Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Laura Wenus @laurawenus.bsky.social · 4h

Takeaways from our listening session last week. I'm so glad we got to have this conversation!

News Relay Network @newsrelaynetwork.bsky.social · 5h

When we met with a large group of locals, we expected marching orders for topics that our newsroom should cover. What we got was much more meaningful.

Here’s what we learned. newsrelaynetwork.org/san-francisc...

SF Tenderloin’s vision for community-serving media

We met with a group of locals to find out what they would want from a neighborhood newsroom. Here’s what they told us.

newsrelaynetwork.org

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Reposted by Laura Wenus

Freedom of the Press Foundation @freedom.press · 9d

Two journalists are set to be tried in Kentucky this week.

Their crime? Covering a protest of the immigration detainment of Ayman Soliman, who himself fled persecution for his journalism in Egypt. Soliman’s lawyer called it a “cruel irony.”

On trial for journalism in Kentucky.

Two months after their arrests while covering a protest, a pair of local reporters face criminal charges.

www.cjr.org

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Reposted by Laura Wenus

Tina Vasquez @tinavasquez.bsky.social · 14d

I want to do a little breakdown of this investigation I published today for @prismreports.org about gender-based violence in the H-2A agricultural visa program.

She managed to get a farmworker visa. Once in the U.S., she endured abuse.

A Prism investigation reveals that women are routinely shut out of the H-2A program. Those who get in report doing non-agricultural labor and facing sexual violence and trafficking

prismreports.org

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Laura Wenus @laurawenus.bsky.social · 14d

had no idea they were doing that, this thread is educating me!

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Laura Wenus @laurawenus.bsky.social · 14d

good points...
Are we thinking that the Meta glasses actually *look cool*? 🫢

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Reposted by Laura Wenus

Reo Eveleth @reveleth.com · 19d

Sorry a couple more I forgot:

@aftermath.site & @roguesite.bsky.social for video games

@newsrelaynetwork.bsky.social in SF modeling a really cool inclusive journalism model

@theautopian.bsky.social for car stuff

And there are still so many more I'm sure I'm forgetting!!

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Laura Wenus @laurawenus.bsky.social · 14d

who was that tho because I sort of felt like it was, idk like...anyone who encountered the concept

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Laura Wenus @laurawenus.bsky.social · 14d

1. yeah yikes so true
2. holy crap they're just handing these out?? To regular people???

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Laura Wenus @laurawenus.bsky.social · 14d

Can someone explain to me, an extremely uncool person, why Google Glass was was a resounding flop 10 years ago but Meta's video glasses are somehow cool? Or at least not getting the same intense rejection that Glass did?

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Reposted by Laura Wenus

Laura Bassett @lebassett.bsky.social · 15d

More than 1800 detainees are missing after the closure of Alligator Alcatraz. Their families and lawyers can’t find them and they’ve vanished from the ICE database. Feels like this should be a much bigger story www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

Hundreds of Alligator Alcatraz detainees drop off the grid after leaving site

As of the end of August, the whereabouts of two-thirds of more than 1,800 men detained at Alligator Alcatraz during the month of July could not be determined by the Miami Herald.

www.miamiherald.com

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Reposted by Laura Wenus

Rainesford Stauffer @rainesford.bsky.social · 16d

Must-read by journalist Mario Guevara for @bittersouth.bsky.social: "On the afternoon of Saturday, June 14, 2025, my life changed completely. Just as I was doing a regular news coverage, I was arrested by the police in the state of Georgia."

Journalist Mario Guevara Speaks - Letter from ICE DETENTION FACILITY — THE BITTER SOUTHERNER

The only journalist detained by ICE on US soil, sends a letter to The Bitter Southerner.

bittersoutherner.com

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Reposted by Laura Wenus

Ida Mojadad @idamoj.bsky.social · 19d

there’s a lot going on but this seems uh extremely bad. our duterte era spreading its wings www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/u...

NYT headline:

Draft Bill Would Authorize Trump to Kill People He Deems Narco-Terrorists

Potential legislation circulating in the executive branch and Congress would grant President Trump sweeping military powers.

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Laura Wenus @laurawenus.bsky.social · 19d

I don't mean to put a happy face on a neighborhood where truly bad things happen and really, deeply affect people. But events like Recovery Day showcase the hard work, care and wisdom of the community. We should give that its proper attention, too.

newsrelaynetwork.org/the-tenderlo...

The Tenderloin you don’t see

There’s more going on in this neighborhood than crime and drugs — like resilience and recovery.

newsrelaynetwork.org

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Reposted by Laura Wenus

Mia Ives-Rublee @seemiaroll.bsky.social · 21d

A second mass shooting of a homeless encampment in Minneapolis. Five more people died. Meanwhile, congress is working on passing the ability to jail homeless people for up to 30 days or charge them $500. It bans camping on public property. abcnews.go.com/US/people-hu...

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Reposted by Laura Wenus

skellyton bones jensen @heykellyjensen.bsky.social · 23d

Classroom #2. This one needs $530 to finish giving this South Dakota high school a rad collection of diverse and banned books: www.donorschoose.org/project/book...

Bookshelves, {Some} Banned Books, and {Lost} Books, Oh My!, a project from Mrs. Gall

Help me give my students new books to choose from in my classroom library! For years, books have been banned or challenged because of different or unpopular ideas. It is so important that students ...

www.donorschoose.org

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Reposted by Laura Wenus

skellyton bones jensen @heykellyjensen.bsky.social · 23d

Here's where you come in. If you can throw a few bucks to the classroom, that's rad. If you can't give money, that's okay, too. *Share* the projects as they come up and share this thread. That makes a difference, even if it doesn't seem like it does.

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Reposted by Laura Wenus

Jamison Foser @jamisonfoser.bsky.social · 23d

If the journalists and news companies you rely on did not make clear prior to last year's election that these were the stakes in last year's election, I would urge you to reconsider your media diet.

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 23d

White House Officials Vow Vast Crackdown on Liberal Groups
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/09...

Open authoritarianism. Happening right in front of us.

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Laura Wenus @laurawenus.bsky.social · 23d

AGREED. Also clearer than "in accordance with our policy [hyperlink nobody wants to read] on anonymous sources"

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Laura Wenus @laurawenus.bsky.social · 23d

love the way @nuala.bsky.social explains quoting unnamed city workers in this @coyotemedia.org piece on street health teams. I think it's so important to talk about how opaque cities have become and what it does to accountability when workers can't talk publicly and press statements are vague.

SF Streamlined Its Street Teams. Now, Fewer People Are Getting the Help They Need

Street medicine outreach workers describe a new, expensive, and disorganized program that lacks clear objectives.

www.coyotemedia.org

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Laura Wenus @laurawenus.bsky.social · 23d

They did it!! They've brought back the alt-weekly!! As a worker-owned collective and for the whole Bay Area no less.

AWOOOOO!

COYOTE @coyotemedia.org · 23d

❤️🔥 HOT OFF THE PRESSES! 🔥❤️

COYOTE Media Collective is live!! We’re so incredibly proud of this smart, fierce, unapologetic Bay Area media project. Dive in, see what we’ve been building, read our stories, and join the pack! coyotemedia.org

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Reposted by Laura Wenus

unraveled @unraveledpress.com · 24d

Thinking a lot this morning about how the dispersed nature of these kidnappings over such a broad area makes it so easy for them to avoid making bigger waves. The surface can appear totally calm while they're grabbing neighbors, and most people have no idea until/unless something flashy happens

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Laura Wenus @laurawenus.bsky.social · 26d

thank you 😊

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Reposted by Laura Wenus

Nicholas Slayton @nslayton.bsky.social · 27d

The long, muti-carrier group Navy deployment around the Red Sea to fight the Houthis saw billions spent, one F/A-18 shot down by friendly fire AND the US firing a missile at a UFO. And that was just the 2024 part.

mike taddow @miketaddow.bsky.social · 28d

it’s WILD

www.bbc.com/news/videos/...

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Reposted by Laura Wenus

Luke Steuber @lukesteuber.com · Jun 28

Finally, news we can trust

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Laura Wenus @laurawenus.bsky.social · 28d

So let's say we're up and running in the Tenderloin and you want us to do a story. How does that work exactly? We get specific: newsrelaynetwork.org/community-dr...

Community-driven reporting: three examples

Here’s how we’d turn our audience’s interests and concerns into coverage.

newsrelaynetwork.org