The stickiness of so-called “reverse racism”
When an idea is “intuitive” but also steeped in a culture war we have a heightened duty to examine it.
The state of hyperlinking in journalism, a case study
From time to time I like to check in on how news orgs are doing with their online publishing practices. In particular, I like to review how they handle reports and science articles. So when Oxfam published their inequality report this year, I was keen to see how journalists and their editors are doing. Hyperlinking,…
How to stop increasing the reach and impact of hate (and misinformation) on Twitter
Some thoughts on how not to amplify hate accounts on Twitter.
Twitter, hate, harm, and misinformation
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the ambient misogyny and racism (and more) that floats around my Twitter communities. It’s ambient in the sense that it’s pervasive, and also that we don’t have to follow an antagonist to see their tweets or have them engage us directly. It’s an ecology of violence. And misinformation….
Music, music history, and generational waves of white supremacy
The more generations that pass by, the more obscured women’s lives are, by waves of patriarchal interests. It’s a kind of entropy fuelled by misogyny and whiteness.
White supremacy, doing journalism, and the explanatory comma
This particular Code Switch episode on the explanatory comma is itself a kind of extended explanatory comma, or perhaps an interrogatory comma.
Trudi Lynn Smith is the best
Sunday was coffee with a luminous being studying to be an even more powerful jedi.
Headlines, cognitive processing, and problematic information
Headlines matter. Publishers know it. Good headlines help with the understanding, reach, and impact of a story. Headlines frame articles, shaping the information in the article that follows, and alter reader comprehension. Headlines can induce positive priming effects in readers.1 Headlines are efficient at doing this. They play a significant role in readers’ memories, inferential…
How to unregister from Signal if you no longer use it as your texting app
Recently I encountered an issue while trying to text a colleague who no longer uses Signal. This app is popular for its range of features including encryption, wifi-enabled texting and encrypted phone calls. So it didn’t surprise to me to learn that they were a user. But they were a lapsed user, and this was…
![Three unforgettable moments in [my] hockey history](https://www.sherwinarnott.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/hockey-and-masculinity-v1.0-1-768x403.jpg)
Three unforgettable moments in [my] hockey history
Where I grew up in Northern Alberta, hockey was a big deal. My big brother played hockey. And my dad, who was not a great skater, played hockey in a community league. Everyone had a team, or pretended to. Everyone talked about the “game last night”. Neighbours, mostly men, watched televised games together. They sat…
Idea: Journalism is a convenience store
I like to imagine different metaphors for journalism. Consider that the press is a giant inertia machine, for example.1 I like to imagine different metaphors as a way to resist, and make evident, the dominant ones. The dominant frames are so common, so worn, they become invisible. One worn metaphor for journalism is food: it…
Journalism is the business of influence
Good journalists do what they do because they care. They have interests. The organizations that employ journalists also are guided by interests. They have purpose. The Washington Post wears their mission on their sleeve. Their tagline is “Democracy dies in darkness.” This stated vision is shared by many in journalism. If true, journalism has a…
Journalism’s allergy to substantive regulation
Misinformation is a big deal. Hate online is a big deal. And as the public catches up to their reach and impact, we’ll see more and more talk about regulation of media. Interestingly, news organizations love talking about regulating Facebook. But journalists, and their overlords, are allergic to talking about regulating news. So allergic are…
Paul Wells, conservatism, satire, and Maclean’s footprint
I like Maclean’s about as much as I like the National Post. They’re rightwing, partisan, and legacy. On my view they have courted hate and burned trust, undermining journalism along several dimensions.1 Also. I will admit it. I often don’t get sarcasm.2 When I saw the “the resistance” cover by Maclean’s, I thought it was…
The look, and the social nature of knowledge
When I was growing up I was bad with context. Super bad. My young logic-oriented self just did not understand humans and their social “nuance.” I’m still trying. Perhaps I’m practical-intelligence deficient. But, luckily, I’ve had a fleet of friends and colleagues who’ve helped me and I am grateful. They’ve held my hand tight, so…
Vicwest caterpillar, a springtime phenomenon
Some years we have more. Some years we have less.
Hyperlinking in Canadian journalism (Case study, IPBES report)
If news orgs are serious about being good partners in mitigating misinformation, they need to link meaningfully to relevant references and especially science-based organizations…
My cell phone carrier has stopped spamming me
My local gym and community centre is awesome. It’s a little less than three kilometres from my home. The pool is great. The gym is nice. It’s got a kind of weird gate system that totally doesn’t work, but the people who work there are super nice. I don’t go often enough. The funniest thing…
The dominant press is a giant inertia machine
But here’s an old idea: what if dominant journalism, by and large and in the long run, is actually a drag on progress? What if dominant journalism, and by that I mean the mainstream press, is actually a conservative force? On this view, it’s a drag on change…
Reality testing, Dylan Marron and Every Single Word
If you ask white folks about the over-representation of white folks on screen, they will often misunderstand and/or underestimate the degree and seriousness of over-representation. Luckily we have some tools to help us with our reality testing…
The dream of proportional representation dies again; long live pro rep
I campaigned during the first and second referendums we had here in BC regarding proportional representation. We won the first one. 58% of voters voted yes for the Citizen Assembly recommendation to implement the Single Transferrable Vote. But the BC Liberals had set the “binding” threshold, arbitrarily, at 60%. And the Liberals here in BC…
A few free tools for audio and video stuff
Once in a while I have to work with video or audio recordings. Or sometimes I need to convert file formats. And sometimes when I do media critique I have to do a little creative, fair use, editing. Here are three tools that I’ve found useful. VLC, Handbrake, Audacity Many years ago my good friend…