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.
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.
1. There has been a lot of attention, rightly, on the Trump administration disappearing immigrants to El Salvador
But something that has gotten much less attention is the Trump administration WRONGFULLY DETAINING US CITIZENS they "suspect" are undocumented immigrants.
2. 19-year-old Jose Hermosillo, a US citizen, was visiting Tucson when he passed by the Border Patrol headquarters, and "an agent arrested him for illegally entering the country."
3. Hermosillo told immigration officials that he was a U.S. citizen, but they did not believe him.
Court documents obtained by Danyelle Khmara of AZPM say that Hermosillo was detained "at or near Nogales, Arizona" and that he "admitted" he was not a citizen.
(Nogales is more than an hour from Tucson. Hermosillo says he has never been to Nogales.)
3. In all, at least 11 people whose ballots were discarded based on the claim that they have never lived in North Carolina have VOTED IN PERSON IN NORTH CAROLINA ELECTIONS strongly suggesting that they are, in fact, North Carolina residents.
1. The Trump administration claims that a program to protect rural Alabamans from raw sewage is racist so it is canceling the program as part of its crackdown on "DEI"
According to a press release, this is about treating "every individual with dignity and respect."
🤔
2. In 2021, the DOJ launched an investigation into the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH). The investigation found that the ADPH "engaged in a consistent pattern of inaction and/or neglect concerning the health risks associated with raw sewage" in Lowndes County.
3. About 72% of the county's residents are Black, but "despite ADPH’s awareness of the issues and the disproportionate burden and impact placed on Black residents in Lowndes County, it failed to take meaningful actions to remedy these conditions."
1. We contacted the 100 largest American companies and asked a simple question:
Do you support the tariffs announced by President Trump on April 2?
These are tariffs that have already destroyed trillions of shareholder value
NOT ONE COMPANY WOULD ANSWER THE QUESTION
2. Microsoft said it had "nothing to share." NVIDIA "decline[d] to comment." Citi “decline[d] to comment.” Eli Lilly and Gilead referred us "to PhARMA for industry perspective." The rest of the companies did not respond at all.
3. According to a report in Politico, corporations fear even mild opposition to the tariffs will make them a target for retribution. “There is zero incentive for any company or brand to be remotely critical of this administration,” an anonymous "public affairs operative" said.