Erica Weintraub Austin
ericawaustin.bsky.social
Erica Weintraub Austin
@ericawaustin.bsky.social
Originator of the Media Literacy Theory of Chge, baker of award-winning Cougar Gold Cheese Coins, and fortunate family partner of talented musicians, a statistician, theoretical physicist and ball-chasing pup. My views may not reflect those of my employer.
Mr. Bell is a mensch and must be a great teacher, and supervisor-elect Drew is a role model for more young people to follow!

Reporting from @sopandeb.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/u...
Virginia Teen Narrowly Defeats His Former Civics Teacher in County Election
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:51 PM
"the piece is...an orchestrated encounter. You’re gazing through a pane of glass. Only when you stand a little closer...there is zero, less than zero, stress put on the relation between those two “sides,” or their histories, or their sponsors, or their relative evidentiary authority"

#medialiteracy
November 9, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Makes me wonder if this will open up opportunities for others to serve Sam Altman w a subpoena when he shows up to testify. He apparently has been successfully avoiding this and might have a few issues people would love for him to discuss.

tribune.com.pk/story/257635...
Sam Altman served with subpoena during live talk with Steve Kerr in San Francisco | The Express Tribune
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was served with a subpoena mid-event in San Francisco during a talk with Steve Kerr
tribune.com.pk
November 8, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Reposted by Erica Weintraub Austin
I truly believe the reason we liked her was because we recognized her within ourselves. The multifaceted parts of her personality, her strength, her beauty, her warmth, her tenacity, and her honesty is who you are!
November 8, 2025 at 1:33 AM
Love this article about how yellow-legged gulls have had "bad PR" but can bring multiple benefits to communities that don't persecute them. 🧪
NEW PAPER: As direct persecution declines, yellow-legged gulls abandon remote refuges for human-accessible habitats, driving new colony growth and fostering multispecies waterbird communities of unexpected conservation value.

➡️ vist.ly/4db9c

#ornithology #birds #colonisation 🪶
November 7, 2025 at 5:42 PM
It's easy to get confused when headlines, photos and ledes seem to contradict.

But the report explains context. Experts conclude there are "warning signs," people are "sour" and "anxious," but existing data are "still within typical bounds."

Multiple sources -> better info

#medialiteracy
Labor market continues to slow, private data shows
ADP’s monthly report shows private firms added jobs in October, for the first time since July. Meanwhile, Indeed data shows job openings slumped at the end of October.
www.marketplace.org
November 7, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Verified with links to the original press releases at meidasnews.com/news/communi...

Wondering what the price difference would be for the 2024 version of the Thx meal.

#medialiteracy
November 6, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Reposted by Erica Weintraub Austin
As SNAP hangs in the balance for nearly 42 million people, misinformation is rampant. Myths of laziness and fraud persist when we should be talking about too low wages for workers, income inequality, and our threadbare social safety net.

In this guest post, Adam Chandler sorts fact from fiction:
SNAP benefits feed essential needs while still leaving many hungry for more
Journalist and author Adam Chandler explains what so much of the conversation about them gets wrong.
www.thehandbasket.co
November 1, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Reposted by Erica Weintraub Austin
Today is 105 year anniversary of Ocoee Election Day Massacre. On 11/2/1920 a white mob murdered 30 Black people, & burned 25 Black owned homes & Black churches—all b/c Black people dared exercise the right to vote

Ocoee's entire Black community was exiled. No Black American moved back in until 1980
November 2, 2025 at 6:28 PM
yup, meeting people where they are with relevant information...

#medialiteracy
When data centers insatiable energy demands cause rolling blackouts during our favorite pastimes … we will almost be ready to address the issue.
NAU converts a 2 point try in the dark, the lights went out after the snap
November 1, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Inspiring about libraries.

When something is available, uplifting and enlightening, more people want in.

Libraries' power emanates from core values of openness, truth, and community accessibility. But this attracts threats.

Partnerships reduce vulnerability to isolated attack.

#medialiteracy
November 1, 2025 at 6:06 PM
In better news:
My Visa declined at the sweater store.

So the cashier had to ask for my cardigan
November 1, 2025 at 4:39 PM
An apology from the Bishop is a decent start but a lot more needs to be said about this by a lot more people in leadership roles.
November 1, 2025 at 6:16 AM
IF YOU CAN:

Food banks & pantries especially need $, shelf-stable milk, cooking oil, canned food, cereal, oatmeal, rice, peanut butter, juice, feminine products, toiletries.

& volunteers!

"SNAP distributes about 9x as much food as the charitable food system" says Eric Williams of Second Harvest.
'A sad reality': Food banks, grocery stores, residents expect to feel the strain from impending SNAP benefit expirations
Dozens of volunteers sifted through huge pallets overflowing with 40,000 pounds of pears fresh off a truck from the Wenatchee Valley on Tuesday afternoon at Second Harvest distribution center in Spoka...
www.spokesman.com
October 29, 2025 at 5:08 PM
This hunger hotline seems important to share.

You can learn more about @hungerfreeamerica.bsky.social on their website.

www.hungerfreeamerica.org/en-us/nation...
October 29, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Can you believe this decadence? There is more fun to be had. The What's Cooking interest group definitely needs more posting, everybody!
October 29, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Thank you to @flyinghabu.bsky.social for this stunning image!
Despite a very strong wind, I managed to salvage about fifteen minutes of exposure out of an hour and a half of tracking before it set, just enough for a last-minute farewell to Comet Lemmon, capturing it a second time after my first shot in early October. 🔭

#Astrophotography
October 28, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Usually AP is a reliable source, but this thread shows that mistakes happen. This critique clearly has a viewpoint but provides accurate info and context re crisis pregnancy ctrs.

Here is addtl info from the Am Coll of Obs & Gyn, w additional sci links.

Check multiple sources

#medialiteracy
October 25, 2025 at 6:13 PM
This is obscene.

This is my state. This is real information

Wahealthplanfinder.org
October 25, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Recognition of satire is a key #medialiteracy skill 😉.
October 25, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Boo! 🐾
Ghosts aren’t real?
Then explain this 👻
#DogsOfBlueSky #Ghosts
October 23, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Reposted by Erica Weintraub Austin
We have created a new online tool to help people see where #measles exposures may have occurred in the state. The Measles Exposure Location Tracker shows public places where a person with contagious measles recently was.

More at doh.wa.gov/newsroom/doh...
DOH Launches Measles Exposure Map to Help Keep Washingtonians Safe
For immediate release: October 21, 2025 (25-128) Contact: DOH Communications
doh.wa.gov
October 22, 2025 at 3:34 PM
According to a BBC-Ipsos study just released, many people believe AI summaries of news content even though AI summaries usually contain mistakes (see previous post), and people may wrongly assign some blame for those mistakes to the original news source. www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/...

#medialiteracy
October 23, 2025 at 4:37 AM