Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Lauren Tokos @ltokos.bsky.social · 9d

A gross example of executive overstep.

The Oregonian @oregonian.com · 9d

Oregon officials have scrambled to respond to Trump’s authorization of federal troops.

Read the texts between President Trump and Oregon’s governor over troops in Portland

Oregon officials have scrambled to respond to Trump’s authorization of federal troops.

www.oregonlive.com

Lauren Tokos @ltokos.bsky.social · Sep 9

I can only dream of commanding an audience as well as Morgan Spector does. Abolish the billionaire class, once city at a time🙏

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · Sep 8

"How Are the Very Rich Feeling About New York’s Next Mayor?"

A Dramatic Reading of The Recent New York Times Dispatch from the Hamptons.

Presented by The Gilded Age's Morgan Spector.

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Lauren Tokos @ltokos.bsky.social · Aug 1

Devastating blow to public interest media. CPB was created to help protect citizens from undue business influence— civil society will suffer greatly without access to independent information. Not to mention folks in rural areas who rely on public media for any kind of news. cpb.org/pressroom/Co...

Corporation for Public Broadcasting Addresses Operations Following Loss of Federal Funding

WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 1, 2025) – The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced today that it will begin an orderly wind-down of its operations following the passage of a federal rescissio...

cpb.org

Lauren Tokos @ltokos.bsky.social · Jul 11

Yet another example of the global corporatization of “public interest” media. It’s time to take a hint from history and undo the growing dependencies between public interest media and transitory tech.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · Jul 11

Thousands of BBC jobs at risk as broadcaster considers major outsourcing drive

Exclusive: BBC understood to be speaking to US tech giants as it desperately seeks cost savings The BBC is examining a significant outsourcing drive that could put thousands of jobs at risk as it desperately searches for savings, the Guardian understands. The plans being considered include the offshoring of jobs currently carried out in the UK, with the BBC understood to be talking to US tech giants as potential partners. It is said to include the outsourcing of recommendation algorithms, which direct users to content. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Lauren Tokos

The Marshall Project @themarshallproject.org · Jul 11

A new federal report concludes federal prison officials violated their own rules, shackling prisoners to beds and chairs for hours or even days.

The report comes after an investigative series by The Marshall Project and NPR exposed similar abuses.

Shackled For Days and Weeks: A Federal Report Finds Widespread Abuse in Prisons

The report, by the Justice Department’s internal watchdog, comes after an investigative series by The Marshall Project and NPR exposed similar abuses.

www.themarshallproject.org

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Lauren Tokos @ltokos.bsky.social · Jul 5

Eight or more fire trucks alongside other emergency responders. One of the fire fighters told me this was their tenth fire within three hours.

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Lauren Tokos @ltokos.bsky.social · Jul 5

Our neighbors’ house caught on fire last night when their illegal fireworks re-lit in the garage. Everyone is ok (including the pets), but it is certainly a cautionary tale. Demonstrates why skyrockets are illegal in OR and many other places.

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Lauren Tokos @ltokos.bsky.social · Jun 24

It was such a privilege presenting my archival research at the UDC conference in Tacoma, WA, this weekend 🙌🏻 Can’t wait to continue investigating how Robert A. Brady impacted our field. Thank you @uniondemcomm.bsky.social for putting on a great conference!

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Reposted by Lauren Tokos

Annenberg School at Penn @asc.upenn.edu · Jun 11

A study of declassified FBI files documents how the Bureau wielded the fear of communist infiltration to infiltrate the broadcasting industry itself:

The FBI’s Secret Impact on American Broadcasting

www.asc.upenn.edu

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Lauren Tokos @ltokos.bsky.social · Apr 12

Congrats to you both!!! 🥳🙌🏻

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Lauren Tokos @ltokos.bsky.social · Feb 23

So excited to share a new article I have out with my brilliant colleagues, Carol Stabile and Miriam Yousaf!

This work is so important to me and l believe it’s being released at an even more important point in American history.

urldefense.com/v3/__https:/...

“The FBI has no politics”: COMINFIL radio-TV and the suppression of dissent1

Abstract. In the second half of the 1940s, the Federal Bureau of Investigation initiated an investigation of the broadcasting industry that had far-reachin

urldefense.com

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Lauren Tokos @ltokos.bsky.social · Jan 2

Keeping my brain sharp over winter break. Beat the reigning champ (my bf’s mom) 🙌🏻

Lauren Tokos @ltokos.bsky.social · Dec 28

News reporting should match the interests of the community. I think these threats to public media are indicative of planned polarization by politicians and political pundits. We have a right to dissent against the dominant social narrative and that begins w/ the outlets who support diverse reporting

Lauren Tokos @ltokos.bsky.social · Dec 28

This piece shows how publicly funded media, devoid of corporate interest, is deeply intertwined with socioeconomic disparity in America. Major media giants and the incoming administration that supports them threatens to eliminate community-based reporting. All bc NPR and PBS are too liberal — CONT.

kate conger @kateconger.com · Dec 27

public media funding is always under threat — but now Elon Musk is targeting NPR and PBS for budget cuts. @benmullin.bsky.social and I found out how stations are preparing: www.nytimes.com/2024/12/27/b...

NPR and PBS Stations Brace for Funding Battle Under Trump

Republicans in Congress have tried to defund public media for decades. With the help of Elon Musk, could they finally make good on their threat?

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Lauren Tokos

Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · Dec 28

America's richest 10% now hold 60% of the nation's wealth.

The bottom half of America? It holds just 6%.

Wealth inequality is eating this country alive.

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Lauren Tokos @ltokos.bsky.social · Dec 21

I’ve created an army

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Reposted by Lauren Tokos

Jeff Pooley @jpooley.bsky.social · Dec 18

New, important paper on surveillance publishing: 'The Citation Economy as a Site of Extraction for Surveillance Publishing'

cjal.ca

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Lauren Tokos @ltokos.bsky.social · Dec 17

Hmm

The New York Times @nytimes.com · Dec 17

A lawsuit claims that Georgetown University, the University of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and 14 other schools considered applicants’ family wealth and donation potential when choosing who to admit. nyti.ms/4028mN2

Lawsuit Accuses Georgetown of Admitting Students Based Solely on Wealth

The schools were accused of giving special treatment to wealthy students who might not otherwise have been admitted.

nyti.ms

Reposted by Lauren Tokos

Tom Nichols @radiofreetom.bsky.social · Dec 17

Russian general is killed in Moscow.

- Top Bluesky searches produce media sources (NYT, Guardian)
- Twitter algorithm results: Crazypants conspiracy tweets

Twitter's advantage used to be breaking news. No longer.

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Lauren Tokos @ltokos.bsky.social · Dec 17

“The ultimate cause of their demise is simple: reprioritization by foundations and high-net-worth individuals away from financially supporting this overarching, public-informing, community-building work.”

Press freedom = intellectual freedom = open access = non-profit = censored and broke?!

Freedom of the Press Foundation @freedom.press · Dec 16

Open-Government Nonprofits Are Dying Off Just When They’re Needed Most — By @americalabs.org via @thebulwark.bsky.social

Open-Government Nonprofits Are Dying Off Just When They’re Needed Most

Why it’s happening and what can be done about it.

www.thebulwark.com

Lauren Tokos @ltokos.bsky.social · Dec 14

Ithaka S+R has a service that tracks licensing deals between academic publishers and tech firms wanting to use copyrighted content to train AI. Might be of interest! sr.ithaka.org/our-work/gen...

Generative AI Licensing Agreement Tracker - Ithaka S+R

In recent months, several publishers have announced that they are licensing their scholarly content for use as training data for LLMs. These deals

sr.ithaka.org

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Reposted by Lauren Tokos

Sarah J. Jackson @sjjphd.bsky.social · Dec 12

You’ll never guess whose behind surveilling and doxxing this professor 🙄

University of Pennsylvania professor apologizes for posts lauding Luigi Mangione

A professor at the University of Pennsylvania apologized for posts appearing to praise a UPenn grad charged in UnitedHealthcare's CEO killing.

www.usatoday.com

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Lauren Tokos @ltokos.bsky.social · Dec 11

There’s an interesting dilemma at play— First United (Jones affiliate/ rival bidder to Onion) offered more $$ that would eventually go to Sandy Hook families, but would likely re-establish the site as a source of dis-info. So, reparations to the families hurt by Jones or quell longterm dis-info?

Lauren Tokos @ltokos.bsky.social · Dec 11

Judge sided with a company that sells “nutritional supplements” on behalf of Alex Jones instead of The Onion…

The Guardian @theguardian.com · Dec 11

US judge halts Onion takeover of Infowars in Alex Jones bankruptcy

Court rejects far-right shock jock’s claim of ‘collusion’ but finds that trustee should have got more money from parody site or Jones-affiliated bidder A US bankruptcy judge stopped parody news site the Onion from buying conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’s…

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Lauren Tokos

The New York Times @nytimes.com · Dec 11

Breaking News: Albertsons backed out of its $25 billion merger with Kroger and sued the grocery store for failing to adequately push for regulatory approval.

Albertsons Backs Out of Merger Deal and Sues Kroger After Court Rulings

The supermarket chain had tried to join forces with Kroger, but judges sided with federal and state regulators who charged that the merger would reduce competition.

www.nytimes.com

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