Damon Kiesow
@damon.kiesow.net
Knight Chair in Journalism at Mizzou. Authored first textbook for News Product Management. Previously: Director of Product at McClatchy. Big @newsproduct.org fan.
Pinned
Damon Kiesow
@damon.kiesow.net
· Nov 12
Who am I following here?
People who create, develop and protect knowledge.
Who study history and democracy.
Who take a critical eye to technology.
Who monitor public health, labor, supply chains.
People who create, develop and protect knowledge.
Who study history and democracy.
Who take a critical eye to technology.
Who monitor public health, labor, supply chains.
Reposted by Damon Kiesow
In his first feature for The New World, editor-at-large Alan Rusbridger examines whether Jeff Bezos can still rescue his legacy amid The Washington Post crisis
@arusbridger.bsky.social
@arusbridger.bsky.social
Come on, Jeff. Don’t let the Washington Post die in darkness
There’s still a way the Amazon boss can save his legacy, even as his hitman Sir William Lewis walks away from the wreckage of the great American newspaper he owns
www.thenewworld.co.uk
February 9, 2026 at 1:30 PM
In his first feature for The New World, editor-at-large Alan Rusbridger examines whether Jeff Bezos can still rescue his legacy amid The Washington Post crisis
@arusbridger.bsky.social
@arusbridger.bsky.social
@innovationrji.bsky.social and @localnewsimpact.bsky.social launched a new toolkit today to help local founders and funders organize and commission local news research: rjionline.org/news/launchi...
February 9, 2026 at 5:02 PM
@innovationrji.bsky.social and @localnewsimpact.bsky.social launched a new toolkit today to help local founders and funders organize and commission local news research: rjionline.org/news/launchi...
No, she isn’t.
“She compares her work to the efforts of a parent raising a child. She’s training Claude to detect the difference between right and wrong while imbuing it with unique personality traits.”
This Philosopher Is Teaching AI to Have Morals
The tech company has entrusted the philosopher to endow its chatbot with a sense of right and wrong.
www.wsj.com
February 9, 2026 at 2:04 PM
No, she isn’t.
Reposted by Damon Kiesow
That Ring “search party” ad was unsubtle enough that even my 10yo watched it and was like “are they gonna use this for ICE?”
February 9, 2026 at 3:46 AM
That Ring “search party” ad was unsubtle enough that even my 10yo watched it and was like “are they gonna use this for ICE?”
Nothing “suspected” about it. All art is political.
The fragiles over at Fox are doing their thing … Self parody.
February 9, 2026 at 2:42 AM
Nothing “suspected” about it. All art is political.
I hate halftime shows. This may be the best I have ever seen.
February 9, 2026 at 1:30 AM
I hate halftime shows. This may be the best I have ever seen.
Looking forward to the think pieces tomorrow explaining these set elements to people who think Puerto Rico is a foreign country.
February 9, 2026 at 1:23 AM
Looking forward to the think pieces tomorrow explaining these set elements to people who think Puerto Rico is a foreign country.
Who is tracking the ratio of Super Bowl ads that are complete scams vs just regular capitalism?
February 9, 2026 at 1:02 AM
Who is tracking the ratio of Super Bowl ads that are complete scams vs just regular capitalism?
This may be ne plus ultra BlueSky:
Pats offensive line looking like the US' checks and balances
February 9, 2026 at 12:51 AM
This may be ne plus ultra BlueSky:
Reposted by Damon Kiesow
"Newsrooms don’t have to wait for somebody else to act on their journalism’s findings — they can help coordinate the change they want their stories to enact" www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/impa... (October)
“Impact editor” is a relatively new job, and it’s already changing
Newsrooms can try to define impact even at the beginning of the reporting process, impact editors say.
www.niemanlab.org
February 8, 2026 at 9:43 PM
"Newsrooms don’t have to wait for somebody else to act on their journalism’s findings — they can help coordinate the change they want their stories to enact" www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/impa... (October)
Reposted by Damon Kiesow
The Star Tribune’s reporting has linked the mass resignations from the office to recent directives from the DOJ, including its refusal to investigate the killing of Renee Good, columnist Jill Burcum writes.
Burcum: The Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office is melting down
The Star Tribune’s reporting has linked the mass resignations from the office to recent directives from the DOJ, including its refusal to investigate the killing of Renee Good, columnist Jill Burcum writes.
bit.ly
February 8, 2026 at 6:00 PM
The Star Tribune’s reporting has linked the mass resignations from the office to recent directives from the DOJ, including its refusal to investigate the killing of Renee Good, columnist Jill Burcum writes.
"Conspiracy theorists were right" is true in the same way that a broken clock is right. By coincidence and with no causal relationship to observed reality.
February 8, 2026 at 6:01 PM
"Conspiracy theorists were right" is true in the same way that a broken clock is right. By coincidence and with no causal relationship to observed reality.
Took the married/changed-name individual in our household 9 months just to get an official birth certificate to get a RealID.
If you got married & changed your name, the #SAVE act makes your voter status more complicated because your current name & your birth certificate that prove #citizenship won't match. You're going to need extra documents other people won't and the simplest solution (a passport) is expensive
February 8, 2026 at 4:47 PM
Took the married/changed-name individual in our household 9 months just to get an official birth certificate to get a RealID.
Reposted by Damon Kiesow
The irrationality of clinging to a sinking platform. The story of Twitter, Substack et al.
kiesow.net/the-irration...
kiesow.net/the-irration...
The irrationality of clinging to a sinking platform
The Guardian reported today on Substack’s willingness to amplify—and profit from—Nazi content. And yet, people launch new blogs on the site daily?
There are a few cognitive biases wrapped up in why p...
kiesow.net
February 7, 2026 at 10:09 PM
The irrationality of clinging to a sinking platform. The story of Twitter, Substack et al.
kiesow.net/the-irration...
kiesow.net/the-irration...
What are we even doing here?
February 8, 2026 at 12:54 AM
What are we even doing here?
The arrogance of proposing to reinvent and reimagine a product or business when you have no idea how it works, who it serves and why it exists.
February 8, 2026 at 12:40 AM
The arrogance of proposing to reinvent and reimagine a product or business when you have no idea how it works, who it serves and why it exists.
"I have read your remarks with attention and find them wanting."
-Jonathan Swift
-Jonathan Swift
February 7, 2026 at 11:31 PM
"I have read your remarks with attention and find them wanting."
-Jonathan Swift
-Jonathan Swift
Reposted by Damon Kiesow
Days after Washington Post laid off 300 journalists, publisher Will Lewis -- conspicuously absent during the notifications to those whose jobs were cut -- is stepping down. Attached is Lewis' memo to staff, courtesy of my NPR colleague David Folkenflik. READ: https://loom.ly/vZyjS90
February 7, 2026 at 11:06 PM
Days after Washington Post laid off 300 journalists, publisher Will Lewis -- conspicuously absent during the notifications to those whose jobs were cut -- is stepping down. Attached is Lewis' memo to staff, courtesy of my NPR colleague David Folkenflik. READ: https://loom.ly/vZyjS90
The irrationality of clinging to a sinking platform. The story of Twitter, Substack et al.
kiesow.net/the-irration...
kiesow.net/the-irration...
The irrationality of clinging to a sinking platform
The Guardian reported today on Substack’s willingness to amplify—and profit from—Nazi content. And yet, people launch new blogs on the site daily?
There are a few cognitive biases wrapped up in why p...
kiesow.net
February 7, 2026 at 10:09 PM
The irrationality of clinging to a sinking platform. The story of Twitter, Substack et al.
kiesow.net/the-irration...
kiesow.net/the-irration...
Bezos started as a benefactor and will close the doors of the paper as worse than a vulture capital hedge fund.
Before The Washington Post layoffs came down, a group of wealthy D.C. locals approached CEO Will Lewis with a proposal.
@passantino.bsky.social has the details in his Saturday @status.news column: www.status.news/p/washington...
@passantino.bsky.social has the details in his Saturday @status.news column: www.status.news/p/washington...
February 7, 2026 at 5:58 PM
Bezos started as a benefactor and will close the doors of the paper as worse than a vulture capital hedge fund.
Being an active and informed citizen of the internet means understanding and caring about the values, ethics and practices of the platforms you choose to use and promote:
This isn’t new news as such, but people keep being surprised by it, so it’s worth repeating. Substack hosts, profits from, and promotes explicitly Nazi content, and if you are adding value to that network, you are helping them to do so. www.theguardian.com/media/2026/f...
Revealed: How Substack makes money from hosting Nazi newsletters
Exclusive: Site takes a cut of subscriptions to content that promotes far-right ideology, white supremacy and antisemitism
www.theguardian.com
February 7, 2026 at 5:12 PM
Being an active and informed citizen of the internet means understanding and caring about the values, ethics and practices of the platforms you choose to use and promote:
Reposted by Damon Kiesow
“Late Friday night, the Fifth Circuit adopted the extreme minority view—that the government can indefinitely detain without bond millions of non-citizens who have been here for generations; who have never committed a crime; and who pose neither a risk of flight nor any threat to public safety.”
208. The Fifth Circuit Jumps the Immigration Detention Shark
Late Friday, two of the nation's most right-wing circuit judges adopted an odious legal claim that district court judges from across the country (and ideological spectrum) have overwhelmingly rejected
www.stevevladeck.com
February 7, 2026 at 12:34 PM
“Late Friday night, the Fifth Circuit adopted the extreme minority view—that the government can indefinitely detain without bond millions of non-citizens who have been here for generations; who have never committed a crime; and who pose neither a risk of flight nor any threat to public safety.”
Reposted by Damon Kiesow
Here's Florida, which can't find a textbook for Sociology 101.
Doesn't sound too free speech to me.
What do you think?
bsky.app/profile/vict...
Doesn't sound too free speech to me.
What do you think?
bsky.app/profile/vict...
I do want to shout-out my fellow sociologists, who have collectively created a discipline so woke that not a single one of our introductory textbooks can make it past Florida's censors.
Great work everyone.
Great work everyone.
February 7, 2026 at 2:43 AM
Here's Florida, which can't find a textbook for Sociology 101.
Doesn't sound too free speech to me.
What do you think?
bsky.app/profile/vict...
Doesn't sound too free speech to me.
What do you think?
bsky.app/profile/vict...
Good front page. Better if it were 2016.
i'm a frequent nyt critic, but they're finding some footing
February 7, 2026 at 1:58 AM
Good front page. Better if it were 2016.
Imagine starting your business as a bookseller and then managing to turn yourself into a cartoon villain in 30 years?
February 6, 2026 at 9:16 PM
Imagine starting your business as a bookseller and then managing to turn yourself into a cartoon villain in 30 years?