Professor Amanda Sturgill
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drsturg.bsky.social
Professor Amanda Sturgill
@drsturg.bsky.social
Truthmonger. I write books, teach students and make podcasts about you being smarter about misinformation. #WeAreAltGov #DetectingDeception https://bit.ly/UnSpunPod
Pinned
When it comes to the battle against misinformation, no one is coming to save us. It's up to us. Here's why and what you need to do. theunspunpodcast.substack.com/p/moving-for...
Proffie problems: It's not ethics day in editing class, but a major network anchor closed his broadcast with "we salute you" to a government official.

Then again, every day is ethics day...
January 7, 2026 at 1:23 PM
Standing up can be hard, but standing together makes it easier.
January 6, 2026 at 10:17 PM
Reposted by Professor Amanda Sturgill
bad news means create a distraction means bad news means create a distraction means bad news...
a painting of a lion king scene with the words " it 's the circle of life and it moves us all " below
ALT: a painting of a lion king scene with the words " it 's the circle of life and it moves us all " below
media.tenor.com
January 6, 2026 at 3:34 AM
bad news means create a distraction means bad news means create a distraction means bad news...
a painting of a lion king scene with the words " it 's the circle of life and it moves us all " below
ALT: a painting of a lion king scene with the words " it 's the circle of life and it moves us all " below
media.tenor.com
January 6, 2026 at 3:34 AM
Sunday Sillies: fine arts edition.

Artist is not on BlueSky, but you can check him out for other music humor here: euge.ca
January 4, 2026 at 1:37 PM
Reposted by Professor Amanda Sturgill
The swift loss of U.S. funding for global media since President Donald Trump took office a year ago has devastated journalism in many countries where the independent press was already on precarious footing.

Myanmar’s Independent Media Innovates to Survive - Nieman Reports
As U.S. funding vanishes for Myanmar's independent press, media competitors turn collaborators to keep reporting alive
niemanreports.org
January 2, 2026 at 7:40 PM
Reposted by Professor Amanda Sturgill
My favorite UnSpun Podcast episodes of 2025:

3. Law and Order: When safety becomes suppression

...

2. Demagogues, misinformation and the death of truth in U.S. democracy

...

1. How power controls the news: The press in an oligarchy

What was yours? Here or where you pod: bit.ly/UnSpunPod
Unspun
Listen to Unspun on RedCircle
bit.ly
December 31, 2025 at 3:19 PM
This year on Bluesky I wrote 562 posts and 550 replies. I received 48,467 likes, whereas 4,149 was from my most popular post, and apparently I love saying "not"!

www.madebyolof.com/bluesky-wrap...
drsturg.bsky.social's Bluesky Wrapped 2025
Check out drsturg.bsky.social's year on Bluesky!
www.madebyolof.com
January 1, 2026 at 1:10 AM
My favorite UnSpun Podcast episodes of 2025:

3. Law and Order: When safety becomes suppression

...

2. Demagogues, misinformation and the death of truth in U.S. democracy

...

1. How power controls the news: The press in an oligarchy

What was yours? Here or where you pod: bit.ly/UnSpunPod
Unspun
Listen to Unspun on RedCircle
bit.ly
December 31, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Been off the grid for 10 days. Did I miss anything?
December 29, 2025 at 8:36 PM
As my kid said "Me, when I hate the democratic process."
As expected, in order to avoid a vote on extension of the ACA, Mike Johnson is gaveling the House into recess.
December 18, 2025 at 1:33 PM
It seems like the constant affirmation of whatever you say would be the first obvious fail in the Turing test...
If we are banning cell phones for kids we need to be talking about banning chatbots for boomers
www.persuasion.community/p/my-chatgpt...
December 18, 2025 at 1:05 PM
New game: Holiday songs that should be banned. I'll go first.

Christmas shoes.
As someone with a ton of guilt who can’t “come home” this Christmas, can we please outlaw the song “Baby, Please come Home” ?

Why the fuck is this sad ass song even a thing?
December 15, 2025 at 3:03 PM
I think sometimes, the performative speech around news events goes beyond useless.

Horrible tragedy

Newsmaker reaction. 😔

New innovation!

Newsmaker reaction. 😀

Like, sometimes, it's not about you.
December 15, 2025 at 3:02 PM
This weekend would have been a doozy for folks who work in news - so many massive, newsworthy tragedies and a limited amount of space/time/audience attention. Plus, it's a weekend so trying do it with fewer staff.

News values: Timeliness, proximity, impact, bizarreness, conflict, share ability...
a woman wearing headphones is talking into a microphone and the words where to begin are on the screen behind her
ALT: a woman wearing headphones is talking into a microphone and the words where to begin are on the screen behind her
media.tenor.com
December 15, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Sunday sillies (because I finished grading 🏅🎄):

How much did Santa's sleigh cost?
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.
.
.
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.
.
.
.
.
.
.
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Nothing. It was on the house.
a cartoon of santa claus running on a blue surface
ALT: a cartoon of santa claus running on a blue surface
media.tenor.com
December 14, 2025 at 12:33 PM
My editing final exam was a simulation of covering a campus shooting for campus media while on lockdown.

I pointed out you should not share locations where people are hiding while a shooter is at large.

Watching this Brown coverage. How do professional media not know this?
December 14, 2025 at 2:55 AM
I put in so much time when I do reviews
December 9, 2025 at 6:41 PM
I have questions.

*I've seen the flying public. How many are even capable of a pull-up?

*Am I supposed to be doing the step-ups in the skirt, hose and heels of my Golden Age airplane outfit? Because that sounds tricky...
December 9, 2025 at 1:09 PM
December 9, 2025 at 4:05 AM
My final is a take-home project, but I'm required to require my students to show up for the exam period. So I just put together a breaking news simulation for them and it's 🔥
December 8, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Gloomy, doomy Sunday morning thought: The transformation of higher education into a transactional credential factory could be fine, as long as high schools do a great job of only graduating knowledgeable, ethical citizens skilled in critical thinking.
December 7, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Last day...get yer shiny!
🏅Seems like anyone can give a medal for stuff now? Reply with what you want a medal for, and I'll award you one.
December 7, 2025 at 12:09 PM
🏅Seems like anyone can give a medal for stuff now? Reply with what you want a medal for, and I'll award you one.
December 6, 2025 at 3:08 PM
I guess fact-checking is unAmerican now? Could we please get a working definition of "censorship"?
The US government is now targeting anyone applying for a H-1b visa that have worked on "activities such as misinformation, disinformation, content moderation, fact-checking, compliance and online safety, among others."

www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
December 5, 2025 at 5:30 PM