John McQuaid
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johnmcquaid.bsky.social
John McQuaid
@johnmcquaid.bsky.social
650 followers 530 following 720 posts
Journalist, author (Tasty, on science of flavor; Path of Destruction, on Katrina); currently PhD candidate at UMD Philip Merrill College of Journalism studying media coverage/public debates over AI risk.
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johnmcquaid.bsky.social
This is the story of AI development from the beginning; researchers develop/deploy tools that mimic human capabilities, with little understanding of those capabilities or the potential harms of mucking around with them
disabilitystor1.bsky.social Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 23h
A genuinely alarming piece in the NYT about how the developers, scientists and assorted techbros behind "AI companions"/"synthetic care" do not even know or understand the potential harms of the tech they're developing but they're too greedy to stop themselves from developing it.
“Confusion” doesn’t begin to describe our emerging predicament. Seventy-two percent of American teens have turned to A.I. for companionship. A.I. therapists, coaches and lovers are also on the rise. Yet few people realize that some of the frontline technologists building this new world seem deeply ambivalent about what they’re doing. They are so torn, in fact, that some privately admit they don’t plan to use A.I. intimacy tools. “Zero percent of my emotional needs are met by A.I.,” an executive who ran a team mitigating safety risks at a top lab told me. “I’m in it up to my eyeballs at work, and I’m careful.” Many others said the same thing: Even as they build A.I. tools, they hope they never feel the need to turn to machines for emotional support. As a researcher who develops cutting-edge capabilities for artificial emotion put it, “that would be a dark day.” Developers I spoke to said the same incentives that make bots irresistible can stand in the way of reasonable safeguards, making outright abstention the only sure way to stay safe. Some described feeling stuck between protecting users and raising profits: They support guardrails in theory, but don’t want to compromise the product experience in practice. It’s little wonder the protections that do get built can seem largely symbolic — you have to squint to see the fine-print notice that “ChatGPT can make mistakes” or that Character.AI is “not a real person.” “I’ve seen the way people operate in this space,” said one engineer who worked at a number of tech companies. “They’re here to make money. It’s a business at the end of the day.” But even if companies can curb serious dependence on A.I. companions — an open question — many of the developers I spoke with were troubled by even moderate use of these apps. That’s because people who manage to resist full-blown digital companions can still find themselves hooked on A.I.-mediated love. When machines draft texts, craft vows and tell people how to process their own emotions, every relationship turns into “a throuple,” a founder of a conversational A.I. business said. “We’re all polyamorous now. It’s you, me and the A.I.”
February 13, 2026 at 7:37 PM
johnmcquaid.bsky.social
“I am not a crook.”
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d
Homan: "ICE is a legitimate federal law enforcement agency. We're not out scouring the streets to disappear people or deny people their civil rights or due process."
February 12, 2026 at 2:22 PM
Reposted by John McQuaid
adamkeiper.com
"There are still plenty of places to read about literature.…But they are produced for an audience that already knows it cares....The books section of a newspaper plays an altogether different role. It does not cater to aficionados; it seeks new recruits."
www.newyorker.com/books/page-t...
Screenshot of an excerpt from a Becca Rothfeld article in the New Yorker: "There are still plenty of places to read about literature, many of them excellent. There are older and more established outlets, like the London Review of Books and The New York Review of Books; cult favorites, like Bookforum; and irreverent newcomers, like The Drift and The Point, the latter of which I edit. These magazines are delightful and, in their own way, consistently surprising; I love reading them, and I have loved writing for them. But they are produced for an audience that already knows it cares about literature. The books section of a newspaper plays an altogether different role. It does not cater to aficionados; it seeks new recruits."
February 10, 2026 at 10:31 PM
Reposted by John McQuaid
karenho.bsky.social
I still cannot get over this detail reported by the Financial Times: www.ft.com/content/5fa6...
Senior management at the Post were livid when they discovered that Lewis was attending festivities around the Super Bowl in San Francisco around the time of the news of the job cuts. It came off as “callous”, said a newsroom source, adding that “the Super Bowl thing was the last straw”. “Bezos lost patience after the Super Bowl thing”, the source added. Lewis was criticised in the newsroom last month for not offering words of public support after a reporter’s home was searched by FBI agents, which was seen as a further escalation of President Donald Trump’s attacks on the media. “We’re under siege from the FBI and the Pentagon and he just walled himself off,” the person said.  The sense that Lewis had lost the newsroom only increased on the day the job cuts were announced. “There was no communication from him about buyouts,” the person added. “He didn’t put out a statement. Senior editorial leadership was furious.”
February 8, 2026 at 12:35 AM
johnmcquaid.bsky.social
Wondering if what happened in the New Orleans newspaper wars could play out in DC:
1. Owner destroying established newspaper
2. Rival alt-publication starts backed by local $$
3. Established paper fails
4. Owner gives up, sells name/brand to alt-publication, institution continues
oliverdarcy.bsky.social Oliver Darcy @oliverdarcy.bsky.social · 6d
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...
February 7, 2026 at 8:41 PM
Reposted by John McQuaid
joshtpm.bsky.social
I can say without any fear of contradiction that I know as much or more than anyone in modern American journalism about the absolute, no excuses necessity of operating in the black. In many cases much more since if you’re a big player there are lots of creative ways to operate ….
February 4, 2026 at 5:10 PM
johnmcquaid.bsky.social
Struck by this NYT framing of Harvard’s purported rationale for standing up to Trump. Such factors play a role, but come on – this suggests the NYT/reporters/editors have no clue about what is actually at stake in this fight
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...
(Last sentence highlighted) Harvard has been the top target in Mr. Trump’s sweeping campaign to exert more control over higher education. Hard-liners in his administration had wanted Harvard to write a check to the U.S. Treasury as part of a deal to address claims that university officials mishandled antisemitism, The New York Times previously reported. But Harvard, wary of backlash from liberal students and faculty, has rejected the idea.
February 2, 2026 at 10:52 PM
Reposted by John McQuaid
damon.kiesow.net
Let's check in on how the national media doing in balancing the tension between reporting the news objectively while recognizing the long record of bad faith arguments, actions and arrests by the current administration.
January 30, 2026 at 5:32 PM
Reposted by John McQuaid
kjephd.bsky.social
That this same poll finds Trump approval at 37%—while approval of his *policies* is at Bush II nadir levels of 27%—reminds us once again that his appeal has little to do w policy.

I'd add that it also suggests a technocratic view of politics as fundamentally about policy cannot make sense of Trump.
January 29, 2026 at 9:13 PM
Reposted by John McQuaid
sifu.tweety.fish
see the robot hit a child, but in a laudable way
lorak.bsky.social Lora Kolodny @lorak.bsky.social · 15d
The NHTSA and Waymo said the "young pedestrian" sustained minor injuries. Waymo voluntarily reported the incident to the US vehicle safety regulator on the same day it occurred. The company is suggesting its systems responded better than an attentive human could have... www.cnbc.com/2026/01/29/w...
A Waymo hit a child near an elementary school. The NHTSA is investigating
U.S. regulators are investigating the behavior of Waymo driverless vehicles around schools and school buses
www.cnbc.com
January 29, 2026 at 4:57 PM
Reposted by John McQuaid
editorialboard.bsky.social
Non-media people may not appreciate the depth of contempt that media people have for things like this. Interviewing his mom on national TV! It doesn't get more pathetic than that.
bgrueskin.bsky.social Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 17d
Tuesday morning:
New CBS boss promises “huge emphasis on scoops.”

Tuesday evening:
CBS Evening News anchor interviews his mom.

www.yahoo.com/entertainmen...
‘CBS Evening News’: Tony Dokoupil Under Fire for Interviewing His Own Mom
Viewers accuse CBS News of 'dumbing down.'
www.yahoo.com
January 28, 2026 at 3:02 PM
johnmcquaid.bsky.social
There was some actual good news today
www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/t...
TCM Becomes “Ongoing Home” of the Looney Tunes Library (Exclusive)
A new six-year licensing deal brings the classic cartoons to the channel. It starts in February with 45 shorts featuring Star of the Month Bugs Bunny.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
January 26, 2026 at 10:20 PM
Reposted by John McQuaid
makenakelly.bsky.social
SCOOP: Palantir Defends Work With ICE to Staff Following Killing of Alex Pretti

WIRED obtained Slack conversations + an updated internal Palantir wiki defending the company's work for ICE to outraged workers.

More here:
www.wired.com/story/palant...
Palantir Defends Work With ICE to Staff Following Killing of Alex Pretti
“In my opinion ICE are the bad guys. I am not proud that the company I enjoy so much working for is part of this,” one worker wrote on Slack.
www.wired.com
January 26, 2026 at 10:11 PM
Reposted by John McQuaid
protecttruth.bsky.social
Sulzberger has to be joking us here.

"Crisis of Confidence" no what
A Crisis of Confidence for ICE and Border Patrol as Clashes Escalate Current and former officials describe growing frustration with the Trump administration’s approach, even as they support the goal of immigration enforcement.
January 26, 2026 at 4:28 PM
Reposted by John McQuaid
jfallows.bsky.social
1/2
I actually thought we had seen the end of "guy in a diner" stories, for cliche and self-parody reasons if nothing else.

This one has the minor twist of "guys in a bar"

So close to @nytpitchbot.bsky.social's work (just read the opening grafs) that I wonder if this could be quiet homage to him
Story about a bar: The regulars file into Ye Old Pickle Factory in Nisswa, Minn., before 10 a.m. most days, taking their seats at the bar. Chili pepper lights hang from the ceiling, and neon beer signs glow against wood-paneled walls. A television flickers on. “The Price Is Right” is about to start. They have been doing this since the mid-1980s, gathering in this small, dim room, waiting for someone on the game show to spin exactly $1 on the big wheel. When that happens, everyone receives a token for a free drink. Lately, they had been in a lull. No one had hit the dollar in weeks — until Wednesday. Nisswa is a town of about 2,000 people in the Brainerd Lakes Area, a popular summer vacation destination about 150 miles north of Minneapolis. Most of the regulars on hand this morning say they prefer not to go to the city anymore. Not since the summer of 2020, when George Floyd was murdered by a police officer and the city erupted. Now, Minneapolis is in the news again. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a woman, Renee Good, during an immigration operation last week, and demonstrators are back on the streets.
January 19, 2026 at 3:12 PM
Reposted by John McQuaid
leahsottile.bsky.social
The Times went to non urban Minnesota to ask people why they dislike urban Minneapolis. If someone were to ask me to teach a journalism school course on helicopter reporting, this story - so cliche it’s almost hard to believe they really did this - would immediately go on the syllabus.
grahamlampa.com Graham Lampa @grahamlampa.com · Jan 15
NYTimes has truly outdone itself with this latest in its "ask white guys in diner" genre. Thank goodness we get a perspective on what's happening in Minneapolis from people in **Nisswa** who probably mean Brainerd when they say they "prefer not to go the city anymore" www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/u...
One State, Two Very Different Views of Minneapolis
www.nytimes.com
January 15, 2026 at 3:55 PM
johnmcquaid.bsky.social
Especially now, news orgs should pause and reconsider before going with the "Trump says" headline and story framing (what most people see)

Things "Trump says" are usually not true, or at best represent some fantasy that might have some unpredictable impact on reality – now the case with Venezuela
Washington Post headline: U.S. to run Venezuela during transition, Trump says NYT updates: Rodríguez, Venezuela’s interim president, was defiant as she spoke on live television.“If there is one thing that the Venezuelan people and this country are clear about,” she said, “it is that we will never again be slaves, that we will never again be a colony of any empire, whatever its nature.” ... Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, speakinging in an address to the the nation, said Washington “launched an unprecedented military aggression” that “constitutes a terrible stain on the development of bilateral relations.” She said that with the invasion, “the masks had fallen off, revealing only one objective: regime change in Venezuela. This regime change would also allow for the seizure of our energy, mineral and natural resources. This is the true objective, and the world and the international community must know it.”
January 3, 2026 at 8:42 PM
Reposted by John McQuaid
dceiver.bsky.social
@attackerman.bsky.social's destruction of Bari Weiss here is so vicious because it is so spectacularly well-informed; this one is an earner, folks

www.forever-wars.com/watching-bar...
Watching Bari Weiss Murder Investigative Journalism at CBS
Notes from someone who's withstood White House demands to stop an explosive story—and who once even had a 60 Minutes piece spiked
www.forever-wars.com
December 31, 2025 at 2:47 AM
johnmcquaid.bsky.social
“Moral exhilaration” – the excitement and sense of affirmation in standing up to/rejecting Trumpism even at great personal or institutional cost – feels good! May it continue to spread
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/a...
Doug Varone and Dancers, a New York dance company, also said on Monday that it was canceling two performances in April that had been intended to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Mr. Varone, the head of the company, said it would lose $40,000 by pulling out. “It is financially devastating but morally exhilarating,” he said in an email.
December 30, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Reposted by John McQuaid
medialawprof.bsky.social
My usual reminder that “we’re gonna file a lawsuit” isn’t news. That’s a press release. “We filed a lawsuit and here’s the complaint” is news.
December 27, 2025 at 8:56 PM
johnmcquaid.bsky.social
Did not know the extent to which Dr. Oz has fused his branding efforts to Medicare communications (this an email sent to my stepfather and presumably tens of millions). A wholly corrupt enterprise.
Medicare.gov email with banner saying "Stay Healthy with Dr. Oz": Text: James, The holidays are all about joy and celebration! Here are some simple tips to help you stay healthy while enjoying every moment. You don't have to skip the foods you love. Just balance them out. Fill half your plate with colorful veggies, add some lean protein, and whole grains. Remember to watch your portions. And, it's also okay to enjoy treats — just in moderation. One of my favorite go-to meals during the busy holiday season is Baked Fish and Vegetables. I just wrap everything in foil, bake, and enjoy with no cleanup required! Healthy Recipes Stay active, too. Taking a walk after dinner, playing with grandkids, or dancing to your favorite holiday music are small moments that can add up to big benefits for your health. Your health matters to us every single day. Wishing you a wonderful, healthy holiday season! Warm wishes, Dr. Oz
December 26, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Reposted by John McQuaid
katestarbird.bsky.social
Former head of trust and safety at Twitter, Yoel Roth, demonstrating the intellectual dishonesty of “In Covid’s Wake” by showing how they distorted his own words to make them say the opposite of what he was arguing.
yoyoel.com Yoel Roth @yoyoel.com · Dec 24
A small (personal) example of this book’s intellectual dishonesty:

My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media.

Huh? When did I say that?!
December 24, 2025 at 9:31 PM
johnmcquaid.bsky.social
Bari Weiss's idea seems to be making CBS News "fair and balanced" – not in the Fox News way, but sincerely, self-righteously. This is self-evidently doomed. Only someone who advanced by gaming the system w/o really understanding it would delude themselves in this bumbling yet self-congratulatory way
December 22, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Reposted by John McQuaid
dankennedy.net
New at Media Nation: Two weeks after a hopeful sign from "60 Minutes," Bari Weiss cancels a story and trashes the brand. dankennedy.net/2025/12/22/t...
Two weeks after a hopeful sign from ‘60 Minutes,’ Bari Weiss cancels a story and trashes the brand
A Dec. 7 “60 Minutes” interview with Marjorie Taylor Greene by veteran correspondent Lesley Stahl raised hopes that new CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and her corporate overlords, …
dankennedy.net
December 22, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Reposted by John McQuaid
anildash.com
Since it's come up again, I'll try to succinctly state my view on "AI" as we think of it in culture & tech these days. I think "Big AI" products (ChatGPT, Google Gemini) are mostly terrible for society, because they've been foisted without consent on millions, with lies about what they can do.
December 18, 2025 at 9:13 PM