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Keenan Chen @NICAR25

@kcinbk.bsky.social

1.1K followers 130 following 42 posts

- kcinbk.github.io - data + computational methods - Former data and misinformation researcher at Information Futures Lab (Brown University) and First Draft News. - Ex-@Columbiajourn investigations fellow. - Lang: 普通話, 廣東話

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Keenan Chen @NICAR25 @kcinbk.bsky.social · Mar 14

For Slate, I dived into what a viral real estate influencer in NYC may reveal our increasingly polluting news environment of, and how a profitable business model of amplifying polarizing political and cultural content is making it even worse.

slate.com/technology/2...

He Used to Make Videos About NYC Real Estate. Then He Became Radicalized by the Right.

Cash Jordan made a name for himself showing off New York apartments. Now his YouTube channel is all crime and conspiracy. What happened?

slate.com

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Keenan Chen @NICAR25 @kcinbk.bsky.social · 17d

Many thanks to @montgomery.bsky.social for the edit.

Keenan Chen @NICAR25 @kcinbk.bsky.social · 17d

I wrote about how foreign apparel sellers rushed to cash in on Charlie Kirk’s death. Within hours, these astroturf accounts started flooding Facebook and Instagram with merch ads. Some of these paid posts even claimed “100% of the profits” would go to his orgs and family.

tinyurl.com/4x253yn7

Merch sellers cash in on Kirk’s killing with flood of social media ads

Foreign brands not linked to Kirk’s Turning Point USA sell patriotic gear with unclear promises to donate profits

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Keenan Chen @NICAR25

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 23d

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are walking and driving south to escape Israel's Gaza City offensive.
https://wapo.st/4pwffkf

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Reposted by Keenan Chen @NICAR25

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 24d

Jarvis: I hate to say this to my friends here at CNN, mass media is dying, so they're taking the last of these vestiges of institutions that matter and they're trying to turn them into propaganda organs under threat from the head of the FCC

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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 25d

Israel’s minister of culture announced plans to cancel the funding for the country’s top film award ceremony after a 90-minute drama about a Palestinian boy won best feature on Tuesday night. nyti.ms/4mla5oe

Israel Says It Will Defund Film Awards After Palestinian Win

A drama about a Palestinian boy who sneaks into Israel won the top prize at Israel’s version of the Oscars. The country’s culture minister called the ceremony “shameful.”

nyti.ms

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Keenan Chen @NICAR25 @kcinbk.bsky.social · Sep 12

Conservative voices are now coalescing around the idea of “online radicalization,” claiming Kirk’s suspected shooter, a white, Christian male, was groomed into a violent leftist.

Quite a surprising turn, given their past hostility to the concept rigorously researched by academics and journalists.

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Reposted by Keenan Chen @NICAR25

Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · Sep 11

If the federal show of force in Washington has had a deterrent effect on crime, it appears to have deterred entirely normal aspects of city life, too.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/u...

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Reposted by Keenan Chen @NICAR25

The Associated Press @apnews.com · Sep 9

An AP investigation finds that Silicon Valley companies sold surveillance technology to Chinese police and security contractors, ignoring warnings that the tools were being used to quash dissent, persecute religious sects and target minorities.

US tech companies enabled the surveillance and detention of hundreds of thousands in China

U.S. technology firms such as IBM, Dell and Cisco largely designed and built China’s surveillance state, an AP investigation finds. The tech companies deny wrongdoing.

bit.ly

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Reposted by Keenan Chen @NICAR25

Timmons Roberts @timmonsroberts.bsky.social · Aug 25

My lab's been attacked by an anti-wind group and their lawyers. They threatened the science funding of my whole university, to shut me and my undergraduate research assistants up.

NYT just covered it. 1/n

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/c...

Law Firm Pressures Brown University to Erase Research on Anti-Wind Groups

www.nytimes.com

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Keenan Chen @NICAR25 @kcinbk.bsky.social · Aug 26

Thanks for reading! And congrats on the latest piece. Really well researched and well reported.

Keenan Chen @NICAR25 @kcinbk.bsky.social · Aug 22

The CEO told @nytimes.com it’s fine for reporters to take cash to cover their expenses.

That’s just false. Like any newsroom, the paper barred editorial staff from taking cash. And if he’s worried about fair comp for his reporters, give them a raise instead of paying barely minimum wages.

Keenan Chen @NICAR25 @kcinbk.bsky.social · Aug 22

When I reported for a leading Chinese-language newspaper in NYC years ago, I often had to explain: “No, I can’t take your red envelopes.” Even now, seeing them still give me anxiety.

I wrote about my personal experience on my SubStack.

kcinbk.substack.com/p/a-former-i...

A former insider on NYC's “Red Envelope Gate”

I had anxiety whenever I saw these "red envelopes."

kcinbk.substack.com

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Keenan Chen @NICAR25 @kcinbk.bsky.social · Jun 25

(Full disclosure: I'm not a real estate analyst, so take my analysis with a grain of salt)

Keenan Chen @NICAR25 @kcinbk.bsky.social · Jun 25

And when you factor in regulated rental units across New York City, the overall effect of the ban appears even more limited.

Keenan Chen @NICAR25 @kcinbk.bsky.social · Jun 25

While it's always tricky to draw direct correlations, less than 10% of the market-rate rental listings on StreetEasy have increased asking rents immediately following the news of the ban on June 10.

Keenan Chen @NICAR25 @kcinbk.bsky.social · Jun 25

I started my Substack because… why not?

For my first post, I wrote about how the NYC FARE Act — which bans mandatory broker fees for new tenants — has yet to trigger any significant rent hikes.

tinyurl.com/4tfnbyfr

New York City's broker fee ban, explained in three charts.

It’s still very early, but only a small fraction of rental listings appear to have increased asking rent since the FARE Act went into effect.

tinyurl.com

Reposted by Keenan Chen @NICAR25

Jon Keegan @jonkeegan.com · Jun 18

Amazing presentation, fascinating data:
www.pewresearch.org/journalism/f...

News Media Tracker

Pew Research Center’s News Media Tracker shows data on Americans’ awareness of, use of and trust in 30 major news sources to map out part of the U.S. media ecosystem.

www.pewresearch.org

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Reposted by Keenan Chen @NICAR25

Matthew Facciani @matthewfacciani.bsky.social · Jun 17

"More than half (54%) of people get news from networks like Facebook, X and YouTube - overtaking TV (50%) and news sites and apps (48%)"
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Social media now main source of news in US, research suggests

A report also finds right-leaning audiences on X have almost doubled in the UK since Elon Musk's takeover.

www.bbc.com

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Reposted by Keenan Chen @NICAR25

Sophia Lebowitz @sophlebo.bsky.social · Jun 16

NEW: A cottage industry of unlicensed, unregulated driving schools in New Jersey are targetting the state’s immigrant population, evading the system carefully set up for safety.

Unsafe at Any Speed: NJ Officials Allow Illegal Driving Schools To Run Rampant - Streetsblog New York City

A cottage industry of unlicensed, unregulated driving schools targets the state’s immigrant population, evading the system carefully set up for safety.

nyc.streetsblog.org

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Keenan Chen @NICAR25 @kcinbk.bsky.social · Jun 5

First Take should do a segment like this: If beef were a sport, where does the Trump-Musk beef rank of all time?

Keenan Chen @NICAR25 @kcinbk.bsky.social · Jun 3

She’s essentially calling a naturalized citizen "illegal" in another comment, while her a district- including Whitestone, Flushing, and Little Neck- has a significant population of foreign-born Chinese and Cantonese residents.

Curious how the local Chinese-language press will cover this, or not.

Reposted by Keenan Chen @NICAR25

Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · May 12

New from 404 Media: Republicans are trying to cram a ban on AI regulation into the Budget Reconciliation bill, which would stop states from regulating AI entirely for 10 years.

www.404media.co/republicans-...

Republicans Try to Cram Ban on AI Regulation Into Budget Reconciliation Bill

Republicans try to use the Budget Reconciliation bill to stop states from regulating AI entirely for 10 years.

www.404media.co

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Keenan Chen @NICAR25 @kcinbk.bsky.social · May 8

"The leader of a Bulgarian spy ring helped Wirecard fugitive Jan Marsalek organise an airlift of 200 personnel from Kabul for the CIA during the military retreat from Afghanistan in 2021, a court in London has heard."

What a lede.

www.ft.com/content/17c9...

Bulgarian spy helped Wirecard’s Marsalek plan Kabul airlift for CIA, court told

Claim dismissed by prosecution lawyers at Old Bailey sentencing hearing

www.ft.com

Reposted by Keenan Chen @NICAR25

Streetsblog NYC @nyc.streetsblog.org · May 7

🚨 🚲 NYC CYCLIST ALERT 🚨 🚲

Have you been stopped by NYPD during the recent crackdown on cyclists in New York City? Confidentially talk about it with reporters at Streetsblog NYC.

Get in touch by emailing [email protected] or sending a secure message on Signal / WhatsApp via the QR codes below:

Avis aux livreurs!

Avez-vous récemment été arrêté par la police alors que vous étiez à vélo ? Utilisez ce QR code pour contacter un journaliste de Streetsblog NYC.

Contactez notre journaliste Sophia via WhatsApp.

Atención Repartidores

¿Te han detenido la policía cuando estás andando en bicicleta recientemente? Usa este QR Code para hablar confidencialmente con una periodista de Streetsblog NYC.

Envía un mensaje a nuestro periodista Sophia en WhatsApp.

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Reposted by Keenan Chen @NICAR25

Dylan Freedman @dylanfreedman.nytimes.com · May 5

"... reasoning systems from companies like OpenAI, Google and the Chinese start-up DeepSeek ... are generating more errors, not fewer. As their math skills have notably improved, their handle on facts has gotten shakier. It is not entirely clear why."

— Great read from Cade Metz and Karen Weise

A.I. Hallucinations Are Getting Worse, Even as New Systems Become More Powerful (Gift Article)

A new wave of “reasoning” systems from companies like OpenAI is producing incorrect information more often. Even the companies don’t know why.

www.nytimes.com

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