Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 3h

It's crazy to me that Johnson is happy to share his opinion on something as relatively insignificant, and totally unrelated to his job, as who is performing the Super Bowl halftime show, but when asked to respond to the President's statement in favor of jailing political enemies, it's crickets.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5h

Q: Do you agree that the mayor of Chicago and governor of Illinois should be in prison?

MIKE JOHNSON: Should they be in prison? I'm not the attorney general. I'm not following the day to day on that

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Reposted by Jack Carter Benjamin

Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 7h

Pritzker/Newsom see it as a defining fact of the moment that Trump is consolidating authoritarian power daily and using it to subjugate Blue America like an enemy nation within. Other Dems should stop the Beltway-speak about Trump laying "traps" for them and engage.

newrepublic.com/article/2014...

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 4h

The number of PRs I've seen pitching stories relating to Prime Week is absurd.

And PRs massively outnumber journalists, which doesn't help.

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 7h

I spoke to The Guardian's US managing director Steve Sachs about the title's growth prospects in the US.

The outlet currently reaches between 40m-50m monthly readers, and US revenue has grown across all categories in the past year.

Yet 43% of Americans are still totally unfamiliar with the brand.

The Guardian promotes its creative canvas amid US investment drive

At its upfronts Thursday, The Guardian revealed new research evidencing the effectiveness of low-ad environments. It comes as the publisher is seeking strong commercial and reader expansion in the US.

uk.themedialeader.com

Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 7h

The willful ignorance required to not understand that your new AI video generator would not be immediately used to infringe upon copyright or create harmful disinformation, in the year 2025, is just astonishing.

I actually cannot believe OpenAI didn't expect this reaction. That is insanity.

Dare Obasanjo @carnage4life.bsky.social · 7h

Sora is a stunning technical achievement, but 2 choices were poorly thought out:

1. Letting people create & share copyright violations like Pikachu vs. Sonic fistfights is a DMCA minefield.

2. Allowing users to deepfake others into crimes or slurs is an abuse disaster waiting to happen.

Reposted by Jack Carter Benjamin

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 7h

Trump calls for Brandon Johnson and JB Pritzker to be imprisoned

Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also!

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 23h

a black and white photo of a man smoking a cigarette .

Alt: a black and white photo of a man smoking a cigarette .

media.tenor.com

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 1d

Good piece on this yesterday:

What Will Bari Weiss Do to CBS News?

A change in leadership at the network has been seen as part of an effort to appease Donald Trump. But there may be other motivations.

www.newyorker.com

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 1d

This is plausible, and equally it might've been true that someone like Weiss might've been hired regardless of Trump anyway.

Redstone has praised Weiss. Meanwhile, the Ellisons approached Redstone to buy Paramount before Trump's win. And they all align with Weiss on Israel, among other matters.

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 1d

I honestly wish I’d not have bothered pushing to Act III because the sunk cost is getting to me.

Basically every enemy has its health doubled and the only remaining needle upgrade to make it easier is behind finding every Flea, which, just like, whyyyyy

Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 1d

You get to watch in real time as they discover why the whole world switched to digital.

"Wait, film looks grainy? You can accidentally over/underexpose? Who would want that?"

Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 2d

I beat Act II after doing pretty much everything I could beforehand. Didn't struggle too much with the boss.

Act III on the other hand? Yeah, nah. Not fun - back to the outrageous difficulty curve.

Playing Hades II instead to remind myself I can actually find video games fun and not rage-inducing.

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 2d

After a long hard day at work I like to wind down by tearing my hair out over 2 mask contact damage like a dedicated member of the labor force, thank you very much.

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 2d

Ratings are down because all linear TV ratings are down.

It’s a legitimate question to ask how CBS News should modernize to reach more audiences and drive more revenue.

But dressing this up as a business decision rather than an ideological decision is intellectually dishonest.

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 2d

The irony

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 2d

So not only is Bari Weiss about to head CBS News despite not having any newsroom experience, she is also going to juggle that responsibility while still remaining EIC and CEO of The Free Press.

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 2d

The success of Weiss has led and will lead to more copycat ideologues running Substacks that are really just hot takes dressed up as journalism.

Big money is behind those that are sympathetic to big money. Actual journalists speaking truth to power are getting starved out.

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Reposted by Jack Carter Benjamin

Josh Sternberg @joshsternberg.com · 2d

You work hard as a journalist. You lead with empathy, and you sweat details. You operate in good faith. You believe in honesty and truth. You get yelled at by the president of the United States. You worry that you'll get laid off. Again and again.

And then you see this. www.wsj.com/business/med...

Paramount Buys Bari Weiss’s the Free Press for $150 Million

Weiss, who once said she was done with legacy media, is to take control of CBS News’s editorial vision, aiming for “news that reflects reality.”

www.wsj.com

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 2d

Setting the world on fire to make AI slop.

Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 2d

“Musk’s data centers will probably bring in only a few hundred jobs to Memphis while consuming millions of gallons of water a day and more electricity than is needed to power all the city’s homes.”

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www.wsj.com/tech/elon-mu...

Elon Musk Gambles Billions in Memphis to Catch Up on AI

xAI aims to win the tech arms race with its “Colossus” data centers, thrown up at lightning speed. The city is divided over the massive power and water demands.

www.wsj.com

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 2d

"OpenAI told the Guardian content owners can flag copyright infringement using a 'copyright disputes form', but that individual artists or studios cannot have a blanket opt-out."

That's just not how copyright works.

OpenAI promises more ‘granular control’ to copyright owners after Sora 2 generates videos of popular characters

Company behind the AI video app says it will work with rights holders to ‘block characters from Sora at their request’

www.theguardian.com

Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 3d

This album carried me through the first months of the pandemic

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 5d

The premise of the question is also ridiculous.

"Why pick this fight if you open yourself up to Republicans lying about what you're doing?" is just... what?

It's incoherent journalism and focuses on politics over substance.

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 5d

Throw it on the pile of once-great news institutions taken over by wealthy ideologues.

Isn't media consolidation grand?

Will Oremus @willoremus.com · 5d

Bari Weiss is expected to be named editor in chief at CBS News on Monday, with parent company Paramount paying $150m in cash and stock to acquire her Substack publication, The Free Press. My story this morning: www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Bari Weiss to be named top editor at CBS News

Paramount Skydance will acquire the journalist’s publication, the Free Press, which she started after quitting the New York Times in 2020.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 5d

Horrifying, unacceptable, beyond the pale:

An Atlanta-area journalist, who fled El Salvador to escape left-wing militas in 2004 and who has a work permit and two American children, has been deported to El Salvador after he was arrested by ICE while covering the "No Kings Day" protests.

Journalist Mario Guevara deported to El Salvador after 100 days in Ice custody

Removal comes after Emmy-winning Salvadorian reporter was arrested while covering ‘No Kings Day’ protest

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Jack Carter Benjamin

Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 5d

ICE is running around Chicago harassing people for not being white.

Just a year ago, that was illegal in the United States and now it’s commonplace.

That’s not making America great again.

South Shore Residents Return To Ransacked Apartments After ICE Raid: 'It Looks Like Hell'

A "now renting" sign outside touts granite countertops. Inside, residents are trying to make sense of the raid that made their already neglected building even worse.

blockclubchicago.org

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