Julie Westfall
@juliewestfall.bsky.social
Product at media orgs. I love it here.
Reposted by Julie Westfall
What does it say about this country that that the kind of open, rank bigotry Trump administration officials regularly express towards black immigrants apparently has no social cost because of the number of Americans who quietly agree or don't care.
December 3, 2025 at 11:35 AM
What does it say about this country that that the kind of open, rank bigotry Trump administration officials regularly express towards black immigrants apparently has no social cost because of the number of Americans who quietly agree or don't care.
Reposted by Julie Westfall
Bad news for Hegseth, it turns out the Pentagon is a big bureaucracy filled with people who got there because they know how to fight bureaucratic battles and they will wait for you to lie about something then leak details about it. Who knew?
A most important question on the Sept. 2 double-tap strike is who had "target engagement authority" (TEA).
Wall Street Journal:
"A Defense Department official ... said Hegseth was the 'target engagement authority,' the key figure who authorized the strike."
www.wsj.com/politics/whi...
Wall Street Journal:
"A Defense Department official ... said Hegseth was the 'target engagement authority,' the key figure who authorized the strike."
www.wsj.com/politics/whi...
December 2, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Bad news for Hegseth, it turns out the Pentagon is a big bureaucracy filled with people who got there because they know how to fight bureaucratic battles and they will wait for you to lie about something then leak details about it. Who knew?
Reposted by Julie Westfall
Now, remind me again that non-Americans should mind their own business.
November 25, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Now, remind me again that non-Americans should mind their own business.
Reposted by Julie Westfall
The reason we have laws* against bribery is that companies will absolutely bribe politicians at the very first opportunity if it is good for the bottom line, because they see it as a sound business decision, not a civilizational betrayal.
/1
/1
Coinbase donated to Trump's $300 million White House ballroom project as an appeal to the administration, Emilie Choi, the cryptocurrency exchange's president and COO, said at Axios' BFD event today.
Exclusive: Coinbase explains donation to Trump's ballroom
Tech firms like Google, Amazon, and Nvidia also donated to Trump's ballroom fund.
www.axios.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:28 PM
The reason we have laws* against bribery is that companies will absolutely bribe politicians at the very first opportunity if it is good for the bottom line, because they see it as a sound business decision, not a civilizational betrayal.
/1
/1
Reposted by Julie Westfall
Columbia Journalism Review recently interviewed Betsy Reed, editor of the Guardian's U.S. edition. www.cjr.org/the-intervie...
She says: "If we regard it, for good reason, as being extreme and out of line with basic humane values, we won’t treat it as part of the normal discourse in America."
She says: "If we regard it, for good reason, as being extreme and out of line with basic humane values, we won’t treat it as part of the normal discourse in America."
November 19, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Columbia Journalism Review recently interviewed Betsy Reed, editor of the Guardian's U.S. edition. www.cjr.org/the-intervie...
She says: "If we regard it, for good reason, as being extreme and out of line with basic humane values, we won’t treat it as part of the normal discourse in America."
She says: "If we regard it, for good reason, as being extreme and out of line with basic humane values, we won’t treat it as part of the normal discourse in America."
This is a really important story but it's a lot of text and not a lot is done to mitigate that. I hope more is done with this story in other formats
60 Attorneys on the Year of Chaos Inside Trump’s Justice Department (Gift Article)
Sixty former staffers describe an environment of suspicion and intimidation within the nation’s most powerful law enforcement agency.
www.nytimes.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:04 PM
This is a really important story but it's a lot of text and not a lot is done to mitigate that. I hope more is done with this story in other formats
"For tech companies, courage doesn’t scale."
Opinion | I Worked All Over Silicon Valley. This Is How It Lost Its Spine.
www.nytimes.com
November 12, 2025 at 3:23 PM
"For tech companies, courage doesn’t scale."
Reposted by Julie Westfall
Unfortunately still true bsky.app/profile/adam...
American politics makes a lot more sense when you realize that the GOP is afraid of pissing off the GOP base, and the Dems are afraid of pissing off the GOP base, but neither party is afraid of pissing off the Dem base.
November 10, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Unfortunately still true bsky.app/profile/adam...
Reposted by Julie Westfall
If the National Guard is really in D.C. to protect federal
property, they should probably have been at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. two days ago
property, they should probably have been at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. two days ago
October 22, 2025 at 7:15 PM
If the National Guard is really in D.C. to protect federal
property, they should probably have been at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. two days ago
property, they should probably have been at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. two days ago
The president can't be prosecuted but he can get paid for past prosecutions. Okey dokey.
President Trump is demanding that the Justice Department pay him about $230 million in compensation for the federal investigations into him.
Whether he gets paid will ultimately be up to DOJ's second-in-command, who was recently his personal lawyer.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/u...
Whether he gets paid will ultimately be up to DOJ's second-in-command, who was recently his personal lawyer.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/u...
October 21, 2025 at 7:27 PM
The president can't be prosecuted but he can get paid for past prosecutions. Okey dokey.
Reposted by Julie Westfall
I can feel myself turning to dust just reading this. Not only do I STILL remember a bunch of phone numbers from my childhood, I remember that my Dad would use the *letter* variation for the first two digits, rather than numbers. Our home number started with "AR1" rather than 271.
If anyone needs me I will be in the museum, lying down next to the bog bodies.
October 13, 2025 at 9:01 PM
I can feel myself turning to dust just reading this. Not only do I STILL remember a bunch of phone numbers from my childhood, I remember that my Dad would use the *letter* variation for the first two digits, rather than numbers. Our home number started with "AR1" rather than 271.
Reposted by Julie Westfall
"Residents in Chicago and Portland are living in a police state where masked armed forces kidnap who they want to kidnap, where they have to listen to public officials routinely lie about what is happening in their neighborhoods." donmoynihan.substack.com/p/purge-merg...
Federal Secret Police and plainclothes ICE agents kidnap multiple people from a neighborhood in Chicago. They then deploy teargas and brutally beat neighbors who come out to express their concern.
October 14, 2025 at 2:14 AM
"Residents in Chicago and Portland are living in a police state where masked armed forces kidnap who they want to kidnap, where they have to listen to public officials routinely lie about what is happening in their neighborhoods." donmoynihan.substack.com/p/purge-merg...
A few police officers are worried about someone becoming mayor is quite the story!
Promoting the editor-in-chief's personal side project. Zero named sources in a story that promotes the editor-in-chief's personal political position. Misspelling the subject's name. It took one day for CBS News to become a conservative blog.
www.cbsnews.com/video/some-n...
www.cbsnews.com/video/some-n...
October 13, 2025 at 6:02 PM
A few police officers are worried about someone becoming mayor is quite the story!
Listen, you can have a lot of questions about this leadership choice. I know I do.
But Bari Weiss is hardly the first executive to operate chaotically and with high demands. Many executives manage this way, and yet, I've noticed when a woman becomes a leader, it's the first thing that's flagged.
But Bari Weiss is hardly the first executive to operate chaotically and with high demands. Many executives manage this way, and yet, I've noticed when a woman becomes a leader, it's the first thing that's flagged.
While Bari Weiss faces skepticism inside CBS News, former colleagues describe her management style to Status as chaotic and abrasive—raising questions about how she’ll lead one of America’s most storied newsrooms.
Details in @status.news: www.status.news/p/bari-weiss...
Details in @status.news: www.status.news/p/bari-weiss...
A Bari Trying Time
While Bari Weiss faces skepticism inside CBS News, former colleagues describe her management style to Status as chaotic and abrasive—raising questions about how she’ll lead one of America’s most stori...
www.status.news
October 9, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Listen, you can have a lot of questions about this leadership choice. I know I do.
But Bari Weiss is hardly the first executive to operate chaotically and with high demands. Many executives manage this way, and yet, I've noticed when a woman becomes a leader, it's the first thing that's flagged.
But Bari Weiss is hardly the first executive to operate chaotically and with high demands. Many executives manage this way, and yet, I've noticed when a woman becomes a leader, it's the first thing that's flagged.
Reposted by Julie Westfall
The sigh I expel when you undermine the whole “without fear or favor” part by using Trump and Hegseth’s make-believe name for the Defense Department.
CNN is now using the Trump preferred “Department of War” name in its official statements
October 8, 2025 at 6:57 PM
The sigh I expel when you undermine the whole “without fear or favor” part by using Trump and Hegseth’s make-believe name for the Defense Department.
Reposted by Julie Westfall
"Dallas Morning News shareholders vote to deny the hedge fund Alden Global Capital."
The hedge fund offered more money.
Did you hear what I said?
"Alden Global Capital is well known as the worst possible newspaper owner for anyone who cares about journalism." www.niemanlab.org/2025/09/dall...
The hedge fund offered more money.
Did you hear what I said?
"Alden Global Capital is well known as the worst possible newspaper owner for anyone who cares about journalism." www.niemanlab.org/2025/09/dall...
Dallas Morning News shareholders vote to deny the hedge fund Alden Global Capital
Is a newspaper a financial asset or a community trust? This particular standoff ended with an increasingly uncommon answer.
www.niemanlab.org
September 24, 2025 at 3:22 PM
"Dallas Morning News shareholders vote to deny the hedge fund Alden Global Capital."
The hedge fund offered more money.
Did you hear what I said?
"Alden Global Capital is well known as the worst possible newspaper owner for anyone who cares about journalism." www.niemanlab.org/2025/09/dall...
The hedge fund offered more money.
Did you hear what I said?
"Alden Global Capital is well known as the worst possible newspaper owner for anyone who cares about journalism." www.niemanlab.org/2025/09/dall...
Reposted by Julie Westfall
I think journalists would be better off if they thought about AI like this — as the latest in a long series of technological changes that have affected human communication and information exchange, not as some unique demonic threat to all that is good and true.
AI can walk through all the doors at once - Mike Caulfield https://mikecaulfield.substack.com/p/ai-can-walk-through-all-the-doors (& a fun Letterman clip) #AI #usefulness
September 23, 2025 at 11:26 AM
I think journalists would be better off if they thought about AI like this — as the latest in a long series of technological changes that have affected human communication and information exchange, not as some unique demonic threat to all that is good and true.
And an H.W. Bush appointee threw this right out, ordering it be rewritten like an actual legal document within 28 days to continue:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Oh well, since you put it bluntly, it must be illegal
So this Trump lawsuit is wacko for many, many reasons, but THIS IS NOT WHAT ACTUAL MALICE MEANS in the legal context. At all.
September 19, 2025 at 4:45 PM
And an H.W. Bush appointee threw this right out, ordering it be rewritten like an actual legal document within 28 days to continue:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Reposted by Julie Westfall
Not really an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country's leader on TV without repurcussions.
July 18, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Not really an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country's leader on TV without repurcussions.
Oh well, since you put it bluntly, it must be illegal
So this Trump lawsuit is wacko for many, many reasons, but THIS IS NOT WHAT ACTUAL MALICE MEANS in the legal context. At all.
September 16, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Oh well, since you put it bluntly, it must be illegal
If you're looking for a reason to feel icky today, here you go.
This is, among many other reasons, why the US Open has become basically unaffordable for normals.
I'm lucky that I can actually afford to pay twice as much as two years ago. But most can't, and soon I won't be able to either.
This is, among many other reasons, why the US Open has become basically unaffordable for normals.
I'm lucky that I can actually afford to pay twice as much as two years ago. But most can't, and soon I won't be able to either.
She Decides Who’s Famous Enough for Free U.S. Open Tickets
www.nytimes.com
September 4, 2025 at 3:38 PM
If you're looking for a reason to feel icky today, here you go.
This is, among many other reasons, why the US Open has become basically unaffordable for normals.
I'm lucky that I can actually afford to pay twice as much as two years ago. But most can't, and soon I won't be able to either.
This is, among many other reasons, why the US Open has become basically unaffordable for normals.
I'm lucky that I can actually afford to pay twice as much as two years ago. But most can't, and soon I won't be able to either.
Reposted by Julie Westfall
In a functional government, this would be a five alarm fire where Congress calls in Kennedy and asks him what the fuck is going on
Four more top #CDC officials have submitted their resignation in the past few hours - Debra Houry (chief medical officer), Demere Daskalakis (director of NCIRD), Daniel Jernigan (director of NCEZID) + Jen Layden (director of OPHDST) www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
It is horrifying
It is horrifying
August 27, 2025 at 10:52 PM
In a functional government, this would be a five alarm fire where Congress calls in Kennedy and asks him what the fuck is going on