Jeff Inman
@magstudies.bsky.social
Drake University journalism professor, Star Wars obsessor, record collector, guitar neglecter, and dog petter. Check out the Journalism Monday Memo (jeffinman.substack.com) for industry news, internship links, and hot takes on the media v. tech war.
Well, that sucks. www.axios.com/2025/08/01/c...
Corporation for Public Broadcasting to shut down after Congress pulls funding
Congress recently voted to strip CPB of its federal funding.
www.axios.com
August 1, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Well, that sucks. www.axios.com/2025/08/01/c...
Rebranding as People Inc. makes complete sense to me. Capitalize on what people know.
Dotdash Meredith rebrands as People Inc.
Dotdash Meredith's rebrand into People Inc. capitalizes on brand equity in a way that its current name does not.
www.axios.com
July 31, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Rebranding as People Inc. makes complete sense to me. Capitalize on what people know.
Local media isn’t vanishing. It’s just getting smaller. Newsletter journalists are replacing local media, covering stories that larger legacy media outlets ignore.
The Rise of Indie Local News
Local news isn’t dead. It’s just smaller.
jeffinman.substack.com
June 2, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Local media isn’t vanishing. It’s just getting smaller. Newsletter journalists are replacing local media, covering stories that larger legacy media outlets ignore.
By killing a Biden-era rule last week, the Trump Administration is making sure the government can buy as much of your data as it wants, including everything from your flying habits to your phone movements.
Your Privacy vs. Their Profits
The EU wants to limit what companies can track and sell. The U.S. just gave them a green light to keep going.
open.substack.com
May 19, 2025 at 2:43 PM
By killing a Biden-era rule last week, the Trump Administration is making sure the government can buy as much of your data as it wants, including everything from your flying habits to your phone movements.
Great piece on how censorship moves from the school house to public libraries (and soon beyond?) from Literary Activism.
To get all Literary Activism Content plus community features, upgrade to All Access!
view.e.bookriot.com
May 9, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Great piece on how censorship moves from the school house to public libraries (and soon beyond?) from Literary Activism.
Project 2025 laid out a blueprint to blunt the influence of the media. Defunding public media last week is just one in a series of steps Trump has already enacted. (Also, happy Revenge of the 5th.)
Media Overthrow
President Trump has attacked the media at every opportunity—just like Project 2025 told him to.
jeffinman.substack.com
May 5, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Project 2025 laid out a blueprint to blunt the influence of the media. Defunding public media last week is just one in a series of steps Trump has already enacted. (Also, happy Revenge of the 5th.)
Good reporting should always be recognized. @marisakabas.bsky.social and other independent journalists deserve credit for their work. I've mentioned her reporting in my stories about changing media. If you don't follow her, you should.
The Handbasket
100% independent journalism by Marisa Kabas
www.thehandbasket.co
May 3, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Good reporting should always be recognized. @marisakabas.bsky.social and other independent journalists deserve credit for their work. I've mentioned her reporting in my stories about changing media. If you don't follow her, you should.
I will admit that the things hold me together these days are Star Wars shows — thank you #Andor — and metal so heavy it could crush a Sherman tank. This is the entertainment of our times: a show about stopping space nazis and music that is pure distilled anger.
Unearth - My Will Be Done (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
YouTube video by Metal Blade Records
www.youtube.com
April 29, 2025 at 11:43 PM
I will admit that the things hold me together these days are Star Wars shows — thank you #Andor — and metal so heavy it could crush a Sherman tank. This is the entertainment of our times: a show about stopping space nazis and music that is pure distilled anger.
Friday night’s Pam Bondi memo just gave the Justice Department permission to start arresting journalists that don’t cooperate with government prosecutors. It’s just another way the Trump Administration is trying to intimidate journalists and control coverage. jeffinman.substack.com/p/jailing-jo...
Jailing Journalists
A Justice Department policy change revives the threat to reporters’ notes, footage — and freedom.
jeffinman.substack.com
April 28, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Friday night’s Pam Bondi memo just gave the Justice Department permission to start arresting journalists that don’t cooperate with government prosecutors. It’s just another way the Trump Administration is trying to intimidate journalists and control coverage. jeffinman.substack.com/p/jailing-jo...
Reposted by Jeff Inman
Our cover this week.
April 24, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Our cover this week.
Substack has seen massive growth in the last several months. But as inboxes get clogged, will the influx of newsletters lead to Substack fatigue?
jeffinman.substack.com/p/the-substa...
jeffinman.substack.com/p/the-substa...
The Substack Bubble?
Will the explosion of interest in the newsletter platform be its very undoing?
jeffinman.substack.com
April 21, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Substack has seen massive growth in the last several months. But as inboxes get clogged, will the influx of newsletters lead to Substack fatigue?
jeffinman.substack.com/p/the-substa...
jeffinman.substack.com/p/the-substa...
Hey all, looking for folks running a niche or local news Substack willing to talk about why they decided to launch their newsletter for a story I'm working on. Respond or DM if you're willing to talk. Thanks.
April 8, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Hey all, looking for folks running a niche or local news Substack willing to talk about why they decided to launch their newsletter for a story I'm working on. Respond or DM if you're willing to talk. Thanks.
The Trump Administration is trying to instate a defacto state media by place friendly media outlets in prime spots, refusing to answer difficult questions from legit journalists, and outright barring access to some outlets.
Journalists call out reported White House plan to reshuffle media seats
Axios reported that the White House is creating a new briefing-room seating chart, a function long controlled by the White House Correspondents’ Association.
www.washingtonpost.com
March 31, 2025 at 6:35 PM
The Trump Administration is trying to instate a defacto state media by place friendly media outlets in prime spots, refusing to answer difficult questions from legit journalists, and outright barring access to some outlets.
We're now officially living in a surveillance society where something you say online could land you in jail. Which, of course, seems like the perfect time to repeal Section 230, the one law that keeps us safe on the internet.
Dismantling Section 230
The 26 Words That May Not Protect You for Long
jeffinman.substack.com
March 31, 2025 at 1:57 PM
We're now officially living in a surveillance society where something you say online could land you in jail. Which, of course, seems like the perfect time to repeal Section 230, the one law that keeps us safe on the internet.
While the Trump Administration is definitely doing horrible things, it's good to know that they are still not great at running things. If they were, this all might be worse.
The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans
U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling.
www.theatlantic.com
March 24, 2025 at 4:58 PM
While the Trump Administration is definitely doing horrible things, it's good to know that they are still not great at running things. If they were, this all might be worse.
Why is this not shocking?
Meta rep flagged 'critiques of tech industry figures' as 'sensitive or controversial content'
Meta said that the journalist "should never have received this response," but the incident set off a wave of concern over censorship online.
www.usermag.co
March 13, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Why is this not shocking?
We should absolutely have access to DOGE records.
Judge orders urgent release of DOGE records, citing ‘unprecedented’ power and ‘unusual secrecy’
It’s the first significant ruling in a growing legal push to pierce DOGE’s secretive veil, a decision that undercuts Musk’s repeated insistence about the operation’s transparency.
www.politico.com
March 12, 2025 at 9:01 PM
We should absolutely have access to DOGE records.
You can't place your trust in numbers when the government makes the numbers disappear.
Opinion | How Trump is reshaping reality by hiding data
Sweeping statistical purges are part of a broader attempt to reinvent “truth.”
www.washingtonpost.com
March 11, 2025 at 8:03 PM
You can't place your trust in numbers when the government makes the numbers disappear.
After the blowback over Jeff Bezos' two pillars doctrine, the Washington Post is trying anything to stay relevant while appeasing its owner. Good luck.
Washington Post to overhaul newsroom structure
The shifts follow months of high-profile staff departures and blowback to recent opinion coverage changes by owner Jeff Bezos.
www.axios.com
March 10, 2025 at 9:54 PM
After the blowback over Jeff Bezos' two pillars doctrine, the Washington Post is trying anything to stay relevant while appeasing its owner. Good luck.
This is a fascinating problem I never would have thought about. It makes me wonder what happened to all the photos of my old Las Vegas photojournalist Bill Hughes, who documented the city for decades for Las Vegas Citylife.
Opinion | Photos are disappearing, one archive at a time
As photographers try to find homes for their work, archives are vanishing, especially in local journalism.
www.washingtonpost.com
March 10, 2025 at 6:52 PM
This is a fascinating problem I never would have thought about. It makes me wonder what happened to all the photos of my old Las Vegas photojournalist Bill Hughes, who documented the city for decades for Las Vegas Citylife.
X is down, which means there's just a smidge less hate and anger in the world for the next few minutes.
X Global Outage: Is it restored? What we know so far
On Monday, X (formerly Twitter) users worldwide faced a major outage. Downdetector recorded thousands of reports from India, the US, and the UK. Many users saw an error message while accessing the app...
economictimes.indiatimes.com
March 10, 2025 at 3:16 PM
X is down, which means there's just a smidge less hate and anger in the world for the next few minutes.
Once a potential foil, now Sen. Joni Ernst is just another accomplice in the Trump Administration. Some in her home state of Iowa still think she has integrity. Recent revelations by @propublica.org and public false statements should dissuade anyone of that idea.
They All Lie
How JMM's accountant represents the bulk of America's view on the media
jeffinman.substack.com
March 10, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Once a potential foil, now Sen. Joni Ernst is just another accomplice in the Trump Administration. Some in her home state of Iowa still think she has integrity. Recent revelations by @propublica.org and public false statements should dissuade anyone of that idea.
Reposted by Jeff Inman
“Those nasty Canadians are ripping us off and are controlled by Mexican cartels. They’re poisoning us with fentanyl and need to become the 51st state or they will pay a high price” is a belief that literally ZERO Americans had six weeks ago. It’s entirely invented from scratch.
March 6, 2025 at 2:23 AM
“Those nasty Canadians are ripping us off and are controlled by Mexican cartels. They’re poisoning us with fentanyl and need to become the 51st state or they will pay a high price” is a belief that literally ZERO Americans had six weeks ago. It’s entirely invented from scratch.
Or maybe it's that Trumpworld is sounding a lot like Russian TV.
Putin Is Loving This
Russian state TV is sounding an awful lot like Trumpworld these days.
www.theatlantic.com
March 6, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Or maybe it's that Trumpworld is sounding a lot like Russian TV.
Rage Against the Machine seems more and more relevant by the day. www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L4Y...
Rage Against The Machine - Bulls On Parade (Official HD Video)
YouTube video by RATMVEVO
www.youtube.com
March 5, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Rage Against the Machine seems more and more relevant by the day. www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L4Y...