Governments Love a Media Cartel—As Long as They're in Control
Friday A/V Club: Some people are against concentrated media power. Some just want to bend it to their will.
Media
Howard Mortman: Why Does Congress Pray Every Day?
The When Rabbis Bless Congress author and C-SPAN honcho on a weird political tradition and the glorious death of legacy media
Unlicensed Dog Grooming Alarms Local News Reporter
Do we really need the state to step in over an unfortunate tragedy?
Dave Smith: Libertarians vs. Big Tech, Big Government, and…Other Libertarians
The popular podcaster and comedian on the future of the Libertarian Party, his vaccine hesitancy, and fighting the culture war
Experts Warn Accurate News Articles Are Misinformation if They Support Conservative Views
The existence of politically biased websites is not a crisis.
Iranian Operatives Plotted To Kidnap Brooklyn Journalist
From the other side of the world, the regime plots ways to chill free speech.
Treat Tucker Carlson's NSA Snooping Claims Seriously, but Not Literally
The Fox News pundit’s emails were probably reviewed legally—and that’s part of the problem.
Hong Kong's Free Press Is Dying
After Chinese authorities conducted newsroom raids and arrested top editors, pro-democracy publication Apple Daily realized it could no longer safely operate.
GB News Stands Up to U.K. Cancel Culture and Wins
Advertisers found that appeasing an illiberal mob wasn’t a safe choice after all.
Hong Kong's Experiment in Freedom Nears a Brutal End
China’s government emphasizes control over prosperity while a demoralized West offers little opposition.
Paul Krugman's 10-Year History of Being Wrong About Bitcoin
Why is it so hard for him to just admit he was wrong?
Anthony Fauci Says His Critics Are Attacking Science Itself
"A lot of what you're seeing as attacks on me quite frankly are attacks on science."
ProPublica's Bombshell Tax Report That Wasn't
The new report doesn't reveal anything we didn't already know.
FBI Backs Off Attempt To Subpoena Info on USA Today Readers
Plus: America's love-hate relationship with booze, Twitter CEO says "bitcoin changes absolutely everything," and more...
Performative Pandemic Panic
Officials’ cynical manipulation of the public damaged their own credibility as well as the world at large.
Randi Weingarten's Hilariously Awful Media Rehabilitation Tour
Teachers union president tries to rebrand as a school-reopener, but parents aren't having it.
Ron DeSantis Will Pardon COVID Violators. Why Stop There?
There are many other people who deserve such mercy.
Baltimore's Top Prosecutor Attempts To Send FCC Against Local Fox Affiliate
Don’t call yourself a supporter of the First Amendment while attempting to punish a media outlet for criticizing you.
Florida Legislators Exempt Their Favorite Companies From Social Media Bill
"It's very obvious that nobody involved in [the bill] consulted a First Amendment lawyer," says TechFreedom's Berin Szóka.
When Fighting 'Misinformation' Is Really Fighting Free Speech
There is no "fake news" exception to the First Amendment.
Elegy for Op-Ed
The New York Times eliminates op-eds after a half-century of delighting and enraging readers.
Don't Call CPS on Parents Who Mask Their Kids; Don't Call the FCC on Tucker Carlson
Plus: 15,000 marijuana prosecutions pardoned, the latest sex trafficking urban legend, and more...
How Press Freedom—and Section 230—Led to Derek Chauvin's Conviction
Imagine a world in which media outlets were unable or afraid to post video of police and other authorities acting reprehensibly.
Jane Coaston: Meet the Libertarian New York Times Podcaster
"At some point, a regulation or a law with the absolute best of intentions will be wielded by people who may not have the absolute best of intentions."
Jesse Singal: Why We Keep Falling for Psychological Quick Fixes
From "power poses" to the self-esteem movement to implicit bias tests, Americans are suckers for bad ideas from psychologists.
Why Hasn't the Mainstream Media Pilloried 60 Minutes for Spreading Misinformation?
So far it's crickets from The New York Times and The Washington Post.
Sex Trafficking Panic and Victim Blaming Follow Atlanta Massage Parlor Murders
Rhetoric around the shootings risks putting massage workers everywhere in more danger.
Why We (Still) Shouldn't Censor Misinformation
It strains credulity to believe random tweets can lead otherwise normal people to drive across the country and stage an insurrection.
Elite Media Run Press Releases for Biden's COVID Bill
Plus: Virginia's vote for the ERA is too late, South Carolina moves to relax birth control prescription requirements, and more...
Facebook Restores News Links in Australia After Getting Some Concessions
Big outlets get subsidies. The government still gets to pick winners and losers.
The Media Have Finally Realized That Cuomo and Newsom Are Terrible. Will Voters?
The governors of New York and California have botched major aspects of the pandemic response.
Everybody's Wrong About the Facebook/Murdoch Standoff in Australia
This tech/media fight down under is not about democracy or monopolies. It’s about ad revenue.
Conor Friedersdorf: Stand Against Left-Wing and Right-Wing P.C.
The Atlantic writer says that illiberalism and the urge to shut down debate need to be confronted across the political spectrum.
Civil Liberties Groups Plead With Biden To Stop Persecuting Julian Assange
Plus: Oklahoma cosmetologists fight insane licensing requirement, Australia doesn't understand how search engines work, and more...
It's Official: Linguistic Intent No Longer Matters at The New York Times
Pandemic reporter fired after 45 years for using the N-word in context on a work trip in 2019, as the paper's management buckles to yet another newsroom revolt.
In a Year of Wild Conspiracy Theories, Super Bowl Sex Trafficking Is a Classic
Plus: A reminder that censorship backfires, Wyoming city considers ban on "performance prostitution," and more...
No, Biden Can't Save Us With a 'Reality Czar.' Also, WTF?
It's peak season for terrible ideas from journalists, academics, and politicians about how to combat disinformation and extremism.
The Washington Post Tried To Memory-Hole Kamala Harris' Bad Joke About Inmates Begging for Food and Water
At a time when legacy publications are increasingly seen as playing for one political "team" or the other, this type of editorial decision will not do anything to fix that perception.
Biden's Inauguration Was Small and Quiet. Good.
The cult of the imperial U.S. presidency has come to feel like a national religion.
The Media Failed by Giving People What They Want
Whatever lies the press is telling us, they are ones that at least some of us want to hear.
Don't Let the Capitol Riot Become a 9/11-Style Excuse for Authoritarianism
Frightening events create openings for attacks on civil liberties.
U.K. Judge Rejects Assange Extradition, but It's No Win for Freedom of the Press
The fear that harsh federal jail conditions will lead to Assange’s suicide is the only reason he won’t face espionage charges in the U.S.
Be Cool Like Kennedy! Donate to Reason, and Help Us Spread #HotFreedom
Your generosity helps us go wherever people are having conversations about politics, policy, and culture.
L.A. Times Turns Pastor's Death into Outrage Clickbait
Bob Bryant was infected with COVID-19 while on vacation and died. A news story tries to link that to church services.
It's $25,000 Challenge Grant Time in Reason's Annual Webathon!
Your donations are why Reason retains its recognizable form after more than a half-century of publishing.
Glenn Greenwald on Biden, Free Speech, and Leaving The Intercept
There’s no journalist more relentlessly iconoclastic than Greenwald, who won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the Snowden revelations.
Glenn Greenwald: Nothing Trump Did Compares to the 'Moral Evil' of Bush's and Obama's Wars
The Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist on Joe Biden, free speech, and leaving The Intercept for Substack.
