Jon Allsop
LightNews LightNews
banner
jonallsop.bsky.social
Jon Allsop
@jonallsop.bsky.social
1.1K followers 330 following 44 posts
Contributing at The New Yorker and elsewhere. Formerly ran newsletters at CJR. Author: What is Journalism For? Other words in the New York Review of Books, The Guardian, The Atlantic, and elsewhere.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
jonallsop.bsky.social
Jon Allsop @jonallsop.bsky.social · Sep 30
It’s true! I’m leaving @columjournreview.bsky.social after eight incredible years, seven of them atop the newsletter. It’s been an unbelievable ride, and I am so grateful for the trust they’ve placed in me. Going forward, I’m gonna continue contributing to The New Yorker, among other things I’m sure
jonallsop.bsky.social
It’s true! I’m leaving @columjournreview.bsky.social after eight incredible years, seven of them atop the newsletter. It’s been an unbelievable ride, and I am so grateful for the trust they’ve placed in me. Going forward, I’m gonna continue contributing to The New Yorker, among other things I’m sure
September 30, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Reposted by Jon Allsop
victorpickard.bsky.social
Enjoyed talking to @jonallsop.bsky.social at @newyorker.com about the recent attacks on public media. Instead of showing why we can’t let government support journalism, this moment shows precisely why we need a strong public media system that can withstand autocracy www.newyorker.com/news/fault-l...
Can Public Media Survive Trump?
Government-backed institutions sometimes stand up more strongly to authoritarianism than their commercial counterparts.
www.newyorker.com
June 6, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Reposted by Jon Allsop
bgrueskin.bsky.social
I woke up this morning to a text from @jonallsop.bsky.social, asking if we could talk about yesterday's Sarah Palin/NYTimes verdict.

Well, why not? Jon's a good guy!

Here is an excerpt, via @columjournreview.bsky.social

www.cjr.org/the_media_to...
Do you see any linkages between the Palin outcome and yesterday’s other big media news out of CBS and USAGM? On the one hand, it predates these other stories and isn’t explicitly about Trump; it’s almost a portal into a different time. On the other hand, something about it has seemed to prefigure this age of intensifying right-wing attacks on the media that are now coming from inside the house. Did Palin v. New York Times walk so Trump v. CBS could run? [For eight years] the New York Times, I think to its great credit, fought this thing tooth and nail every step of the way. I am not privy to what kind of settlement talks they may or may not have had with Palin and her attorneys, but you can imagine—you don’t have to imagine; you can see how ABC and Disney caved to Trump [in a more recent defamation case involving the anchor George Stephanopoulos, which ABC settled before Christmas]. In a perfect world, you would hope other media organizations would look at the New York Times and say, Well, goddammit, I guess we have to fight these things, too. It would be a somewhat different world if the Times had caved on the Palin case and paid her off just to go away. And they didn’t—they stuck it out through two trials and lots of depositions. Sometimes you get sued for defamation over a story that’s basically true. In this case, they got sued over an editorial that had one important untrue paragraph in it. And they kept fighting it. They didn’t try to pretend that the paragraph was fine and that Palin didn’t have a case, but they said, Look, we did everything possible to correct it as quickly as we could. I think they deserve a certain amount of admiration for that. And I would hope especially that well-financed news organizations might stiffen their spines a little bit the next time somebody comes after them for what’s basically an unfounded case.
April 23, 2025 at 1:19 PM
jonallsop.bsky.social
Very excited to join the Press Freedom Center at the @pressclubdc.bsky.social for a virtual discussion of my book, What is Journalism For?, at 3pm Eastern (8pm UK) today! Details on how to (virtually) attend below:
jonallsop.bsky.social Jon Allsop @jonallsop.bsky.social · Apr 15
My next event for my book, What is Journalism For?, will be a virtual one with Bill McCarren and the Press Freedom Center at the @pressclubdc.bsky.social next Tuesday, April 22, at 3pm Eastern/8pm UK. Details on how to join us here:

www.eventbrite.com/e/what-is-jo...
What is Journalism For? A Conversation with Jon Allsop
Journalist and author Jon Allsop will join the Press Freedom Center to discuss his latest book, 'What is Journalism For?'
www.eventbrite.com
April 22, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Reposted by Jon Allsop
pfc-npc.bsky.social
On Tuesday April 22 at 3pm EST, we will be joined by @jonallsop.bsky.social as he discusses his new book, What is Journalism For?

To learn more about the book and the event (and to RSVP!) follow this link:

www.press.org/events/what-...
What is Journalism For? A Conversation with Jon Allsop
On April 22, 2025, at 3:00PM, the Press Freedom Center at the National Press Club will host a virtual event with author and journalist Jon Allsop. Allsop, who recently authored What is Journalism For?...
www.press.org
April 16, 2025 at 6:43 PM
jonallsop.bsky.social
I’m LIVE with @revkin.bsky.social in 25 mins! Details below:
April 16, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Reposted by Jon Allsop
revkin.bsky.social
Viewing links are in the post. What is journalism for and how can it be sustained? Noon Eastern.
April 16, 2025 at 10:35 AM
jonallsop.bsky.social
My next event for my book, What is Journalism For?, will be a virtual one with Bill McCarren and the Press Freedom Center at the @pressclubdc.bsky.social next Tuesday, April 22, at 3pm Eastern/8pm UK. Details on how to join us here:

www.eventbrite.com/e/what-is-jo...
What is Journalism For? A Conversation with Jon Allsop
Journalist and author Jon Allsop will join the Press Freedom Center to discuss his latest book, 'What is Journalism For?'
www.eventbrite.com
April 15, 2025 at 2:49 PM
jonallsop.bsky.social
Massive thanks to @joelsimonsays.bsky.social and @journalismfestival.com for helping me launch my book, What is Journalism For?, yesterday in Perugia! If you missed the talk, you can watch it here:

journalismfestival.com/programme/20...
April 13, 2025 at 7:58 PM
jonallsop.bsky.social
Come join me in 15 minutes at the Teatro Della Sapienza! Also online below:
April 12, 2025 at 10:21 AM
jonallsop.bsky.social
I’ll be launching my book, What is Journalism For?, TODAY at the @journalismfestival.com in Perugia! I’ll be on at the Teatro della Sapienza, with the great @joelsimonsays.bsky.social, at 12.35 Italian time. Also viewable online (11.35 UK, 6.35 US). #IJF25

www.journalismfestival.com/programme/20...
What is journalism for? A conversation with Jon Allsop and Joel Simon
Media critic Jon Allsop has covered every aspect of journalism in his Media Today newsletter for the Columbia Journalism Review. But in his new book, What is Journalism For?, he grapples with the Big ...
www.journalismfestival.com
April 12, 2025 at 7:43 AM
jonallsop.bsky.social
It’s publication day! I’ll be launching What is Journalism For? in Perugia at the @journalismfestival.com this Saturday at 12.35pm local time. Come say hi if you’ll be there, or watch online; details here: www.journalismfestival.com/programme/20...
April 8, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Reposted by Jon Allsop
nickdmiller.bsky.social
' "In each paper, there’s a will to fuck over the powerful,” a newspaper journalist acquaintance in the United Kingdom told me... mainstream newsrooms in the United States have tended to be less aggressive toward those in power '
jonallsop.bsky.social Jon Allsop @jonallsop.bsky.social · Apr 7
Thanks to @columjournreview.bsky.social for excerpting my book, What is Journalism For, out this week! This is from the fourth chapter, in which I argue that journalists must constantly criticize everything around them:

www.cjr.org/feature-2/wh...
April 8, 2025 at 1:35 AM
jonallsop.bsky.social
Thanks to @columjournreview.bsky.social for excerpting my book, What is Journalism For, out this week! This is from the fourth chapter, in which I argue that journalists must constantly criticize everything around them:

www.cjr.org/feature-2/wh...
April 7, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Reposted by Jon Allsop
ryan.staticnoi.se
deeply detailed and thoughtful reflection on what the purpose of it all is. phenomenal @jonallsop.bsky.social!
columjournreview.bsky.social Columbia Journalism Review @columjournreview.bsky.social · Apr 7
This week, Jon Allsop, author of our Media Today newsletter, is out with a new book: "What is Journalism For?" In this excerpt, he makes the case that it's a journalist's duty to constantly criticize everything around them. www.cjr.org/feature-2/wh...
What Can a Journalist Do?
The world we inhabit is the result of a chain of decisions, none of them inevitable. Journalism can help inform those decisions and how people think about them.
www.cjr.org
April 7, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Reposted by Jon Allsop
ithacanexile.bsky.social
Check this out from my friend @jonallsop.bsky.social at the Columbia Journalism Review.
columjournreview.bsky.social Columbia Journalism Review @columjournreview.bsky.social · Apr 7
This week, Jon Allsop, author of our Media Today newsletter, is out with a new book: "What is Journalism For?" In this excerpt, he makes the case that it's a journalist's duty to constantly criticize everything around them. www.cjr.org/feature-2/wh...
What Can a Journalist Do?
The world we inhabit is the result of a chain of decisions, none of them inevitable. Journalism can help inform those decisions and how people think about them.
www.cjr.org
April 7, 2025 at 11:11 AM
jonallsop.bsky.social
Thanks to @waterstones.bsky.social for stocking my book, What is Journalism For? See the link for more details and to order, and if you’ll be at the @journalismfestival.com in Perugia next week please come to my launch event on Saturday April 12! bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/what-is-jour...
April 3, 2025 at 12:21 PM
jonallsop.bsky.social
My book, What is Journalism For?, exists and is about to be out in the world. And I’m delighted to announce I’ll be launching it on April 12 at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia with @joelsimon.bsky.social. Hit me if you’re gonna be there!

www.journalismfestival.com/programme/20...
March 19, 2025 at 5:24 PM
jonallsop.bsky.social
I found myself reading Matt Bai’s book on Gary Hart on a train ride last week—just because I finally got round to it—and felt compelled to write about it. It both does and doesn’t foresee an awful lot about our present media moment in ways that are super interesting:

www.cjr.org/the_media_to...
Media Training
Revisiting the Gary Hart scandal on a trip from East to West.
www.cjr.org
March 10, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Reposted by Jon Allsop
chameauleon.bsky.social
An absolute pleasure to talk to @davey.bsky.social and @leonyin.org about their blockbuster Bloomberg investigation into the podcasts building support for Trump's agenda. Via @columjournreview.bsky.social www.cjr.org/the_media_to...
Q&A: Bloomberg’s Davey Alba and Leon Yin on the New Political Influence of Podcasts
“The question is, Can they hang?”
www.cjr.org
February 19, 2025 at 3:11 PM
jonallsop.bsky.social
I wrote about something I’ve curious about for a while—the apparent contradiction between Trump et al wanting to jail journalists at home but seemingly wanting to free them abroad:

www.cjr.org/the_media_to...
The Media-Basher-in-Chief Brings a Jailed Journalist Home
Trump has threatened to imprison American reporters. Overseas, he’s getting them out.
www.cjr.org
February 18, 2025 at 5:22 PM
jonallsop.bsky.social
Update: review copies of my book, “What is Journalism For?”, out April 8, are now available! Contact me or Bristol University Press for interview/review purposes. Or, preorder here: bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/what-is-jour...
February 12, 2025 at 2:36 PM
jonallsop.bsky.social
I interviewed Angunnguaq Larsen—who played the prime minister of Greenland in the political drama Borgen—about Trump, the media storm around Greenland, and advice he’d give his real-life counterpart. The situation, he says, is like “Borgen on steroids.”

www.cjr.org/the_media_to...
Q&A: Borgen’s Angunnguaq Larsen on Trump’s Stranger-than-Fiction Push for Greenland
A fictional prime minister of Greenland on the territory's real-life crisis.
www.cjr.org
February 12, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Reposted by Jon Allsop
marisakabas.bsky.social
“A lot of journalists argue that their role isn’t to advocate—that that’s not their job. But if your job isn’t to inform people in a way that will help them, then I don’t really understand what your job is.”

Read my chat with @columjournreview.bsky.social:
Q&A: Marisa Kabas on Scooping the World on the Federal Funding Freeze
www.cjr.org
February 5, 2025 at 2:31 PM
jonallsop.bsky.social
I wrote about something that’s interested me for a while: how Trump and Musk benefit from attention—and the potential limits of that benefit:

www.cjr.org/the_media_to...
Trump, Musk, and the Limits of Attention
The ambiguity of Musk's salute is partly the point.
www.cjr.org
January 23, 2025 at 1:50 PM