John McQuaid
@johnmcquaid.bsky.social
Journalist, author (Tasty, on science of flavor; Path of Destruction, on Katrina); currently PhD candidate at UMD Philip Merrill College of Journalism studying media coverage/public debates over AI risk.
Reposted by John McQuaid
bro are you fucking kidding me
![quote from the Economist article which says "[study authors] are now looking at whether AI facial analysis can give lenders useful clues about a person’s propensity to repay loans. For people without access to credit, that could be a blessing."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6ofjbklfvptnupad4lxumblw/bafkreia3yctiqd7ejumpd6novxjpiycphtfkc3bdgd573jw37faqdl7o7m@jpeg)
November 6, 2025 at 5:59 PM
bro are you fucking kidding me
Reposted by John McQuaid
Tomorrow's frontpage
November 5, 2025 at 3:51 AM
Tomorrow's frontpage
Say what you will about the collapse of local newspapers, when they focus on an issue with this level of consistency that means it is resonating locally
SNAP assistance makes Page One in Boston ..
.. Chattanooga ..
.. Palm Beach ..
.. Asbury Park, NJ.
.. Chattanooga ..
.. Palm Beach ..
.. Asbury Park, NJ.
November 1, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Say what you will about the collapse of local newspapers, when they focus on an issue with this level of consistency that means it is resonating locally
Reposted by John McQuaid
Reposted by John McQuaid
“I’m Bill DeBlasio. I’ve always been Bill DeBlasio,” DeBlasio said in an interview conducted through his Ring doorbell on Long Island.
“I never once said I was the mayor. He never addressed me as the mayor. So I just gave him my opinion.”
“I never once said I was the mayor. He never addressed me as the mayor. So I just gave him my opinion.”
British newspaper spoke to the wrong DeBlasio, not an ‘imposter’
How a Long Island vintner, with the help of ChatGPT, prompted a transatlantic journalistic debacle.
www.semafor.com
October 30, 2025 at 2:32 AM
“I’m Bill DeBlasio. I’ve always been Bill DeBlasio,” DeBlasio said in an interview conducted through his Ring doorbell on Long Island.
“I never once said I was the mayor. He never addressed me as the mayor. So I just gave him my opinion.”
“I never once said I was the mayor. He never addressed me as the mayor. So I just gave him my opinion.”
Reposted by John McQuaid
This colossal Times of London/de Blasio screwup gets more amazing at every turn.
Scoop via @maxtani.bsky.social
www.semafor.com/article/10/2...
Scoop via @maxtani.bsky.social
www.semafor.com/article/10/2...
October 30, 2025 at 1:26 AM
This colossal Times of London/de Blasio screwup gets more amazing at every turn.
Scoop via @maxtani.bsky.social
www.semafor.com/article/10/2...
Scoop via @maxtani.bsky.social
www.semafor.com/article/10/2...
Enjoyed "A House of Dynamite" but the premise (spoiler) that the president must decide whether/how to retaliate before the actual nuclear strike, lacking any useful info, is just wrong and seems a serious problem for a film aggressively touting its own realism/credibility
www.npr.org/2025/10/24/n...
www.npr.org/2025/10/24/n...
October 29, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Enjoyed "A House of Dynamite" but the premise (spoiler) that the president must decide whether/how to retaliate before the actual nuclear strike, lacking any useful info, is just wrong and seems a serious problem for a film aggressively touting its own realism/credibility
www.npr.org/2025/10/24/n...
www.npr.org/2025/10/24/n...
Reposted by John McQuaid
Has anyone actually written something on the apparently inability of the reactionary mind to grasp the basic themes and even overt text of Tolkien?
Like at some point Gandalf turns directly to camera and says “the Men of Gondor sure are insufficient to this task, we need the hobbits to do it”
Like at some point Gandalf turns directly to camera and says “the Men of Gondor sure are insufficient to this task, we need the hobbits to do it”
this is an overtly fascist narrative - even the misreading of myth & literature is on brand
October 29, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Has anyone actually written something on the apparently inability of the reactionary mind to grasp the basic themes and even overt text of Tolkien?
Like at some point Gandalf turns directly to camera and says “the Men of Gondor sure are insufficient to this task, we need the hobbits to do it”
Like at some point Gandalf turns directly to camera and says “the Men of Gondor sure are insufficient to this task, we need the hobbits to do it”
Reposted by John McQuaid
New by me —>
Remember "Gulf of America"? Nine months later, news outlets have stuck to that other name everyone calls it
www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/nine...
Remember "Gulf of America"? Nine months later, news outlets have stuck to that other name everyone calls it
www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/nine...
Nine months later, that body of water down south is still the “Gulf of Mexico” to news outlets
Since the start of summer, "Gulf of America" has been losing what little popularity it had in newsrooms.
www.niemanlab.org
October 27, 2025 at 9:04 PM
New by me —>
Remember "Gulf of America"? Nine months later, news outlets have stuck to that other name everyone calls it
www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/nine...
Remember "Gulf of America"? Nine months later, news outlets have stuck to that other name everyone calls it
www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/nine...
Reposted by John McQuaid
Trump is underwater on everything. And massively so on a lot things:
October 26, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Trump is underwater on everything. And massively so on a lot things:
Reposted by John McQuaid
It’s cool how they run with this story and headline with just a tiny bit buried deep in the article:
“All of Palisade’s scenarios were run in contrived test environments that critics say are far-removed from real-use cases.”
“All of Palisade’s scenarios were run in contrived test environments that critics say are far-removed from real-use cases.”
AI models may be developing their own ‘survival drive’, researchers say
Like 2001: A Space Odyssey’s HAL 9000, some AIs seem to resist being turned off and will even sabotage shutdown
www.theguardian.com
October 25, 2025 at 1:42 PM
It’s cool how they run with this story and headline with just a tiny bit buried deep in the article:
“All of Palisade’s scenarios were run in contrived test environments that critics say are far-removed from real-use cases.”
“All of Palisade’s scenarios were run in contrived test environments that critics say are far-removed from real-use cases.”
Reposted by John McQuaid
The basic situation of Trump petitioning for $230 million from, in effect, himself (given his idea that the U.S. Department of Justice acts as a mere extension of presidential will) of course must ring a bell for Gilbert and Sullivan fans. /1
October 22, 2025 at 3:52 PM
The basic situation of Trump petitioning for $230 million from, in effect, himself (given his idea that the U.S. Department of Justice acts as a mere extension of presidential will) of course must ring a bell for Gilbert and Sullivan fans. /1
Reposted by John McQuaid
My Substack post on the controversy at Indiana University's student newspaper, the Indiana Daily Student, where editors say school administrators are trying to censor their coverage - providing the entirely wrong example in a crucial moment for journalism. https://loom.ly/Flf8vBQ
Teaching the wrong lessons at Indiana University's Media School
How a conflict over publishing the Indiana Daily Student made this alum feel as if administrators turned their back on student journalists
open.substack.com
October 20, 2025 at 8:03 PM
My Substack post on the controversy at Indiana University's student newspaper, the Indiana Daily Student, where editors say school administrators are trying to censor their coverage - providing the entirely wrong example in a crucial moment for journalism. https://loom.ly/Flf8vBQ
Reposted by John McQuaid
Leon Black being, for my fellow news industry nerds, the man who financed Gannett's merger with GateHouse Media, creating by far the largest U.S. newspaper chain.
NEW: We obtained a trove of emails detailing Jeffrey Epstein’s relationship with the Wall Street billionaire Leon Black. The messages show Epstein demanding tens of millions of dollars from Black, insulting his children and advising on a settlement with a woman. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/b...
Money, Women and Taxes: Jeffrey Epstein’s Fiery Friendship with a Wall Street Titan
www.nytimes.com
October 19, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Leon Black being, for my fellow news industry nerds, the man who financed Gannett's merger with GateHouse Media, creating by far the largest U.S. newspaper chain.
Reposted by John McQuaid
I scrolled through the @1stforall.bsky.social's gallery of print front pages for local coverage of "No Kings" protests. Here are some of the standout papers, starting with the Daily Sentinel of Grand Junction, Colorado:
October 19, 2025 at 2:28 PM
I scrolled through the @1stforall.bsky.social's gallery of print front pages for local coverage of "No Kings" protests. Here are some of the standout papers, starting with the Daily Sentinel of Grand Junction, Colorado:
The scene near #NoKingsDC, National Gallery of Art
October 18, 2025 at 6:41 PM
The scene near #NoKingsDC, National Gallery of Art
There’s a lot of legit fear about Weiss compromising journalism standards by moving CBS News to the right, but an equally serious problem is compromising standards by ramping up mediocrity
Beyond the obvious nepotism, "Lab-grown diamonds are shaking up the jewelry industry" is a really tired story. One of my students did it six years ago -- and at the time we were worried it'd been written about to death.
(That student found some new angles, however!)
www.cbsnews.com/video/why-la...
(That student found some new angles, however!)
www.cbsnews.com/video/why-la...
UPDATE: Per our scoop last night, Suzy Weiss, sister of Bari, did indeed appear on CBS this morning to talk about her recent article in The Free Press.
Second Free Press writer on CBS this week.
Read more on staff concerns on The Free Press's presence inside the newsroom:
zeteo.com/p/inside-bar...
Second Free Press writer on CBS this week.
Read more on staff concerns on The Free Press's presence inside the newsroom:
zeteo.com/p/inside-bar...
October 17, 2025 at 8:15 PM
There’s a lot of legit fear about Weiss compromising journalism standards by moving CBS News to the right, but an equally serious problem is compromising standards by ramping up mediocrity
Reposted by John McQuaid
Really enjoyed doing a deep dive for @transformernews.ai on what an AI collapse might look like – how much bigger than the dotcom boom would it be? Would it leave infrastructure behind to build upon? Could we get a 2008-style chain reaction? www.transformernews.ai/p/what-happe...
What happens when the AI bubble bursts?
The world is prepping for an AI crash. History points to what that might look like
www.transformernews.ai
October 16, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Really enjoyed doing a deep dive for @transformernews.ai on what an AI collapse might look like – how much bigger than the dotcom boom would it be? Would it leave infrastructure behind to build upon? Could we get a 2008-style chain reaction? www.transformernews.ai/p/what-happe...
Reposted by John McQuaid
NEW: A significant gap in weather balloon coverage in western Alaska, caused by Trump admin cuts to NOAA/NWS, may have hurt the forecast accuracy for the deadly storm there over the weekend. www.cnn.com/2025/10/14/w...
Predictions for deadly Alaska storm may have suffered due to DOGE cuts | CNN
The forecast for the powerful and deadly storm that battered small communities in western Alaska over the weekend was likely made worse by a lack of weather data triggered by the Trump administration’...
www.cnn.com
October 14, 2025 at 6:53 PM
NEW: A significant gap in weather balloon coverage in western Alaska, caused by Trump admin cuts to NOAA/NWS, may have hurt the forecast accuracy for the deadly storm there over the weekend. www.cnn.com/2025/10/14/w...
Reposted by John McQuaid
Yet another garbage-AI solution to a problem that didn't exist:
What Happened When AI Came for Craft Beer
A prominent beer competition introduced an AI-judging tool without warning. The judges and some members of the wider brewing industry were pissed.
www.404media.co
October 13, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Yet another garbage-AI solution to a problem that didn't exist:
“Trump moves boldly forward” (a headline we’ve been seeing for months already) seems like a serious misreading of the current political situation
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Trump, Feeling Emboldened, Pushes Agenda Into Higher Gear
Recent moves by the president reflect a commander in chief who has seemingly faced little resistance to his agenda.
www.wsj.com
October 11, 2025 at 2:38 AM
“Trump moves boldly forward” (a headline we’ve been seeing for months already) seems like a serious misreading of the current political situation
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Reposted by John McQuaid
New from me at Cato: I go through the numerous and massive First Amendment and academic-freedom violations of Trump's proffered "compact" with universities and then talk about the mechanism by which it would be enforced, by way of what I describe as a "retroactive push-button guillotine."
Universities Must Defend Their Independence by Rejecting Trump's "Compact"
The Trump administration has proffered a “compact” to universities that would require them to surrender their independence and academic freedom. How many First Amendment violations can we identify in ...
www.cato.org
October 11, 2025 at 2:08 AM
New from me at Cato: I go through the numerous and massive First Amendment and academic-freedom violations of Trump's proffered "compact" with universities and then talk about the mechanism by which it would be enforced, by way of what I describe as a "retroactive push-button guillotine."
Have people forgotten Chris Licht's tenure at CNN? He was an experienced TV executive (unlike Bari Weiss), appointed by David Zaslav, who tried to move coverage to the "ideological center." It didn't go well
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
October 7, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Have people forgotten Chris Licht's tenure at CNN? He was an experienced TV executive (unlike Bari Weiss), appointed by David Zaslav, who tried to move coverage to the "ideological center." It didn't go well
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Reposted by John McQuaid
Not an expert on this stuff but I have the sense that no one backing Weiss understands that what she has done her whole career, opinion-based news-flavored content, is distinct from news reporting.
Bari Weiss introduced herself to CBS News staff today on the network's 9AM call, saying she wants to "win," which requires restoring trust to CBS. She also said she was excited for staff to get to know the Free Press, and ended her remarks by saying: "Let's do the fucking news."
October 7, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Not an expert on this stuff but I have the sense that no one backing Weiss understands that what she has done her whole career, opinion-based news-flavored content, is distinct from news reporting.