Christoph Mergerson
LightNews LightNews
banner
mergerson.bsky.social
Christoph Mergerson
@mergerson.bsky.social
1.9K followers 760 following 690 posts
📍 Journalism professor, University of Maryland
📕 PhD in media studies from Rutgers
🌪️ I study weather media
🌪️ Former NWS intern
🏛️ Also study media history, trust in news, and the well-being of media professionals
🏛️ Formerly at Brookings
Posts Replies Media Videos
mergerson.bsky.social
Do newspapers have copy editors in 2025, or are random combinations of letters the new spelling? #journalism
Article from The Telegraph newspaper on Friday, November 7, 2025, that referred to New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani as "Mr Mamandi."
November 7, 2025 at 9:55 PM
mergerson.bsky.social
You don't need to go to journalism school to be a journalist, but you should perhaps learn some best practices of journalism before playing a journalist on social media. Maybe if this fellow had Tom Rosenstiel as a professor, he would learn that journalism is a discipline of verification. #Cowboys
Screencaps from a social media influencer on X who reported false information about a Dallas Cowboys player who has died, claimed that a former Cowboys player was his source, and got roasted by other users on X for not properly vetting such sensitive information before posting it. Screencaps from a social media influencer on X who reported false information about a Dallas Cowboys player who has died, claimed that a former Cowboys player was his source, and got roasted by other users on X for not properly vetting such sensitive information before posting it.
November 6, 2025 at 4:20 PM
mergerson.bsky.social
It's always interesting to see how so many people who present themselves as believing in racial equality and inclusion so quickly fall in line with racist beliefs when experiencing the mildest social pressure to do so. #Vivek
Screenshots of a thread on X where a woman who says she is a 34-year-old "America First" White woman and former "nanny for an Indian family for 7 years" starts by defending Vivek Ramaswamy from racist posts about him and his sons, only to admit that she agrees with Great Replacement Theory by the end of a brief conversation with another racist poster. Screenshots of a thread on X where a woman who says she is a 34-year-old "America First" White woman and former "nanny for an Indian family for 7 years" starts by defending Vivek Ramaswamy from racist posts about him and his sons, only to admit that she agrees with Great Replacement Theory by the end of a brief conversation with another racist poster. Screenshots of a thread on X where a woman who says she is a 34-year-old "America First" White woman and former "nanny for an Indian family for 7 years" starts by defending Vivek Ramaswamy from racist posts about him and his sons, only to admit that she agrees with Great Replacement Theory by the end of a brief conversation with another racist poster. Biography of the "America First" poster on X who espouses racist beliefs but claims to "follow Jesus Christ."
November 5, 2025 at 12:20 PM
mergerson.bsky.social
If you live in Louisiana, remember this the next time that state officials say there's "no money" for the things that you and your community need, whatever they may be. #LSU
This is an excerpt from a column by Yahoo Sports reporter Ross Dellinger, published on Sunday, October 26, 2025, in which he quotes an LSU official who said that "you can always find the money," in response to a question about how LSU can afford to pay former football coach Brian Kelly a $53 million buyout, and a new head coach and staff, for a total price that may exceed $100 million.
October 27, 2025 at 2:16 PM
mergerson.bsky.social
The Hurricane Center's 8 a.m. advisory says, "Wind speeds atop and on the windward sides of hills and mountains could be up to 30 percent stronger than the near-surface winds indicated in this advisory, and in some elevated locations could be even greater." (160)(1.3) = 208 mph. #Melissa #Jamaica
The National Hurricane Center's advisory of 8 a.m. Eastern on Monday, October 27, 2025, says of Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica, "Wind speeds atop and on the windward sides of hills and mountains could be up to 30 percent stronger than the near-surface winds indicated in this advisory, and in some elevated locations could be even greater." This means some isolated locations in the mountains may see gusts over well 200 mph.
October 27, 2025 at 12:30 PM
mergerson.bsky.social
Watching meteorologist Drew McCombs cover a tornado warning between Mobile and Pensacola on the Alabama Weather Network late Sunday night, just after 11 p.m. Central.
Meteorologist Drew McCombs points to a radar showing a velocity couplet near the Alabama and Florida border on the Alabama Weather Network just after 11 p.m. Central on Sunday, October 26, 2025.
October 27, 2025 at 4:17 AM
mergerson.bsky.social
The National Hurricane Center on Hurricane Melissa as of 5 p.m. Eastern this evening. #Jamaica #Haiti
From the National Hurricane Center's discussion of Hurricane Melissa as of 5 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, October 26, 2025: Key Messages: 1. Jamaica: Seek shelter now. Damaging winds and heavy rainfall tonight and Monday will cause catastrophic and life-threatening flash flooding and numerous landslides before potentially devastating winds arrive Monday night and Tuesday morning. Extensive infrastructural damage, long-duration power and communication outages, and isolation of communities are expected. Life-threatening storm surge and damaging waves are expected along portions of the southern coast Monday night and Tuesday morning. 2. Haiti and the Dominican Republic: Catastrophic and life-threatening flash flooding and landslides are expected across southwestern Haiti and southern portions of the Dominican Republic through midweek. In Haiti, extensive infrastructural damage and isolation of communities is likely. Although winds have temporarily decreased on the Tiburon peninsula, they are likely to increase again across much of western Haiti on Tuesday.
October 27, 2025 at 1:23 AM
mergerson.bsky.social
"You will know them by their fruits."
From an article in POLITiCO on Wednesday night, October 15, 2025: Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday downplayed bigoted messages in Young Republicans’ group chats, suggesting they were nothing more than “edgy, offensive jokes.” The comments came in response to POLITICO’s exclusive reporting that a trove of Telegram messages between Young Republicans — including state group leaders and at least one Trump administration staffer — was rife with racist, antisemitic and homophobic content, including jokes about gas chambers, slavery and rape. That report was met with widespread condemnation and a cascade of firings. The vice president suggested the real problem is the idea that an offensive joke can ruin a young person’s life. “The reality is that kids do stupid things, especially young boys,” Vance said on "The Charlie Kirk Show." “They tell edgy, offensive jokes. That's what kids do. And I really don't want us to grow up in a country where a kid telling a stupid joke — telling a very offensive, stupid joke — is cause to ruin their lives.”
October 16, 2025 at 12:45 AM
mergerson.bsky.social
Is your city or community a place for the military to practice or is it your home?
Excerpt from a September 30, 2025, New York Times article in which President Trump said he told Pete Hegseth “to use American cities where he has deployed troops as ‘training grounds’ for the military.”
September 30, 2025 at 3:10 PM
mergerson.bsky.social
The President of the United States:
President Trump as quoted in The Washington Post on September 30, 2025: “I moved a submarine or two, I won’t say about the two, over to the coast of Russia just to be careful, because we can’t let people throw around that word,” Trump said. “I call it the n-word. There are two n-words, and you can’t use either of them.”
September 30, 2025 at 2:24 PM
mergerson.bsky.social
Where are we on the CBS Radio Net Alert Bulletin card for liberal democracy in the United States? 14? 15? #FirstAmendment #pressfreedom
A black card with white lettering listing the various types of CBS News Net Alert Bulletins, ranging from 1 to 15, 14 being a “Very Special Report” and 15 being a “National Emergency.”
September 18, 2025 at 12:39 AM
mergerson.bsky.social
Sometimes, headlines—like this one in Politico—make me wonder if some journalists ever read American history. This level of political violence is not only far from "unprecedented," but is a frequent feature of our politics, historically. So why is there a belief that this level of anger is new?
A Politico headline from Thursday morning, September 11, that inaccurately calls the current level of political violence in the United States "unprecedented."
September 11, 2025 at 12:48 PM
mergerson.bsky.social
So, did the FBI arrest the wrong person and announce him as "the suspect," or did they arrest the actual culprit without enough grounds to keep him?
This is a tweet from 7:59 PM Eastern on September 10, 2025, from FBI Director Kash Patel, in which he says the person suspected of murdering right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk has been released "after an interrogation by law enforcement." This tweet was a quote tweet of a previous tweet by Patel an hour earlier that said "the suspect for the horrific shooting" was in custody.
September 11, 2025 at 12:20 AM
mergerson.bsky.social
Today's prank by Howard Stern helps to illustrate why people don't trust many journalists. In a frenzy to produce content, news organizations rushed to be the first to report incorrect information instead of carefully reporting only what they could confirm as true. Terrible journalism.
CNBC breaking news graphic CNBC host announcing that Howard Stern had left Sirius XM and would be replaced by Andy Cohen Another CNBC host announcing that Howard Stern had left Sirius XM and would be replaced by Andy Cohen
September 8, 2025 at 4:47 PM
mergerson.bsky.social
Some tall thunderstorms over the northern #DFW metroplex as of 7:45 PM Central
Radarscope image of thunderstorm cloud tops in excess of 50,000 feet tall over Collin County, Texas, north of Dallas, as of 7:45 PM Central on September 5, 2025.
September 6, 2025 at 12:56 AM
mergerson.bsky.social
Susan Collins taught Bill Cassidy well. He seems very concerned—but not enough to do anything of substance about the fact that he empowered RFK Jr. to now deprive millions of Americans of easy and affordable access to Covid-19 vaccines.
Blurb from The Washington Post on August 27, 2025, about how CDC Director Susan Monarez resigned under pressure from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to support his efforts to revoke access to Covid-19 vaccines for many Americans, which she resisted; and how Republican Senator Bill Cassidy failed to stop it.
August 27, 2025 at 11:14 PM
mergerson.bsky.social
Game framing until the very end. #journalism
A headline on CNN.com from August 26, 2025: "Trump vs. Pritzker: A political feud that could trigger a major national crisis" An excerpt from a story on CNN.com from August 26, 2025, that frames Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker's efforts to discourage President Trump from sending the National Guard to Chicago on false pretenses as a political contest between the two.
August 27, 2025 at 3:43 AM
mergerson.bsky.social
There needs to be a DC version of #DNO.

#Nola #DefendTheDistrict
Logo of New Orleans retailer Defend New Orleans, a.k.a. DNO, which includes the side profile of a skull with a mohawk made of spikes and a fleur-de-lis tattooed on the head.
August 22, 2025 at 1:47 AM
mergerson.bsky.social
This is quite the apologia of Shari Redstone in The New York Times this morning.

Also notable is that at no point in this article did she indicate (nor did The Times describe) any willingness of hers to fight to protect CBS News as an independent news organization. #journalism #media
Profile of Shari Redstone in The New York Times on August 19, 2025, that reads: "Ms. Redstone had run into one of the same problems now confronting other targets of Mr. Trump’s wrath, such as universities: Any change that aligns with his demands, even if warranted, is perceived as capitulation and appeasement."
August 19, 2025 at 11:01 AM
mergerson.bsky.social
Remembering when Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré yelled at National Guard troops who raised weapons at people in New Orleans during the response to Katrina. He reminded his troops that Americans were not the enemy. The Trump administration clearly thinks differently. #DC

www.wsj.com/politics/nat...
A 2014 column by Jarvis DeBerry in the New Orleans Times-Picayune describing how Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré yelled at National Guard troops who raised weapons in front of civilians in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, reminding them that citizens were not the enemy. He wrote: "You may remember the footage of Honore in downtown New Orleans days after the city's levees fell and there were reports of widespread looting. When he saw the soldiers under his command with their guns raised, he yelled at them: "Weapons down, damn it!" "It was an important moment. Honore made sure his soldiers understood that the people they were encountering on the streets of New Orleans were not their enemy, and they were not to treat them as such. "Honore, who is retired now, expressed the same sentiment in a discussion on CNN Thursday morning. He questioned the training that the police officers have had. "Any time we have policemen pointing weapons at American citizens, they need to go through retraining," Honore added. "And I think we are about 24 hours too late."
August 16, 2025 at 11:58 PM
mergerson.bsky.social
“Would end …”

The naïveté of this headline is absolutely punishing to anyone who remotely grasps this president’s M.O.

I don’t even think Harvard really thinks that’s true. It’s essentially a protection racket. Are those ever one-offs?

#HigherEd
A sub-headline in The New York Times that reads, “A potential $500 million settlement would end a monthslong battle that pitted the nation’s wealthiest school against the Trump administration’s extraordinary crackdown on higher education.”
August 12, 2025 at 3:11 AM
mergerson.bsky.social
Live coverage of the tsunami on NHK in Japan, as of 11:17 AM local time on July 30, 2025, in Japan (10:22 PM Eastern time on July 29 in the U.S.). Gotta love the helpful graphic on the lower left. #earthquake
A screencap of the live feed of Japanese broadcaster NHK's coverage of a possibly three-meter high tsunami at 11:17 AM local time on Wednesday, January 30, 2025. There is a graphic in the lower left of a boy in a yellow raincoat looking at the ocean with a big red X over the image, as if to warn viewers to not linger along the coast hoping to see the tsunami.
July 30, 2025 at 2:23 AM
mergerson.bsky.social
Looks like it was a very quiet night in far northwestern Iowa. #idwx #sdwx
Doppler radar out of Sioux Falls, South Daokta showing a measured velocity aloft of 119 mph in a thunderstorm warned for an “extremely dangerous situation” just southeast of Doon in far northwestern Iowa at 9:37 PM Central. Doppler radar out of Sioux Falls, South Daokta showing a thunderstorm warned for an “extremely dangerous situation” and a tornado warning for far northwestern Iowa at 9:44 PM Central.
July 29, 2025 at 9:34 AM
mergerson.bsky.social
Oh, I just know all the people who were /very concerned/ over the last decade about perceived viewpoint discrimination on college campuses and signed letters so deeply concerned about cancel culture will be /so/ mad about this and strenuously condemn and oppose it.

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/u...
New York Times article that says the Trump administration is seeking records pertaining to faculty at George Mason University who oppose the administration’s racist harassment of its president. New York Times article that says the Trump administration is seeking records pertaining to faculty at George Mason University who oppose the administration’s racist harassment of its president.
July 29, 2025 at 12:44 AM
mergerson.bsky.social
Kudos to Mark Peña with WJLA-TV for going wall-to-wall to cover this ongoing flash flood emergency that’s in effect for Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Bethesda, and Kensington in Maryland, just across the border from Washington, until 9 PM. Particularly dangerous situation. #WxSky #mdwx #flooding #PDS
Mark Peña with WJLA-TV in Washington covering a very serious flash flood emergency for the northern suburbs of DC on July 19, 2025. Text of a flash flood emergency issued for Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Bethesda, and Kensington in Montgomery County, Maryland, for rainfall rates of 1-2 inches in 30 minutes and dangerous creek flooding until 9 PM. Text of a flash flood emergency issued for Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Bethesda, and Kensington in Montgomery County, Maryland, for rainfall rates of 1-2 inches in 30 minutes and dangerous creek flooding until 9 PM. Text of a flash flood emergency issued for Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Bethesda, and Kensington in Montgomery County, Maryland, for rainfall rates of 1-2 inches in 30 minutes and dangerous creek flooding until 9 PM.
July 19, 2025 at 10:18 PM