Hi friends,
I’m back with a roundup of stories that Dave has covered over the last week, from Israel killing journalists in Gaza to Trump mobilizing the national guard in D.C.
This email is probably going to get cut off in your inbox at some point, not because of the subject matter but because journalism school didn’t teach me how to write beneath 102 kilobytes. But if you click through to read the rest in your web browser, you’ll find something cute to counter how all this news will probably make you feel.
Before we dive in, please consider becoming a member of Local News International.
Your membership helps support our independent journalism, bringing the news to you without corporate overlords (except the Benevolent Overlord who runs our Slack channel).
Memberships start at just $5 if you’re a student.
Also a big thank you to everyone who attended our inaugural live Q&A on Tuesday night. If you become a member, you’ll get invites to these quarterly Zooms where you get to quiz Dave on any topic and also maybe see Lola IRL.
I’ve been researching the history of nonpartisan journalism for one of our first long form videos, and it’s weighing on me as I comb through these stories.
Spoilers ahead: Political parties used to fund lots of newspapers. Then, papers turned away from party funding to create cheap, general interest publications. Nonpartisan U.S. journalism took off, and with it a kind of neutrality that often got in the way of telling the truth. But as Lewis Raven Wallace’s book The View from Somewhere points out, many journalists like Ida B. Wells, T. Thomas Fortune and Horace Greeley maintained their independence while rejecting that specific kind of neutrality. And oftentimes, their journalism was more impactful and accurate than their “neutral” counterparts.
To use another example, and to steal a thought from journalist and recurring guest on my favorite X-Men podcast, Spencer Ackerman, let’s look at the scene in Superman where Lois Lane interviews Clark Kent. She’s not out to make her boyfriend look good or to make the Boravian government (the film’s antagonist) look bad. Watching her grill Superman, it’s clear that she’s not letting anything — a veneer of neutrality or her own personal allegiances — get in the way of uncovering the truth and holding powerful people accountable.
I hope we can channel Lois Lane. And I hope that’s enough to keep you here, even when I’m not being funny. With that, let’s dive in.
Trump’s D.C. takeover (not to be confused with James Gunn’s D.C. takeover)
President Donald Trump placed Washington, D.C.’s police force under federal control and deployed National Guard troops throughout the city. He pointed to violent crime in D.C., even though data shows it’s actually falling.
The federal takeover will last for 30 days, after which Congress will need to approve a longer takeover — which seems unlikely because Trump would need Senate Democrats’ support.
Trump has repeatedly pointed to crimes committed by young people, arguing for harsher sentences for teenagers who commit crimes. This echoes his past rhetoric about the Exonerated Five that helped fuel myths of teenaged “superpredators” and tough-on-crime legislation that fueled mass incarceration. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat who’s been vocal against the federal takeover, previously announced a police unit dedicated to crimes committed by young people.
The takeover has already led to an intense police presence in the city. Local and federal law enforcement set up a checkpoint near a hotspot of D.C.’s nightlife, stopping and flagging some cars amid protests.
The president is eyeing similar efforts in other U.S. cities. Critics say Trump’s tactics here are “straight out of a fascist playbook” by drumming up public fear and presenting state violence as the solution.
These videos are like the news, with essence of executive dysfunction. I love them."
Journalists targeted and killed in Gaza
Israel killed four Al Jazeera journalists Sunday in a strike on al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Their names were Anas al-Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher and Mohammed Noufal. Al Jazeera called al-Sharif “one of the most famous faces of Arabic reporting from Gaza.” The 28-year-old journalist spent nearly two years covering the genocide on the ground.
Israel’s military admitted to deliberately attacking the journalists. The killings have drawn widespread criticism, including from press freedom advocates and United Nations officials. They’ve also condemned the Israeli military’s more widespread killings of journalists in Gaza.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 192 journalists have been killed since October 7, 2023. Almost all of them were Palestinian journalists killed by Israel.
Will the real Roaring Twenties please stand up?
In a video that Dave’s friend Colin Chocola edited specifically to appeal to my WandaVision-pilled brain, Dave noted similarities between the 1920s and 2020s.
Bruce Mehlman, a former Commerce Department official, pointed out parallels between the two decades in six charts. Among those parallels: rising trade restrictions, immigration restrictions following increases in the U.S. foreign-born population, rapid adoption of new technology, and growing income gaps.
Fast Times at AI High
The Atlantic’s Lila Shroff wrote about how many educators are using AI for help in the classroom, even while combating the ways students use AI to cheat.
But Shroff also points to non-illicit ways that both students and teachers use AI, from ChatGPT to other tools like MagicSchool AI. Some teachers use it to help with administrative tasks like grading and paperwork so they have more time to teach and show up for their kids.
Research found that last school year, 60% of surveyed teachers used AI, and teachers who used AI weekly saved six weeks worth of time per year.
Other research shows that rural and lower-income students are less likely to use AI weekly or say their schools allow AI use, even amid partnerships between AI companies and educational institutions.
If you like Dave’s videos as much as @ignosis89, please consider becoming a member today. Membership helps support our independent journalism, including videos and this newsletter.
Each week, after running through the news that Dave has recently covered, I turn it over to him for some analysis. Take it away, Dave.
During our inaugural Zoom call on Tuesday night, a LNI member asked me a really astute question:
“What can we do as journalists to protect our work from AI while not falling behind on the latest developments?”
This question came from a student at Elon University, who is clearly quite aware of the immediate effect AI has had on their own school. It’s what led me to read this Atlantic article, and eventually make the video above about just how quickly AI has found its way into the classroom.
In our Zoom call, as part of my answer, I mentioned this video I did with MediaWise, showing journalists how to disclose AI. As far as our work being absorbed by AI and distributed to the masses … I’m not sure we can control that! However, we can continue to create and write our own work with an undeniable human touch and thoughtfulness. People want to connect with other people. That won’t change.
I’ve heard this growing sentiment that AI is similar to the launch of the internet, in that some of the panic might be unfair. I disagree. AI is far more sophisticated out of the gate, and almost entirely unregulated. AI is basically Magneto with his helmet on, running around completely unchecked. It has incredibly useful applications but an overwhelmingly negative impact on the environment and the mental health of its users.
At Local News International, we will continue to write, edit, shoot, create, and publish content without the use of artificial intelligence, but we won’t ignore it and its latest developments. We’ll keep covering AI, for better or worse.
Thanks, Dave.
Oh, hey, you’re still here! Even though the newsletter probably got cut off in your inbox by this point! I think that’s great. Since we’re still hanging out, I have a favor to ask you. We want to feature photos of your pets in our newsletter so that Dave’s dog Lola can have some virtual pen pals! Send us your best pet pics, and we’ll do our best to include them.
Lola (right) with her human sister (left).
Dave will be back in your inbox Monday with a behind-the-scenes look at getting Local News International off the ground, and I’ll be back next Thursday with another news recap.
Until then,
Chris
Since you made it to the end, you obviously love the newsletter. Consider becoming a member today to support our independent journalism. As a local member, here’s what you’ll get:
✅ Access to quarterly Zoom Q&As
✅ Early access to newsletters
✅ Early access to long form videos
✅ Other new stuff we haven’t thought of yet, but if you have ideas let us know!
