Nicholas Dawes
@nicdawes.bsky.social
New York. Trace amounts of past lives at THE CITY, Human Rights Watch, Mail & Guardian, and Hindustan Times may be present. Slight risk of bicycles and mountains.
Anti-corruption populism is coming (back) to America
I was wondering what Mamdani's first executive order would be, and I'm not disappointed by this.
He has wiped off the books EVERY Eric Adams executive order issued on or after September 26, 2024, the day Adams was indicted on federal bribery charges.
He has wiped off the books EVERY Eric Adams executive order issued on or after September 26, 2024, the day Adams was indicted on federal bribery charges.
January 2, 2026 at 7:34 PM
Anti-corruption populism is coming (back) to America
Reading about the renewables boom in South Africa while sitting in rural upstate New York, where many lower income residents rely on wood-stoves because other energy sources are just too costly. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/c...
Cheap Solar Is Transforming Lives and Economies Across Africa
www.nytimes.com
December 30, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Reading about the renewables boom in South Africa while sitting in rural upstate New York, where many lower income residents rely on wood-stoves because other energy sources are just too costly. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/c...
Exactly the right frame.
“Pairing free buses with paid parking says we value people in motion more than cars at rest,” writes Nicolas Rohatyn.
Opinion | The Way to Pay for Free Buses Is to End Free Parking
Free buses would be transformative not only for riders, but for the ecosystem of the city as a whole.
nyti.ms
December 24, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Exactly the right frame.
Reposted by Nicholas Dawes
The decline of thicker #Arctic sea ice by decade in the month of December... this has wide-ranging impacts.
More info on this data: climatedataguide.ucar.edu/climate-data...
More info on this data: climatedataguide.ucar.edu/climate-data...
December 2, 2025 at 11:37 AM
The decline of thicker #Arctic sea ice by decade in the month of December... this has wide-ranging impacts.
More info on this data: climatedataguide.ucar.edu/climate-data...
More info on this data: climatedataguide.ucar.edu/climate-data...
Reposted by Nicholas Dawes
Interesting: Journalists at Politico and E&E News say they won an arbitration case over the use of A.I. tools in their newsrooms. "This case marks one of the nation’s first major labor-arbitration rulings addressing the impact of AI on journalists’ work."
wbng.org/2025/12/01/p...
wbng.org/2025/12/01/p...
PEN Guild wins landmark arbitration on AI protections - Washington-Baltimore News Guild
This decision marks one of the first major labor-arbitration rulings on the impact of AI on journalists' work.
wbng.org
December 1, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Interesting: Journalists at Politico and E&E News say they won an arbitration case over the use of A.I. tools in their newsrooms. "This case marks one of the nation’s first major labor-arbitration rulings addressing the impact of AI on journalists’ work."
wbng.org/2025/12/01/p...
wbng.org/2025/12/01/p...
You could read this story as another awful pixel in a large picture, but @gwynnefitz.bsky.social connects the human reality of children woken by armed men in the dead of night, and the urgent questions confronting police and elected officials across the country.
VIDEO: Federal Agents Bust Into Queens Apartment, Pointing Guns at Mother and Her Four Kids
www.thecity.nyc/2025/11/19/q...
www.thecity.nyc/2025/11/19/q...
November 19, 2025 at 8:19 PM
You could read this story as another awful pixel in a large picture, but @gwynnefitz.bsky.social connects the human reality of children woken by armed men in the dead of night, and the urgent questions confronting police and elected officials across the country.
An exceptionally clear explanation of the regional and local forces at play in the unfolding horror of Sudan's war.
November 18, 2025 at 4:04 PM
An exceptionally clear explanation of the regional and local forces at play in the unfolding horror of Sudan's war.
The assault on the BBC is the culmination of a long campaign by right wing press barons in the UK and their US allies. @joelsimonsays.bsky.social connects the transatlantic dots, and argues for an urgent testing of strategies to fend off existential risk.
How Donald Trump blew up the BBC.
The president set out to undermine public broadcasters in the US. Now, with help from British allies, he’s taking his strategy global.
www.cjr.org
November 13, 2025 at 1:56 PM
The assault on the BBC is the culmination of a long campaign by right wing press barons in the UK and their US allies. @joelsimonsays.bsky.social connects the transatlantic dots, and argues for an urgent testing of strategies to fend off existential risk.
Reposted by Nicholas Dawes
"Today, a media conglomerate led by Orbán’s allies, known as the Central European Press and Media Foundation, or KESMA, controls nearly five hundred outlets, all of which echo the government’s every utterance, be it state propaganda or the nastiest smear campaign..."
www.cjr.org/opinion/vikt...
www.cjr.org/opinion/vikt...
Viktor Orbán’s Hail Mary.
I was editor in chief of Hungary’s most-read independent daily until a pro-government media network bought the newspaper. It’s the fifth time in thirty years that politics has cost me my job—and it’s ...
www.cjr.org
November 11, 2025 at 7:30 PM
"Today, a media conglomerate led by Orbán’s allies, known as the Central European Press and Media Foundation, or KESMA, controls nearly five hundred outlets, all of which echo the government’s every utterance, be it state propaganda or the nastiest smear campaign..."
www.cjr.org/opinion/vikt...
www.cjr.org/opinion/vikt...
Many news orgs are "all-in" on AI, fearful of repeating the errors of the early digital era, but what if the real risk lies in handing chunks of our business, our civic function, and our values to a handful of hyperscalers? @alixdunn.com prodded me to think that through with her for @themaybe.org
The Maybe
www.themaybe.org
November 7, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Many news orgs are "all-in" on AI, fearful of repeating the errors of the early digital era, but what if the real risk lies in handing chunks of our business, our civic function, and our values to a handful of hyperscalers? @alixdunn.com prodded me to think that through with her for @themaybe.org
Reposted by Nicholas Dawes
AP reporter Regina Garcia Cano looked into a few of the men killed in Trump's extrajudicial strikes on Caribbean boats.
"They were laborers, a fisherman, a taxi driver. Two were low-level career criminals. One was a local crime boss who contracted out smuggling services"
apnews.com/article/trum...
"They were laborers, a fisherman, a taxi driver. Two were low-level career criminals. One was a local crime boss who contracted out smuggling services"
apnews.com/article/trum...
Trump has accused boat crews of being narco-terrorists. The truth, AP found, is more nuanced
One was a fisherman struggling to eke out a living on $100 a month. Another was a career criminal. A third was a former military cadet.
apnews.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:05 PM
AP reporter Regina Garcia Cano looked into a few of the men killed in Trump's extrajudicial strikes on Caribbean boats.
"They were laborers, a fisherman, a taxi driver. Two were low-level career criminals. One was a local crime boss who contracted out smuggling services"
apnews.com/article/trum...
"They were laborers, a fisherman, a taxi driver. Two were low-level career criminals. One was a local crime boss who contracted out smuggling services"
apnews.com/article/trum...
Despite Zohran Mamdani's coalition-building among South Asian New Yorkers, caste barely figured in the campaign. @yashicadutt.bsky.social spoke with Dalit canvassers and parsed his legislative record on an issue that animates both supporters and his critics on the Hindu right.
What Zohran Mamdani’s Campaign Says About the Quiet Erasure of Caste in US Politics
As temples become key sites for candidates’ visits, New York’s mayoral race has revealed broader tensions between Dalit advocates and the rising Hindu right
newlinesmag.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Despite Zohran Mamdani's coalition-building among South Asian New Yorkers, caste barely figured in the campaign. @yashicadutt.bsky.social spoke with Dalit canvassers and parsed his legislative record on an issue that animates both supporters and his critics on the Hindu right.
Vital work from @lighthousereports.com and Sudan War Monitor. sudanwarmonitor.com/p/rsf-ethnic...
RSF Ethnic-Based killings in Fasher Estimated at 7000
The fugitives were pursued and either killed or captured while few escaped
sudanwarmonitor.com
November 6, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Vital work from @lighthousereports.com and Sudan War Monitor. sudanwarmonitor.com/p/rsf-ethnic...
As Google's news czar Richard Gingras was a hugely influential presence in the conversation over journalism and big tech for 15 years, but he seldom faced more than mildly skeptical questioning. In Vienna last month @antelava.bsky.social flipped the script www.codastory.com/authoritaria...
The Werewolf game: an interview with Google's former news chief Richard Gingras - Coda Story
Richard Gingras spent 15 years shaping Google's relationship with journalism—funding conferences, building friendships, creating dependencies. At a Vienna conference, we asked him to account for the s...
www.codastory.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:07 PM
As Google's news czar Richard Gingras was a hugely influential presence in the conversation over journalism and big tech for 15 years, but he seldom faced more than mildly skeptical questioning. In Vienna last month @antelava.bsky.social flipped the script www.codastory.com/authoritaria...
Reposted by Nicholas Dawes
I am taking particular pleasure in the complete collapse of trans-as-unbeatable-wedge-issue narrative this morning. It might be an 80-20 issue in voters minds, but it has to be on voters minds to matter. The results in VA demonstrate that it is very much not on voters minds.
November 5, 2025 at 2:21 PM
I am taking particular pleasure in the complete collapse of trans-as-unbeatable-wedge-issue narrative this morning. It might be an 80-20 issue in voters minds, but it has to be on voters minds to matter. The results in VA demonstrate that it is very much not on voters minds.
The most slept-on ballot question in NY was no. 1, allowing the expansion of xc ski facilities at Mt Van Hoevenberg in exchange for land being added to the Adirondack park. It looks like passing narrowly after supporters did almost nothing to explain its merits. spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-...
N.Y. voters split on ballot proposal on sports complex land deal in Adirondacks
The "yes" vote for the proposal was leading with 45% of the vote while the "no" vote garnered 42%.
spectrumlocalnews.com
November 5, 2025 at 2:39 PM
The most slept-on ballot question in NY was no. 1, allowing the expansion of xc ski facilities at Mt Van Hoevenberg in exchange for land being added to the Adirondack park. It looks like passing narrowly after supporters did almost nothing to explain its merits. spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-...
Reposted by Nicholas Dawes
This NYT story about how Mamdani dealt with the opposition by the city's elites fails to mention one particular elite institution: The NYT editorial page, which last June railed against him as "uniquely unsuited to the city’s challenges... lacks political savvy"
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/n...
1/
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/n...
1/
How Zohran Mamdani Beat Back New York’s Elite and Was Elected Mayor
www.nytimes.com
November 5, 2025 at 12:16 PM
This NYT story about how Mamdani dealt with the opposition by the city's elites fails to mention one particular elite institution: The NYT editorial page, which last June railed against him as "uniquely unsuited to the city’s challenges... lacks political savvy"
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/n...
1/
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/n...
1/
Reposted by Nicholas Dawes
NYT or THE CITY. You decide.
November 4, 2025 at 6:40 PM
NYT or THE CITY. You decide.
Reposted by Nicholas Dawes
Total turnout is already near 1 million
As points of reference:
As points of reference:
November 4, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Total turnout is already near 1 million
As points of reference:
As points of reference:
This is a cute, savvy-seeming headline, confirmed by 3 Republican sources, and no-one else. It's also a woefully inadequate way to map the legal, fiscal, and messaging terrain that Trump and the next mayor will battle over.
Trump holds all the cards in New York’s mayoral contest
The leading candidates’ flaws will be easy pickings for the president to leverage.
www.politico.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:36 PM
This is a cute, savvy-seeming headline, confirmed by 3 Republican sources, and no-one else. It's also a woefully inadequate way to map the legal, fiscal, and messaging terrain that Trump and the next mayor will battle over.
Reposted by Nicholas Dawes
Federal agents many in masks at Broadway and Canal moments ago questioning a man, a bunch more agents just walked away. "Can i call my mom," the man asks, he's now being loaded into a car and being driven away. More TK @thecity.nyc
October 21, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Federal agents many in masks at Broadway and Canal moments ago questioning a man, a bunch more agents just walked away. "Can i call my mom," the man asks, he's now being loaded into a car and being driven away. More TK @thecity.nyc
Remember when the internet was this resilient, decentralized thing, designed to route around problems?
Your favorite thing is down because DynamoDB at Amazon's AWS US-EAST-1 Regionwoke up with Main Character Syndrome.
This is the default /legacy backbone for a ton of things.
Including Amazon's own stuff.
Massive outages.
Here's what's going on & what we know 1/
This is the default /legacy backbone for a ton of things.
Including Amazon's own stuff.
Massive outages.
Here's what's going on & what we know 1/
October 20, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Remember when the internet was this resilient, decentralized thing, designed to route around problems?
Reposted by Nicholas Dawes
wikipedia's data shows that AI is siphoning traffic away from the site, which is a danger to its sustainability. ironically Wikipedia is more important than ever to users who want reliable information instead of slop, and to AI companies that need it for training data www.404media.co/wikipedia-sa...
Wikipedia Says AI Is Causing a Dangerous Decline in Human Visitors
“With fewer visits to Wikipedia, fewer volunteers may grow and enrich the content, and fewer individual donors may support this work.”
www.404media.co
October 17, 2025 at 1:15 AM
wikipedia's data shows that AI is siphoning traffic away from the site, which is a danger to its sustainability. ironically Wikipedia is more important than ever to users who want reliable information instead of slop, and to AI companies that need it for training data www.404media.co/wikipedia-sa...
Reposted by Nicholas Dawes
New in @niemanreports.org: Media watchers say recent court orders have given Gautam Adani, the Adani Group's billionaire owner, increasing censorship powers over his critics, representing a grave threat to press freedom in India.
niemanreports.org/india-lawfar...
niemanreports.org/india-lawfar...
India’s Powerful Turn to Lawfare to Stifle the Press - Nieman Reports
A spate of new legislation in India is aimed at curbing free expression, writes Vidya Krishnan for Nieman Reports.
niemanreports.org
October 8, 2025 at 4:14 PM
New in @niemanreports.org: Media watchers say recent court orders have given Gautam Adani, the Adani Group's billionaire owner, increasing censorship powers over his critics, representing a grave threat to press freedom in India.
niemanreports.org/india-lawfar...
niemanreports.org/india-lawfar...
Reposted by Nicholas Dawes
Anyone from the AI world who thinks ‘agentic AI will replace journalists’ should read this piece. Anyone who thinks ‘public service journalism is dead’ should read this piece (or revise their understanding of ‘public service’)
Justice Brett Kavanaugh: “If the officers learn that the individual they stopped is a U.S. citizen...they promptly let the individual go."
The reality: Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents.
A must read from the very talented @nicolefoy.bsky.social:
The reality: Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents.
A must read from the very talented @nicolefoy.bsky.social:
More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days.
The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And near...
www.propublica.org
October 16, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Anyone from the AI world who thinks ‘agentic AI will replace journalists’ should read this piece. Anyone who thinks ‘public service journalism is dead’ should read this piece (or revise their understanding of ‘public service’)