Great conversation with @tainalon.bsky.social and @felixsimon.bsky.social at #ijf26 on "When seeing is no longer believing: perils and possibilities in a world of synthetic media" with our differing viewpoints on scope, societal implications, and what to do
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYwu...
Interesting work by the New York Times' Ted Alcorn, letting you dig into publication trends at the the NYT between 2000–26. Notable that the paper publishes significantly fewer words per month (and fewer articles) than 20 years ago.
tedalcorn.github.io/nyt/
Thank you! Have been thinking about this for quite some time and I’m glad to have a bit of money to put some meat to the bones now
The aim will be to produce a normative framework specifying what democratic alignment should mean for agentic AI systems that provide news and information. If you are UK-based, working on this, and would be interested in taking part, drop me a line.
Specifically, the grant will cover the costs of convening two expert workshops here at Oxford this summer and autumn, allowing me to bring together scholars in political sci, communication studies, AI alignment & reps from news, public-interest institutions, and AI developers.
I am happy to announce that @politicsoxford.bsky.social has awarded me a grant to study how agentic AI systems can be better aligned with democratic values in the domain of news and public-affairs information.
Doesn’t he have ChatGPT for that?
But these are issues for later. For now it’s just nice to see Hungary and the Hungarians clawing their way back from the brink — and spiting the plans of the many anti-democratic forces at work in the US, Russia and across Europe.
And finally worth noting that some of the more breathless gushing on here might look awkward quickly given that Magyar is still a centre right politician — so I wouldn’t expect a big course correction on eg LGBTQ rights or migration.
Worth remembering as well that if many people (especially on the left) voted for Magyar because he was the one to get Orban out, this means he’ll have some work cut out for him that delivers for these groups politically at least in some form.
(This is btw a lesson the Biden administration did not take to heart. Over-indexing on “keeping the peace” they paved the way for Trump 2.0 instead)
Worth remembering, too, that a key test for the incoming government will be if they are able to dismantle the state capture of various institutions in a way that is addressing the harms but without coming to be seen as on a political witch hunt. Orban won’t just vanish into the bushes
Nice to wake up to good news for once.
Worth also sparing a thought for all the brave Hungarian (and some foreign) journalists who worked tirelessly to expose the methods and the corruption of Orban’s regime — work that isn’t free or just dropping from the heavens.
Art of the Deal something something
At the @journalismfestival.com next week?
If so, come and join me, @marinaadami.bsky.social and Agnes Stenbom if you want to talk about AI ✨🤖 Details below.
(And hit me up if you want to get a coffee or aperitivo to chat some more in Perugia).
Art of the deal
Same for the picture desk
oh fuck I can't believe today is 17776 Day!!!!!!
if you've never.....read? experienced? this I would recommend 1) setting at least one full hour aside 2) clicking on this on a laptop, and just........seeing what happens
I would genuinely call the first time I read this "transcendental"
Promotional card for the International Journalism Festival 2026 (XX Edition, Free Entry), Perugia, Italy, 15–18 April. Session: "When Seeing Is No Longer Believing: Perils and Possibilities in a World of Synthetic Media." Speakers: Sam Gregory, Tai Nalon, Felix M. Simon. Saturday 18 April. #ijf26. Website: journalismfestival.com.
📌 As generative AI blurs the line between real and fake, fears of a collapse in trust are everywhere. Yet audiences still believe some sources. This panel explores what has really changed in the age of synthetic media — and who is responsible for protecting truth.
“Once the lion’s share of AP’s revenue, big newspaper companies now account for 10% of its income”
Have seen lots of criticism of the AP over this announcement but unless you have a good answer which addresses this bit, at least some of the flak is just a tad hollow.
Once again, Max Weber winning beyond the grave: “Once it is fully established, bureaucracy is among those social structures which are the hardest to destroy”
(Iron cage, iron cage, iron cage, I mumble as I get my fax machine ready to send of this post)
Speaking of German military ships, it will never not be funny that all four ships of the F125 frigates – notorious because the first ship was overweight & had a persistent 1.3° list to starboard so basically swum in circles – are all named after landlocked federal states. Peak German humour.
Maddening stuff...
Nominally an article about Germany’s military procurement issues, this paragraph speaks to a deeper truth about the country – antiquated practices that drive people (including many Germans) up the wall.
www.ft.com/content/124c...
Editor-in-chief Ea-nāṣir?
This is my favorite climate change chart. Japanese monks, aristocrats, and emperors kept meticulous records of cherry blossom festivals for 1,200 years and accidentally built the world's longest climate dataset.
… many people both in the US and in other countries are sceptical of the US’s and Israels motives, conflicting and contradictory statements from both administrations, and haphazard decisions with little thought devoted to their longer-term or secondary effects.
It strikes me as far more plausible that these videos and images – at least some of which also seem to be satire rather than straight up false information – fall on fertile ground because…
I am also sceptical of the claim that these measures have stoked public anger in the first place – which also seems to be in contradiction to a paragraph earlier in the piece which speaks of content “designed to exploit worldwide opposition to the U.S.-Israeli military campaign".