Judd Legum Profile picture
Aug 6, 2019 6 tweets 2 min read Read on X
1. You may be wondering WTF is happening at the New York Times.

Let me explain in plain English.
2. Google and Facebook are destroying the journalism industry. The legacy publications that have survived are under pressure to appeal to the widest possible audience.

When the NYT plays "both sides," it's not about journalism. It's about the business model.
3. The NYT does some amazing journalism but, in a lot of cases, it's poorly positioned to challenge people in power. It needs ACCESS to powerful people for its reporting. And it needs to be a comfortable place for powerful corporations to advertise.
4. The NYT times is happy to suck up your anti-Trump dollars with these "truth" t-shirts. But, as any Times reporter will tell you, they do not oppose Trump. It's a scam perpetrated by their marketing department.
5. Unfortunately, journalism that is aligned with power, rather than opposed to it, is becoming the norm. Local independent outlets are being bought up by huge corporations. Coverage is being neutered and homogenized.

usatoday.com/story/money/20…
6. If you are looking for an alternative model that is focused on taking on power, check out my newsletter, Popular Information. Our scoops come from primary source documents and ordinary people.

No ads, no wealthy donors, no BS.

You can subscribe at popular.info

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More from @JuddLegum

Feb 11
1. Internal documents reveal that Freedom 250, which purports to celebrate the nation's 250th anniversary, is a vehicle to promote Trump and "America First" propaganda, including election conspiracies

Major corporations like Mastercard and Deloitte and spending million to bankroll this effort
2. Freedom 250 says it'll use corporate money to organize events celebrating the nation’s birthday. But an internal “Events Toolkit” reveals the events will promote pro-Trump political talking points

popular.info/p/major-corpor…
3. For example, a “Talking Points & Messaging Guide” suggests partner organizations feature “issue-based messaging.” One featured message: “President Trump and America First leaders are restoring election integrity and protecting the voice of every legal citizen.” Image
Read 7 tweets
Feb 9
1. Trump has launched a torrent of bigoted invective against Somali migrants, calling them "garbage" and demanding they be kicked out of the country

Now, the Trump administration is rigging the immigration courts against them

We've uncovered the details of the scheme
2. Lawyer Matthew Hoppock reported that his 8 Somali clients have all had their cases reassigned to the same immigration judge.

Other lawyers representing Somali clients have had their cases reassigned to the same judge.

popular.info/p/how-trump-is…
3. Popular Information has learned that judge is Sherron Ashworth, a former ICE prosecutor with a track record of quickly rejecting asylum claims and accepting the Trump administration’s most specious legal arguments

Ashworth is based in Lousiana but will hear these cases in Kansas City via video

popular.info/p/how-trump-is…
Read 8 tweets
Jan 28
1. Many large media outlets are reporting that Trump "pivoted" his strategy in Minnesota and has "changed course."

This is what the White House WANTS YOU TO BELIEVE

The only problem is it is not true
2. Is Trump ending his immigration crackdown in Minneapolis? No

Is anyone responsible for the operation being held accountable. No

Has Trump acknowledged that these killings were unjustified? Also no

popular.info/p/how-legacy-m…
3. The only thing that is changed is that Trump has replaced Greg Bovino, the Border Patrol commander overseeing the Minneapolis operation, with Tom Homan, his border czar.

The idea that Homan is a force for moderation is a joke.
Read 5 tweets
Jan 26
1. The Trump administration is not conducting its deadly immigration crackdown in Minneapolis alone

Major corporations, including @amazon, @CitizensBank, and @ATT, are enabling — and profiting from — the operation.
@amazon @CitizensBank @ATT 2. @Amazon powers much of the technological infrastructure that the Trump administration uses to target immigrants.

Amazon hosts the ICM database used by ICE which "integrates a vast ecosystem of public and private data to track down immigrants"

popular.info/p/the-corporat…
3. Hours after Alex Pretti was fatally shot at point-blank ranger, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy attended a screening of "Melania," a documentary about the First Lady, at the White House.

Amazon is paid Melania $40 million for rights to the vanity project and is spending another $35 million to promote itImage
Read 8 tweets
Jan 22
1. After months of denials, the Trump administration has admitted that DOGE staff misused Social Security data.

A DOGE staffer signed a deal to share the data with a “political advocacy group” seeking to “overturn election results"

The identity of the staffer is not disclosed but there are clues
2. Antonio Gracias, a DOGE staffer who was embedded at the SSA, publicly spoke about using Social Security data to “expose” voter fraud. During a March 30 rally alongside Elon Musk, Gracias — a fellow billionaire — made a variety of false and misleading claims.

popular.info/p/doge-staffer…
3. Gracias said that he had compared SSA data with voting records and found that non-citizens were registered to vote and did vote. He claimed he referred these people for prosecution. (There are no known charges or convictions resulting from those alleged referrals.)
Read 8 tweets
Jan 21
1. In 2025, 32 people died in ICE custody.

That figure was the largest in more than two decades and tied for the highest number of deaths among ICE’s detainee population ever.

2026 is only three weeks old, and it’s already shaping up to be much worse.
2. In just 21 days, at least six people have died in ICE custody.

Last year, ICE did not have six in-custody deaths until April 25. The early trends put ICE on pace for 120 in-custody deaths in 2026.

popular.info/p/in-2026-ice-…
3. Several of the deaths, according to advocates, are related to substandard medical care. Popular Information reported on Monday that ICE stopped paying for third-party medical treatment for detainees on October 3, 2025.

popular.info/p/ice-has-stop…
Read 4 tweets

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