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...
Media
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.
Andrew Cuomo's Emmy Award for His COVID-19 Briefings Is a Disgusting Prioritization of Style Over Substance
The New York governor is getting a shiny award for playing a good governor on TV.
Sacha Baron Cohen, Rudy Giuliani, and the Death of 'Disinformation' As a Useful Term
The Hunter Biden story has exposed the media's selective skepticism.
Milton Friedman's Free to Choose Proved Capitalism Is Superior to Socialism
Forty years later, the libertarian Nobel laureate's PBS series is still winning hearts and minds.
'Where Would the Black Lives Matter Movement Be Without the Right to Free Speech?'
Ira Glasser, former head of the ACLU, is worried that his former group is embracing identity politics over free speech.
Before TMZ and Page Six, America Turned to Walter Winchell for Gossip
PBS documentary recounts life of America’s pioneer of tawdry fame coverage.
Actually, It's Good That Major Networks Are Covering Both Trump's and Biden's Town Halls
No, it’s not “bad for democracy” to keep giving a platform to the President of the United States.
Twitter Blocking a New York Post Article Was Dumb—but Not Illegal, Censorship, or Election Interference
Plus: 898,000 new jobless claims, and more...
The New York Times Runs Apologia for China's Hong Kong Crackdown
Regina Ip spins a fantasy of a just government restoring order to Hong Kong.
No, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Didn't Spawn 250,000 Coronavirus Cases
Plus: FDA meddles more in vaping market, GOP lawmakers take aim at social media (again), and more...
Be Skeptical of Stories About TikTok 'Benadryl Challenge' Overdoses
One very sketchy story about an Oklahoma City teen’s tragic death has gone viral.
Americans Rightly Tune Out the Democratic National Convention
Compared to 2016, fewer people are watching on broadcast and cable TV because they know a dull infomercial when they see one.
Greg Gutfeld: 'Impulse Control or Lack Thereof Is a Huge Deal Right Now'
The Fox News host explains his new self-help book The Plus, the upside of quarantine, and why he thinks Donald Trump will be reelected.
Can Cryptocurrency Save Digital Media?
Ad revenue is way down, but crypto offers an alternative revenue model for online publications. Is it workable?
The Extremely Online Are Less Informed About Political News, More Informed About Conspiracy Theories
Plus: Congress moves forward on encryption backdoors, largest school districts aren't reopening, and more...
Firing of Hungarian Newspaper Editor Stokes Press Freedom Fears
Another blow to the country's few remaining independent news outlets
Lefties Hate on Liberal Open Letter on Free Speech
But buried beneath the bilious response to the Harper's joint statement is a worthwhile argument about freedom of association.
Approximately Two People Want To #CancelHamilton
Cancel culture is real, but Hamilton is safe.
In 2020, Words Are 'Violence,' Arson Is Not
The redefinition of the term diminishes actual victims of violence and trivializes why people are protesting.
Lawsuit Against 'Shitty Media Men' List Creator Can Proceed, Judge Says
Plus: Tech giants will testify in Congressional antitrust hearing, Seattle police clear out CHOP, and more...
Police Violence, COVID-19 Lies, and the End of Legitimate Authority
Our leaders and institutions are failing us spectacularly. It's up to us to reboot society.
