyla Haggith, a nurse here, "it's too much."
Reposted by Josh Cohen
Happening now: nurses and staff at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle are holding a vigil for Alex Pretti. Some are out here in their scrubs. People have brought flowers and are writing notes to add to the candles.
January 27, 2026 at 12:14 AM
Happening now: nurses and staff at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle are holding a vigil for Alex Pretti. Some are out here in their scrubs. People have brought flowers and are writing notes to add to the candles.
Reposted by Josh Cohen
BREAKING Greg Bovino has been removed as Border Patrol "commander at large" and will return to El Centro Calif, where he is expected to retire soon. A stunning turnaround after Pretti killing. Bovino's traveling blue city crackdown is over www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
Gregory Bovino Gets Demoted
The Border Patrol chief was the public face of a traveling immigration crackdown on cities governed by Democrats.
www.theatlantic.com
January 26, 2026 at 11:40 PM
BREAKING Greg Bovino has been removed as Border Patrol "commander at large" and will return to El Centro Calif, where he is expected to retire soon. A stunning turnaround after Pretti killing. Bovino's traveling blue city crackdown is over www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Josh Cohen
somebody get this man to the super bowl www.seattlemet.com/news-and-cit...
Meet Mexico City's Biggest Seattle Seahawks Football Fan
"My personal American Dream is to go to the United States and see a Seahawks game.”
www.seattlemet.com
January 26, 2026 at 5:18 PM
somebody get this man to the super bowl www.seattlemet.com/news-and-cit...
Reposted by Josh Cohen
NYT video analysis confirms victim’s gun was removed before he was shot. So he was unarmed. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/us/minneapolis-shooting-federal-agents-video.html
January 24, 2026 at 8:35 PM
NYT video analysis confirms victim’s gun was removed before he was shot. So he was unarmed. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/us/minneapolis-shooting-federal-agents-video.html
"All law enforcement operations — including those conducted by ICE and Customs and Border Protection — are governed by the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which protects all people in the country from unreasonable searches and seizures."
BREAKING: Immigration officers are asserting sweeping power to enter homes without a judge’s warrant, a memo obtained by AP says.
Immigration officers assert sweeping power to enter homes without a judge's warrant, memo says
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo obtained by The Associated Press reveals that the agency allows immigration officers to forcibly enter homes to make arrests without a judicial warrant.
bit.ly
January 21, 2026 at 10:50 PM
"All law enforcement operations — including those conducted by ICE and Customs and Border Protection — are governed by the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which protects all people in the country from unreasonable searches and seizures."
Reposted by Josh Cohen
You're going to read a lot of headlines out of Davos that misleadingly suggest that a transatlantic crisis has passed. But if you listen to Trump's entire speech, it sounds like the crisis is just getting started.
Beware The "Trump Won't Use Force in Greenland" Headlines
The transatlantic crisis is hardly over. Trump is so psychotic that Mark Carney is telling the truth about the 'rules-based international order.' PLUS: Three podcasts I guested on!
www.forever-wars.com
January 21, 2026 at 6:06 PM
You're going to read a lot of headlines out of Davos that misleadingly suggest that a transatlantic crisis has passed. But if you listen to Trump's entire speech, it sounds like the crisis is just getting started.
Many are saying the journalism industry is doing bad.
January 20, 2026 at 6:38 PM
Many are saying the journalism industry is doing bad.
I'm working on rebuilding my professional website and looked for the first time in years at the profile I wrote about Nick Licata after he left the Seattle City Council. Turns out there are recurrent themes in progressive political leadership ... www.thenation.com/article/arch...
January 16, 2026 at 6:19 PM
I'm working on rebuilding my professional website and looked for the first time in years at the profile I wrote about Nick Licata after he left the Seattle City Council. Turns out there are recurrent themes in progressive political leadership ... www.thenation.com/article/arch...
I dunno how I missed Cafe Paloma all these years in Seattle. Wasn't on my radar at all until last night. Cute spot in Pioneer Square, tasty Mediterranean food, highly recommend.
January 16, 2026 at 5:24 PM
I dunno how I missed Cafe Paloma all these years in Seattle. Wasn't on my radar at all until last night. Cute spot in Pioneer Square, tasty Mediterranean food, highly recommend.
Horrifying www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
FBI raids home of Washington Post reporter in ‘highly unusual and aggressive’ move
Agents searched Hannah Natanson’s Virginia home and seized devices in inquiry tied to a classified materials case
www.theguardian.com
January 14, 2026 at 5:52 PM
Horrifying www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Reposted by Josh Cohen
Despite pledges to block access, ICE and CBP searched Washington driver’s license data at least nine times Aug–Nov via a law-enforcement data network, UW researchers found. The state says ICE access ended mid-November, but gaps remain.
washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/01/08/i...
washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/01/08/i...
ICE searched WA driver’s license data into November, report finds • Washington State Standard
Despite vows to restrict immigration agents' access to Washington license information, the data sharing continued, researchers said Thursday.
washingtonstatestandard.com
January 9, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Despite pledges to block access, ICE and CBP searched Washington driver’s license data at least nine times Aug–Nov via a law-enforcement data network, UW researchers found. The state says ICE access ended mid-November, but gaps remain.
washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/01/08/i...
washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/01/08/i...