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A conservative concentration of media power

Margaret Sullivan with an astute and sobering take on the consolidation of conservative media power:

In 2020, only a tiny fraction of Americans got news from TikTok. These days, that number has soared to one in five.

For young adults, those figures are much higher, with almost half of adults under 30 getting news there, according to the Pew Research Center.

But who will own that hugely influential purveyor of information?

As with so much of American media – from television networks to some of the largest newspapers – the answer is shaping up to be as simple and short as a TikTok video: the ultra-rich.

As President Trump moved this week to clear the path to sell the platform’s US assets to a group of American investors, the metastasizing reality of media-by-oligarchy threatened to become even more extreme.

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  • A conservative concentration of media power

    Margaret Sullivan with an astute and sobering take on the consolidation of conservative media power: In 2020, only a tiny fraction of Americans got news from TikTok. These days, that number has soared to one in five. For young adults, those figures are much higher, with almost half of adults under 30 getting news there,…

  • Interesting Bars

    Interesting Bars, A cool website where you can search for interesting bars in a city. I suppose it’s still being populated as mid-sized cities aren’t represented.

  • The story behind the blinking guy meme

    A random moment made Drew Scanlon famous, and uses the fame to raise money for multiple sclerosis. An avid cyclist who enjoys rides through Marin, he’s participated in a charity bike ride for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society for 10 years. At this point, he’s raised more than $300,000 for research into the disease, which…

  • Drones tracking shoplifters

    Is sending a drone after a shoplifter really the best thing? “Instead of a 911 call [that triggers the drone], it’s an alarm call,” says Keith Kauffman, a former police chief who now directs Flock’s drone program. “It’s still the same type of response.” Kauffman walked through how the drone program might work in the…

  • Sushi’s rise in the USA

    Sushi’s popularity continues to grow. Once a small niche of the seafood business, sushi is now the industry’s growth leader. Most of that growth is not happening in $300-per-head omakase restaurants (though those are proliferating). It is happening in gas stations and big-box stores, bowling alleys and stadiums, U.S. Army commissaries and amusement parks. Retail…

  • History as seen through in IKEA catalog

    History as seen through in IKEA catalog.

  • Robot umpires are coming to the Major League

    It was only a matter of time: robot umpires are coming to Major League Baseball. Human plate umpires will still call balls and strikes, but teams can challenge two calls per game and get additional appeals in extra innings. Challenges must be made by a pitcher, catcher or batter — signaled by tapping their helmet…

  • Treat anxiety by microdosing LSD

    More research suggesting that LSD can treat anxiety based disorders. A rigorous new study finds that a single dose of LSD can ease anxiety and depression for months. The study involved 198 adults with generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD, a disabling form of anxiety that affects about 1 in 10 people over the course of…

  • Cheating at stone skimming championship

    Who knew you could cheat at stone skimming?

  • Paul Hubbard creator of the huddle

    In 1884, a deaf football player created the huddle. During a tight game in the fall of 1894, Paul Hubbard—quarterback for the Gallaudet University Bison, and known as “the Eel” for his canny maneuvers—made a simple move that changed sports forever: Concerned that his hand signs were tipping off his plans to the opposing defense,…