Dan Martin
@danmartin7.bsky.social
Writing, Rhetoric, Multimodality. History of composition & standardizing writing; feedback & assessment; and multimodal pedagogies. Digital rhetoric & disinformation.
Reviews Coeditor @kairostp.bsky.social
Reviews Coeditor @kairostp.bsky.social
Libraries, books, and reading are the only ways to stay informed in the disinformation for profit media landscape that is now a juggernaut.
WaPo's Matt Murray told staff the paper is shuttering sports, moving remaining staff to features, shrinking foreign coverage, restructuring metro, closing books coverage, suspending Post Reports podcast
“Whole company now waiting for a live or die email” one staffer said
More in tonight’s Status
“Whole company now waiting for a live or die email” one staffer said
More in tonight’s Status
February 4, 2026 at 4:46 PM
Libraries, books, and reading are the only ways to stay informed in the disinformation for profit media landscape that is now a juggernaut.
Here's a tool that literally makes your career a nightmare, but don't worry you and only you can fix the problem. Educators do not want to spend all their time helping students manage AI. See how that works. They made educators minions for AI.
www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
AI slop is infiltrating feeds. We can help teens recognize it. | Opinion
Gen Z and Gen Alpha are growing up in a very different information world. Teens need to learn how to approach the news in entirely different ways.
www.usatoday.com
February 4, 2026 at 4:21 PM
Here's a tool that literally makes your career a nightmare, but don't worry you and only you can fix the problem. Educators do not want to spend all their time helping students manage AI. See how that works. They made educators minions for AI.
www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
Teaching a rhetoric of disinformation class & we open the course w Pennycook's survey on receptivity to pseudo bullshit. Everyone takes the survey. Then we start discussions. I teach a writing in the sciences class & we take the pseudo scientific bullshit survey.
gordonpennycook.com/wp-content/u...
gordonpennycook.com/wp-content/u...
gordonpennycook.com
February 4, 2026 at 4:09 PM
Teaching a rhetoric of disinformation class & we open the course w Pennycook's survey on receptivity to pseudo bullshit. Everyone takes the survey. Then we start discussions. I teach a writing in the sciences class & we take the pseudo scientific bullshit survey.
gordonpennycook.com/wp-content/u...
gordonpennycook.com/wp-content/u...
I open every class I teach now with a model of how to email professionally. Not sure why no one knows how to email anymore but I fixed the problem. It took half of one class period. This is how we email. That's it. Students will thank you.
February 3, 2026 at 6:00 PM
I open every class I teach now with a model of how to email professionally. Not sure why no one knows how to email anymore but I fixed the problem. It took half of one class period. This is how we email. That's it. Students will thank you.
The problem with this new movement is two fold. It's eugenics because it allows the least vulnerable to die. They will hide research and evidence that this new law is terrible and leads to death. They now control how disease research is narrativized and funded.
February 1, 2026 at 6:12 PM
The problem with this new movement is two fold. It's eugenics because it allows the least vulnerable to die. They will hide research and evidence that this new law is terrible and leads to death. They now control how disease research is narrativized and funded.
I'm particularly interested in what this could mean for digital scholarship and webtexts where the design and navigation are part of the argument.
This is absolutely how we should pitch coding agents to humanists.
Strictly speaking, what mattered about code was never arbitrary syntax, but clearly specifying data structures and processes. And coding agents still force/teach you to do that part. But … shhh! Let’s get ppl on board.
Strictly speaking, what mattered about code was never arbitrary syntax, but clearly specifying data structures and processes. And coding agents still force/teach you to do that part. But … shhh! Let’s get ppl on board.
among everything else this week dunno if you heard but coding is over. huge opp for humanities folks. should be megaphoning 'learning to think never goes out of style'
January 31, 2026 at 10:22 PM
I'm particularly interested in what this could mean for digital scholarship and webtexts where the design and navigation are part of the argument.
If Biden said the same thing about guns and Pretti as the autocratic administration, the base would have burned the country down.
January 31, 2026 at 4:52 PM
If Biden said the same thing about guns and Pretti as the autocratic administration, the base would have burned the country down.
I've been in multiple meetings where faculty used AI to make suggestions for something the group should be brainstorming. Seems harmless, but now the suggestions need vetting that wastes time. The suggestions weren't even insightful. But here we are. ChatGPT is on the team now & demands attention.
January 31, 2026 at 2:55 PM
I've been in multiple meetings where faculty used AI to make suggestions for something the group should be brainstorming. Seems harmless, but now the suggestions need vetting that wastes time. The suggestions weren't even insightful. But here we are. ChatGPT is on the team now & demands attention.
There are people pushing AI onto schools with a fire hose and demanding kids to write in cursive. It's wild how cursive represents literacy & intellect and using AI outsources literacy and intellect.
January 30, 2026 at 3:16 PM
There are people pushing AI onto schools with a fire hose and demanding kids to write in cursive. It's wild how cursive represents literacy & intellect and using AI outsources literacy and intellect.
If anyone likes working with webtexts and doing digital rhetoric stuff, Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy is hiring assistant editors.
kairos.technorhetoric.net/30.2/logging...
kairos.technorhetoric.net/30.2/logging...
Issue 30.2 - Logging On (Spring 2026) - Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy.
Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy is the premier online, peer-reviewed journal in computers and writing.
kairos.technorhetoric.net
January 29, 2026 at 10:53 PM
If anyone likes working with webtexts and doing digital rhetoric stuff, Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy is hiring assistant editors.
kairos.technorhetoric.net/30.2/logging...
kairos.technorhetoric.net/30.2/logging...
They can't tell people to stop complaining abt a fake immigration crisis or they'll kill everyone. That's the rhetoric of autocracy. Also, this guy literally took money for a bribe and got away with it.
Homan: "I begged for the last two months on TV for the rhetoric to stop. I said in March -- if the rhetoric doesn't stop, there is gonna be bloodshed. And there has been. I wish I wasn't right. I don't want to see anybody die."
January 29, 2026 at 2:10 PM
They can't tell people to stop complaining abt a fake immigration crisis or they'll kill everyone. That's the rhetoric of autocracy. Also, this guy literally took money for a bribe and got away with it.
This is why having too many students in writing classes and asking faculty to teach too many writing classes is a terrible idea. Assessing student writing is deep work and can only be done well for a few hours a day. Then your brain has nothing left for your research and service.
most people can only do 3-4 hours of deep work in a day.
When I was in grad school, the best piece of writing advice I got from a senior scholar was when I asked about their routine, and they said they tend to write from about 8am to 1pm, and that’s as much as they could do. After that they’d go to the gym, meet up with friends, catch up on email, etc.
January 29, 2026 at 2:02 PM
This is why having too many students in writing classes and asking faculty to teach too many writing classes is a terrible idea. Assessing student writing is deep work and can only be done well for a few hours a day. Then your brain has nothing left for your research and service.
Person with zero background in journalism claims we're toast unless we turn CBS into a massive disinformation network for legacy media and the autocrats. What a clown show.
apnews.com/article/cbs-...
apnews.com/article/cbs-...
CBS News chief Bari Weiss tells staff 'we're toast' if they continue on current path
CBS News chief Bari Weiss told her staff that “we're toast” if the network continues with its current business strategy and invoked legendary newsman Walter Cronkite as a symbol of old thinking.
apnews.com
January 28, 2026 at 4:46 PM
Person with zero background in journalism claims we're toast unless we turn CBS into a massive disinformation network for legacy media and the autocrats. What a clown show.
apnews.com/article/cbs-...
apnews.com/article/cbs-...
Oh boy. CBS is going to provide a platform for a bunch of ghouls who got cancelled. Watch for it. It's coming.
Part three of three, with Bari Weiss calling CBS News "the best capitalized media start-up in the world. We have the talent, energy, an mandate to transform CBS News..."
January 27, 2026 at 10:47 PM
Oh boy. CBS is going to provide a platform for a bunch of ghouls who got cancelled. Watch for it. It's coming.
The made up crisis of grade inflation. God help us if too many students have A's.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2026...
www.thecrimson.com/article/2026...
Harvard Faculty Cut A Grades by Nearly 7 Percentage Points in Fall | News | The Harvard Crimson
Harvard faculty awarded significantly fewer A grades in the fall, cutting the share of top marks by nearly seven percentage points after the College urged instructors to combat grade inflation, accord...
www.thecrimson.com
January 27, 2026 at 3:01 PM
The made up crisis of grade inflation. God help us if too many students have A's.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2026...
www.thecrimson.com/article/2026...
Does anyone manage a directed self placement for composition and have a college in the high school population? If so, what do you do?
January 26, 2026 at 7:53 PM
Does anyone manage a directed self placement for composition and have a college in the high school population? If so, what do you do?
Reposted by Dan Martin
Wow! This read-along of the NYT moment-by-moment leading to the murder of Alex Pretti should shake everyone awake. He was a Good Samaritan.
Agents fired at least ten shots in roughly five seconds. DHS and Pam Bondi claim Pretti approached them armed and intent on a “massacre.”
Agents fired at least ten shots in roughly five seconds. DHS and Pam Bondi claim Pretti approached them armed and intent on a “massacre.”
January 26, 2026 at 2:29 PM
Wow! This read-along of the NYT moment-by-moment leading to the murder of Alex Pretti should shake everyone awake. He was a Good Samaritan.
Agents fired at least ten shots in roughly five seconds. DHS and Pam Bondi claim Pretti approached them armed and intent on a “massacre.”
Agents fired at least ten shots in roughly five seconds. DHS and Pam Bondi claim Pretti approached them armed and intent on a “massacre.”
It's really hard to teach the value of reading, writing, and revising to shape thinking when the federal government tells everyone that it doesn't matter.
Me: Writing is very important.
Students: then why does the federal government use ChatGPT to write laws and policies?
Me: sigh
Me: Writing is very important.
Students: then why does the federal government use ChatGPT to write laws and policies?
Me: sigh
NEW: The Transportation Department, which oversees the safety of airplanes, cars and pipelines, plans to use Google Gemini to draft new regulations.
“We don’t need the perfect rule,” said DOT’s top lawyer. “We want good enough.”
By @jessecoburn.bsky.social
“We don’t need the perfect rule,” said DOT’s top lawyer. “We want good enough.”
By @jessecoburn.bsky.social
Government by AI? Trump Administration Plans to Write Regulations Using Artificial Intelligence
The Transportation Department, which oversees the safety of airplanes, cars and pipelines, plans to use Google Gemini to draft new regulations. “We don’t need the perfect rule,” said DOT’s top lawyer....
www.propublica.org
January 26, 2026 at 3:06 PM
It's really hard to teach the value of reading, writing, and revising to shape thinking when the federal government tells everyone that it doesn't matter.
Me: Writing is very important.
Students: then why does the federal government use ChatGPT to write laws and policies?
Me: sigh
Me: Writing is very important.
Students: then why does the federal government use ChatGPT to write laws and policies?
Me: sigh
I think people are so overwhelmed by everything going on in the world and with AI hype that they are missing the environmental impacts. AI implementation should be halted for its water and energy consumption alone. That's not even counting the plagiarism and stealing these companies are doing.
Apparently our electricity bills are going through the roof and this is partly related to data centers that hog huge amounts of electricity to generate information. I, for one, feel hopping mad about this. The companies that are using the data centers should bear the cost.
time.com/7355839/why-...
time.com/7355839/why-...
5 Big Reasons Why Electricity Prices Are So High Right Now
The average U.S. household is projected to spend nearly $1,000 this winter to heat its home.
time.com
January 26, 2026 at 2:36 PM
I think people are so overwhelmed by everything going on in the world and with AI hype that they are missing the environmental impacts. AI implementation should be halted for its water and energy consumption alone. That's not even counting the plagiarism and stealing these companies are doing.
Reposted by Dan Martin
My friend Sara posted this about the superb care her father received from with Alex Pretti
Absolutely heartbreaking
Absolutely heartbreaking
January 25, 2026 at 4:19 PM
My friend Sara posted this about the superb care her father received from with Alex Pretti
Absolutely heartbreaking
Absolutely heartbreaking
What's so disheartening is Pretti could have been any of us & the response I've seen from people I know has me convinced that if it were me or someone they knew well, it wouldn't matter or change their mind. They would just frame me (or you) as a criminal, even if they know me. That's terrifying.
January 25, 2026 at 5:34 PM
What's so disheartening is Pretti could have been any of us & the response I've seen from people I know has me convinced that if it were me or someone they knew well, it wouldn't matter or change their mind. They would just frame me (or you) as a criminal, even if they know me. That's terrifying.
Reposted by Dan Martin
Alex Pretti was an American hero. He saved lives. He protected people. He cared deeply about his community, unlike the murderous thugs who killed him.
The very last thing he did was try to help a woman who had been pepper-sprayed and violently shoved to the ground by ICE. 1/
The very last thing he did was try to help a woman who had been pepper-sprayed and violently shoved to the ground by ICE. 1/
January 25, 2026 at 1:31 PM
Alex Pretti was an American hero. He saved lives. He protected people. He cared deeply about his community, unlike the murderous thugs who killed him.
The very last thing he did was try to help a woman who had been pepper-sprayed and violently shoved to the ground by ICE. 1/
The very last thing he did was try to help a woman who had been pepper-sprayed and violently shoved to the ground by ICE. 1/
And if it comes down to video evidence in a trial, the government will file motions to use still frames to manipulate the narrative like they did with King.
The Rodney King video is one of the most important moments in American history because it showed people, particularly comfortable white people, irrefutable evidence that marginalized people’s stories of how police behaved - which were never believed - were in fact true.
Imagine how much they’d be lying about what happened without all the videos showing it from multiple angles.
January 25, 2026 at 12:55 AM
And if it comes down to video evidence in a trial, the government will file motions to use still frames to manipulate the narrative like they did with King.
ICE is murdering people because it knows DHS will lie and make up a defense for its agents no matter what the videos show or what the agents said. It's a license to kill.
January 25, 2026 at 12:24 AM
ICE is murdering people because it knows DHS will lie and make up a defense for its agents no matter what the videos show or what the agents said. It's a license to kill.
Cartesian Dualism is literally the absolute worst ideology ever; it's like a weed you can never get rid of. Totally rots the brain.
A man told me yesterday that it was important to "take emotion out of the equation“ when analysing the situation in the US, at which point I told him very calmly that "a woman who disagrees with you is not necessarily emotional".
Ladies, it was a breakthrough.
I should have done this years ago.
Ladies, it was a breakthrough.
I should have done this years ago.
January 24, 2026 at 2:58 PM
Cartesian Dualism is literally the absolute worst ideology ever; it's like a weed you can never get rid of. Totally rots the brain.