Laura Hazard Owen
@laurahazardowen.bsky.social
Editor of @niemanlab.org / a fun mom in Cambridge, MA
https://illberightback.substack.com/
Ebikes | Mysteries | Baking | Parent gossip | Public schools
https://illberightback.substack.com/
Ebikes | Mysteries | Baking | Parent gossip | Public schools
you're welcome! www.niemanlab.org/2025/11/the-...
The cute yellow Old Farmer’s Almanac isn’t the one shutting down
"There are TWO. This is not The OLD Farmer's Almanac that has been around since 1792. Everything is fine. Just chill guys"
www.niemanlab.org
November 7, 2025 at 4:32 PM
you're welcome! www.niemanlab.org/2025/11/the-...
WAIT I WAS WRONG
The *Old* Farmer's Almanac, the yellow one (that hung on a nail in my grandparents' bathroom) is NOT shutting down.
The Farmer's Almanac, which um...I have no feelings about really...is the one shutting down
phew
www.almanac.com/old-farmers-...
The *Old* Farmer's Almanac, the yellow one (that hung on a nail in my grandparents' bathroom) is NOT shutting down.
The Farmer's Almanac, which um...I have no feelings about really...is the one shutting down
phew
www.almanac.com/old-farmers-...
The Old Farmer’s Almanac—234 Years and Still Going Strong
Wondering if The Old Farmer’s Almanac is discontinued? It’s still publishing and growing, with trusted forecasts, tools, and seasonal guidance since 1792. Learn more and see what's new.
www.almanac.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:26 PM
WAIT I WAS WRONG
The *Old* Farmer's Almanac, the yellow one (that hung on a nail in my grandparents' bathroom) is NOT shutting down.
The Farmer's Almanac, which um...I have no feelings about really...is the one shutting down
phew
www.almanac.com/old-farmers-...
The *Old* Farmer's Almanac, the yellow one (that hung on a nail in my grandparents' bathroom) is NOT shutting down.
The Farmer's Almanac, which um...I have no feelings about really...is the one shutting down
phew
www.almanac.com/old-farmers-...
a little story about tony's chocolonely illberightback.substack.com/p/104-two-ti...
#104, Two times I didn't argue with the guy
Two tales for ya.
illberightback.substack.com
October 24, 2025 at 1:41 PM
a little story about tony's chocolonely illberightback.substack.com/p/104-two-ti...
Reposted by Laura Hazard Owen
Great article. Archiving the internet is such a difficult thing without much of a financial motive, too. But reliance on a single entity has blown up in our faces so many times in the past.
The Wayback Machine’s snapshots of news homepages have dropped off in recent months. Our analysis shows that since May 16, the number of captures available for 100 top news sites declined by 87%.
@hanaatameez.bsky.social and I report for @niemanlab.org.
www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/the-...
@hanaatameez.bsky.social and I report for @niemanlab.org.
www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/the-...
The Wayback Machine’s snapshots of news homepages plummet after a “breakdown” in archiving projects
Between May and October 2025, homepage snapshots fell by 87% across 100 news publications.
www.niemanlab.org
October 22, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Great article. Archiving the internet is such a difficult thing without much of a financial motive, too. But reliance on a single entity has blown up in our faces so many times in the past.
Reposted by Laura Hazard Owen
NEW: @andrewdeck.bsky.social and I found the @waybackmachine.bsky.social has been archiving news homepages less frequently for the past 5 months.
The result: an 87% drop in homepage snapshots across 100 news outlets during a very newsy year. www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/the-...
The result: an 87% drop in homepage snapshots across 100 news outlets during a very newsy year. www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/the-...
The Wayback Machine’s snapshots of news homepages plummet after a “breakdown” in archiving projects
Between May and October 2025, homepage snapshots fell by 87% across 100 news publications.
www.niemanlab.org
October 22, 2025 at 3:05 PM
NEW: @andrewdeck.bsky.social and I found the @waybackmachine.bsky.social has been archiving news homepages less frequently for the past 5 months.
The result: an 87% drop in homepage snapshots across 100 news outlets during a very newsy year. www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/the-...
The result: an 87% drop in homepage snapshots across 100 news outlets during a very newsy year. www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/the-...
For the past few months, the Wayback Machine has been showing many fewer snapshots of news publishers' homepages than it used to. Something happened on May 16, but what?
@hanaatameez.bsky.social and @andrewdeck.bsky.social investigate
www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/the-...
@hanaatameez.bsky.social and @andrewdeck.bsky.social investigate
www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/the-...
The Wayback Machine’s snapshots of news homepages plummet after a “breakdown” in archiving projects
Between May and October 2025, homepage snapshots fell by 87% across 100 news publications.
www.niemanlab.org
October 21, 2025 at 6:51 PM
For the past few months, the Wayback Machine has been showing many fewer snapshots of news publishers' homepages than it used to. Something happened on May 16, but what?
@hanaatameez.bsky.social and @andrewdeck.bsky.social investigate
www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/the-...
@hanaatameez.bsky.social and @andrewdeck.bsky.social investigate
www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/the-...
Reposted by Laura Hazard Owen
Me and my "forgotten URL" for my old Google Glass website are mentioned in this article.
I sold the domain a year or two ago. Made the mistake of not taking down the content first. New owners have turned it into an AI slop-fest.
www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/ai-g...
I sold the domain a year or two ago. Made the mistake of not taking down the content first. New owners have turned it into an AI slop-fest.
www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/ai-g...
AI-generated news sites spout viral slop from forgotten URLs
A new generation of content farms are harnessing AI to spin out clickbait — and they’re getting help from Google.
www.niemanlab.org
October 17, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Me and my "forgotten URL" for my old Google Glass website are mentioned in this article.
I sold the domain a year or two ago. Made the mistake of not taking down the content first. New owners have turned it into an AI slop-fest.
www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/ai-g...
I sold the domain a year or two ago. Made the mistake of not taking down the content first. New owners have turned it into an AI slop-fest.
www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/ai-g...
...and boy do they love the icelandic 36-hour workweek + chinese weapons www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/ai-g...
AI-generated news sites spout viral slop from forgotten URLs
A new generation of content farms are harnessing AI to spin out clickbait — and they’re getting help from Google.
www.niemanlab.org
October 16, 2025 at 8:12 PM
...and boy do they love the icelandic 36-hour workweek + chinese weapons www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/ai-g...
bari weiss's cbs: "america"/"american," focus is "journalism" not the journalists themselves, doesn't dwell on standards, speed-focused, "uses all of the tools of the digital era"
newly independent msnbc: focus on journalists themselves, ethics, freedom of speech/1st Amendment, "the world," AI-wary
newly independent msnbc: focus on journalists themselves, ethics, freedom of speech/1st Amendment, "the world," AI-wary
Bari Weiss’s CBS News and MSNBC both just laid out their new journalistic principles — and they’re fascinatingly different
Lot of news coming out of the networks this morning: Bari Weiss, founder of the pro-Israel, anti-woke Free Press, has sold the four-year-old news site to CBS parent company Paramount for a reported $1...
www.niemanlab.org
October 6, 2025 at 4:15 PM
bari weiss's cbs: "america"/"american," focus is "journalism" not the journalists themselves, doesn't dwell on standards, speed-focused, "uses all of the tools of the digital era"
newly independent msnbc: focus on journalists themselves, ethics, freedom of speech/1st Amendment, "the world," AI-wary
newly independent msnbc: focus on journalists themselves, ethics, freedom of speech/1st Amendment, "the world," AI-wary
. @hanaatameez.bsky.social puts data behind journalism's DEI vibe shift. From # of jobs posted, to products launched then shut down, to exhibiting at conferences — the racial reckoning is in retreat.
www.niemanlab.org/2025/09/from...
www.niemanlab.org/2025/09/from...
From reckoning to retreat: Journalism’s DEI efforts are in decline
Diversity-related newsroom jobs haven't totally disappeared — but they also haven't stuck.
www.niemanlab.org
September 10, 2025 at 5:58 PM
. @hanaatameez.bsky.social puts data behind journalism's DEI vibe shift. From # of jobs posted, to products launched then shut down, to exhibiting at conferences — the racial reckoning is in retreat.
www.niemanlab.org/2025/09/from...
www.niemanlab.org/2025/09/from...
Reposted by Laura Hazard Owen
As a former homepage and engagement editor for NPR, I found @joshuabenton.com's latest Nieman Lab piece from their rankings of media (first local newspapers, then nonprofit news sites) takes a look at the top 25 local public media sites very insightful about the challenges ahead.
These public radio stations have built online audiences that’ll help them survive federal cuts
They may have been born on the airwaves, but these public media stations compete on the web as well. Here's our first monthly ranking of the top 25 local public media websites in the United States.
www.niemanlab.org
August 5, 2025 at 6:19 PM
As a former homepage and engagement editor for NPR, I found @joshuabenton.com's latest Nieman Lab piece from their rankings of media (first local newspapers, then nonprofit news sites) takes a look at the top 25 local public media sites very insightful about the challenges ahead.
Reposted by Laura Hazard Owen
New by me —>
These are the 25 largest nonprofit news sites in the U.S. by web traffic.
Some you’d expect (like @propublica.org), others you might not (@ncronline.bsky.social, @sciencenews.bsky.social, @lapublicpress.bsky.social, @notusreports.bsky.social)
www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/nonp...
These are the 25 largest nonprofit news sites in the U.S. by web traffic.
Some you’d expect (like @propublica.org), others you might not (@ncronline.bsky.social, @sciencenews.bsky.social, @lapublicpress.bsky.social, @notusreports.bsky.social)
www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/nonp...
Nonprofit news sites are built to generate impact — but these are also generating audiences
In markets large and small, these nonprofit news organizations are achieving traffic numbers that many commercial outlets would envy. Here's our first monthly ranking of the top 25 nonprofit news site...
www.niemanlab.org
July 29, 2025 at 8:38 PM
New by me —>
These are the 25 largest nonprofit news sites in the U.S. by web traffic.
Some you’d expect (like @propublica.org), others you might not (@ncronline.bsky.social, @sciencenews.bsky.social, @lapublicpress.bsky.social, @notusreports.bsky.social)
www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/nonp...
These are the 25 largest nonprofit news sites in the U.S. by web traffic.
Some you’d expect (like @propublica.org), others you might not (@ncronline.bsky.social, @sciencenews.bsky.social, @lapublicpress.bsky.social, @notusreports.bsky.social)
www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/nonp...
New feature alert @niemanlab.org: Traffic rankings for the top U.S. news outlets in three categories — local newspapers, nonprofit news sites, and public radio stations. First up, local newspapers
by @joshuabenton.com
by @joshuabenton.com
How did newspapers in places like Harrisburg, Birmingham, and Syracuse become some of America’s most-read online?
They share an owner that sometimes gets forgotten — but which dominates much larger peers in web traffic. Here's our first monthly ranking of the top 25 local newspaper websites in the United States.
www.niemanlab.org
July 23, 2025 at 5:32 PM
New feature alert @niemanlab.org: Traffic rankings for the top U.S. news outlets in three categories — local newspapers, nonprofit news sites, and public radio stations. First up, local newspapers
by @joshuabenton.com
by @joshuabenton.com
Reposted by Laura Hazard Owen
If you are involved in trying to make nonprofit news sustainable, I wrote and reported this story for you!
So much news that deserves our attention right now, but I hope you'll spend some time with my Houston Landing retrospective for @niemanlab.org (1/3)
www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/what...
So much news that deserves our attention right now, but I hope you'll spend some time with my Houston Landing retrospective for @niemanlab.org (1/3)
www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/what...
What went wrong at the Houston Landing?
“We tried to be too much, too fast, for too many people.”
www.niemanlab.org
July 18, 2025 at 4:39 PM
If you are involved in trying to make nonprofit news sustainable, I wrote and reported this story for you!
So much news that deserves our attention right now, but I hope you'll spend some time with my Houston Landing retrospective for @niemanlab.org (1/3)
www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/what...
So much news that deserves our attention right now, but I hope you'll spend some time with my Houston Landing retrospective for @niemanlab.org (1/3)
www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/what...
WHAT went wrong at the Houston Landing? almost nobody wanted to talk about it, but after months of reporting, @speppered.bsky.social got the story anyway
www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/what...
www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/what...
What went wrong at the Houston Landing?
“We tried to be too much, too fast, for too many people.”
www.niemanlab.org
July 17, 2025 at 9:21 PM
WHAT went wrong at the Houston Landing? almost nobody wanted to talk about it, but after months of reporting, @speppered.bsky.social got the story anyway
www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/what...
www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/what...
no more "click to cancel" www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/good...
July 8, 2025 at 9:36 PM
no more "click to cancel" www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/good...
"People could get a paid subscription in exchange for the worn top from the covered wagon that brought them across the plains." www.deseret.com/special-seri...
Deseret News through the eras: A story of grit, gumption and changes galore
The staying power and determination to continue to print Truth and Liberty, no matter what, is the legacy of the Deseret News.
www.deseret.com
July 7, 2025 at 8:06 PM
"People could get a paid subscription in exchange for the worn top from the covered wagon that brought them across the plains." www.deseret.com/special-seri...
Reposted by Laura Hazard Owen
We’re pleased to welcome Samantha Henry as the new editor of @niemanreports.org. She says: “I am honored to continue Nieman Reports’ long tradition of standing for press freedom and shining light on the vitally important work of journalists around the world.” nieman.harvard.edu/samantha-hen...
Samantha Henry named editor of Nieman Reports - Nieman Foundation
She previously worked as Nieman’s assistant director for programming and special projects.
nieman.harvard.edu
July 2, 2025 at 2:20 PM
We’re pleased to welcome Samantha Henry as the new editor of @niemanreports.org. She says: “I am honored to continue Nieman Reports’ long tradition of standing for press freedom and shining light on the vitally important work of journalists around the world.” nieman.harvard.edu/samantha-hen...
we've made some updates to the "What We're Reading" section of @niemanlab.org's daily newsletter...more quotes, more numbers, more pictures (all design work by @joshuabenton.com) & I think you'll love it so subscribe here if you don't already! www.niemanlab.org/subscribe/
How to subscribe to our work
The Daily Digest
Nearly 70,000 people get our newsletter, The Daily Digest, which goes out at 3 p.m. ET Mondays through Thursdays. It includes both our own stories and our curated rundown of the most...
www.niemanlab.org
June 18, 2025 at 7:41 PM
we've made some updates to the "What We're Reading" section of @niemanlab.org's daily newsletter...more quotes, more numbers, more pictures (all design work by @joshuabenton.com) & I think you'll love it so subscribe here if you don't already! www.niemanlab.org/subscribe/
So far I've seen these on articles from the Wall Street Journal, Boston.com, and MarketWatch.
Google Discover adds AI-generated bullet points to some news articles
When I was scrolling through Google Discover this week, I noticed something new: AI-generated bullet points teasing or summing up some articles in the feed.
The bullet-pointed articles appear somewha...
www.niemanlab.org
June 3, 2025 at 6:32 PM
So far I've seen these on articles from the Wall Street Journal, Boston.com, and MarketWatch.
Diminished. Decimated. Devastated.
Swap in whatever adjective you want, but here's the question: Is even a _____ newspaper better than no local newspaper at all?
www.niemanlab.org/2025/05/this...
Swap in whatever adjective you want, but here's the question: Is even a _____ newspaper better than no local newspaper at all?
www.niemanlab.org/2025/05/this...
This owner thinks newspapers are better off diminished than dead
“It's just kind of the way it is. Do we have the watchdog role? Can we do that now in all these areas? No. I think that's obvious."
www.niemanlab.org
May 28, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Diminished. Decimated. Devastated.
Swap in whatever adjective you want, but here's the question: Is even a _____ newspaper better than no local newspaper at all?
www.niemanlab.org/2025/05/this...
Swap in whatever adjective you want, but here's the question: Is even a _____ newspaper better than no local newspaper at all?
www.niemanlab.org/2025/05/this...
Richard Gingras to the news industry: "I would be very, very cautious not to see licensing by language models as being, somehow, the path to sustainability. There's not going to be a pot of gold at the end of that rainbow."
Google’s chief emissary to the news business is stepping down — and looking back
"If there's a regret, it's that I was not as effective as I would have liked to be in influencing and driving change across the board."
www.niemanlab.org
May 20, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Richard Gingras to the news industry: "I would be very, very cautious not to see licensing by language models as being, somehow, the path to sustainability. There's not going to be a pot of gold at the end of that rainbow."
gawker leaderboard but for chatGPT use, fun!!! (don't just ask me, ask BI's spokesperson who indeed calls it "fun")
Business Insider is tracking employees’ ChatGPT usage as part of a new AI push
An enterprise version of ChatGPT is now available to all staff, with 70% using the tool “regularly.”
www.niemanlab.org
May 15, 2025 at 6:14 PM
gawker leaderboard but for chatGPT use, fun!!! (don't just ask me, ask BI's spokesperson who indeed calls it "fun")