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Photo by Maddi Bazzocco on Unsplash

In his newsletter, CJ Chilvers reminded me that he was going to be writing every day for the month of November on the topic of anxiety. While it is not — in classic NaNoWriMo fashion — going to result in a novel, it should lead to some good reading. I thought it was a good idea, and I am going to undertake the same exercise and write every day for the next 30 days. It likely will not be specific to one topic. Rather, it will cover what is keeping me interested these days. And most of that is going to be from the lens of change. Thanks for the inspiration, CJ.

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How to murder a website: Deadspin Edition

The Deadspin debacle highlights the growing problem of what Slate accurately calls “zombie” publications. We are going to see more of these publications as media owners struggle to balance their desperate, short-term greed with long-term value. From Slate: “Trustworthy brand-name publications are being hollowed out and refilled with unpaid “community” contributors or low-paid, less experienced … Continue reading How to murder a website: Deadspin Edition

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The internet as we know it has become a butt of many jokes. We all depend on it, but everyone has no problems hating on it. It is viewed as the root of our problems — hate, traffic snarls, lack of social skills and even cold food. I know, I know. As a true believer in the network and its power, I think of it as a beautiful thing. And it all started today, 50 years ago, when two UCLA scientists sent a message to a Stanford University professor over the predecessor, ARPANET. The Conversation has listed five major milestones that helped create and shape the Internet, 50 years after the first network message. It is worth a read.

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California is so stupid

California is so stupid….Golden State legislators outdid themselves by passing Assembly Bill 5, signed last month by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Effective Jan. 1, the law reclassifies most independent contractors as full-time employees. This codifies the state Supreme Court’s 2018 Dynamex decision about “misclassified” freelancers. …The new law was pitched as a simple measure to provide contract workers with benefits like sick leave and health care. Yet as the dust clears, many ugly details are emerging. But here’s something weird: Freelance journalists are limited to 35 submissions a year per “putative” employer. Wait, what? The law was aimed at Uber and Lyft drivers. Yet now scriptwriters, actors, housekeepers, gardeners and many other types of contract workers will have their livelihoods threatened by Sacramento saps.

Andy Kessler, the Wall Street Journal. (or on FB)

Andy is not one to pull punches. When reading this latest column of his, I was reminded that our headline-oriented, attention seeking media culture rarely scratches the surface and doesn’t really dig into the dirty details of the news.

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“Publishers are essentially ghostwriters for the Facebook News destination. Becoming dependent upon the aggregator means forfeiting control of your destiny. But with everything subject to Facebook’s shifting attitudes, it will be like publishers trying to play bocce during an earthquake,” writes Josh Constine in Techcrunch on how Facebook has abused the media industry time and again. Really good article and worth a read.