Hi friends!
Sources (i.e. Dave lol) tell me that we’ve gotten almost a thousand new subscribers to this newsletter in the last week. So allow me to reintroduce myself and what we’re doing here: I’m Chris Vazquez, Dave’s former intern-turned-full-time-coworker.
Every Friday (or Thursday evening if you’re an LNI member with perks like early access to our newsletters), I send you an email recapping the news Dave has covered in the last week. I start off with a brief intro, then dive into a news recap and turn things over to Dave for some analysis. We close things out with a few recurring features I use to trick incentivize you to scroll to the end: a pet photo, and a reveal for where I hid a non-news related link in the email. Think of this whole thing like a sandwich, except the meat is news and the top slice is just me rambling and the bottom slice is pet pictures that you send me. Much like a hefty sandwich, this analogy is falling apart so let’s move on.
“But wait!” you might be thinking. “I subscribed for Dave, and you’re not Dave!” So true! But don’t worry — he’ll be in your inbox on Monday, reflecting on his last week of building an independent news media company from scratch.
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I’ll level with you, nearly a thousand new subscribers, you’re catching me on a weird week. I ran into some thorny questions writing this week’s newsletter. Like, should the push to not name shooters out of fear of inspiring copycats apply to coverage of Charlie Kirk’s killing? How do we accurately describe that protests in Nepal were largely deadly for protesters and not because of them? And how do we convey what we know and don’t know about Epstein survivors being trafficked to other powerful men?
All to say, if you’re first impression of me is that I’m weirdly serious in a way that doesn’t mesh with why you follow Dave or subscribed to his newsletter, I like to think that I’m generally funnier than this and just have a lot on my mind this week. I also hope this gives you some insight into what goes into our work at Local News International — not just being funny, but making lots of intentional decisions around how to give you an accurate, comprehensive understanding of the world around us. With that, let’s dive in.
Readers respond:
I heart @davetakespictures
The internet and the assassination
Officials say the shooting suspect in Charlie Kirk’s killing engraved his bullets with references to memes, a video game that satirizes fascism and an Italian anti-fascist song.
Some online speculated that the engravings suggest the suspect is a “Groyper,” or a follower of fascist podcaster and Kirk rival Nick Fuentes. But no connection has been confirmed, and Fuentes has denounced the killing.
After speaking with six sources familiar with the investigation, Axios reported that authorities are investigating whether their suspect opposed Kirk’s transphobic views, and whether that might point to a motive. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, told ABC News that the suspect had a romantic relationship with his roommate who was transitioning. This could be an attempt by conservatives to tie the shooting to trans people without evidence.
Meanwhile, employers across the U.S. — from comic book publishers to late night talk shows — bent to right-wing backlash and disciplined or fired people over their responses to the shooting. Former Washington Post opinion columnist Karen Attiah put her firing in the context of “a broader purge of Black voices from academia, business, government, and media.”
Meanwhile, in non-Charlie Kirk news
Gen Z-led protests in Nepal led to the country’s prime minister resigning. A now-lifted social media ban, a deep economic crisis and wealth inequality between politicians’ families and the public fueled the protests. In one day, police killed 19 protesters. The total death toll now stands at over 70.
A United Nations commission said in a 72-page report that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The report identifies four genocidal acts: killing Palestinians in Gaza, causing “serious bodily and mental harm,” trying to bring about their “physical destruction in whole or in part,” and trying to “prevent births within the group.” Meanwhile, the Israeli military is trapping thousands and killing dozens in Gaza City at the time I’m writing this newsletter, while also bombing densely populated parts of Lebanon.
During a heated congressional hearing Tuesday, embattled FBI director Kash Patel said there was no credible information that Jeffrey Epstein, the financier convicted for sex trafficking, did so for anyone but himself. But court filings include survivors’ allegations that they were trafficked "for sexual purposes to many other powerful men.” Other survivors have said in civil suits that Epstein trafficked them to others. Court filings also list powerful men connected to Epstein, but don’t explicitly suggest wrongdoing related to Epstein.
Who’s afraid of the FCC?
First, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission criticized late night host Jimmy Kimmel’s comments on Charlie Kirk. Then, ABC pulled Kimmel’s show off the air.
So, who is Brendan Carr? He runs the governmental watchdog over the broadcast industry. After rising the ranks at the FCC, he criticized what he called liberal biases in news media during Trump’s first term. He then wrote the chapter about the FCC in Project 2025. There, he called for the FCC to limit social media companies’ ability to moderate content and for the new administration to ban TikTok on national security grounds.
Since Carr took over, the FCC has pushed companies to dismantle DEI programs. Carr’s also reinstated complaints accusing broadcast news networks of political bias.
Carr can’t revoke a news station’s license to broadcast just because he disagrees with its content, but telecom experts told The New York Times he’s broadly used something called the “public interest standard” to crack down on speech he doesn’t like.
How does the federal government make money?
The federal government is estimated to collected over $5 trillion this year to pay for all of its programs and services.
85% of that money comes from individual income and payroll taxes out of people’s wages and salaries. The rest comes from other sources, including corporate taxes and non-tax revenue like National Park entrance fees.
Although the federal government is estimated to collect $5 trillion this way, it spent $7 trillion — so it’s about $2 trillion short on its budget.
This video is part of Dave’s partnership with Free the Facts, a nonpartisan, non-profit organization that empowers young Americans to learn and lead.
Each week, I hand things over to Dave for some analysis on the news he’s covered in the last week. Dave, you’re turn!
Hey all, it’s me Dave. There’s been so much news this week, I was forced to make a video with meta commentary about just how much news there was. But outside of all that, I was overwhelmed with incredible emails from you all in response to Monday’s newsletter.
The question I posed - “are young men okay?” -was met with mixed reactions. Many, many young men wrote in to tell me:
a) they were okay and here’s a weird meme, or …
b) they were sort of okay but here’s a weird meme, or finally …
c) they were not okay and were really looking for guidance or hope.
That last group of emails was devastating to read, but also refreshing in their honesty. In a roundabout way, you all proved my point that the concern over young men in this country is shared by young men, too. We all want to feel better, or feel seen. The loneliness epidemic affects everyone in different ways. However you are feeling right now, as always, I’m so grateful you’re subscribing here, watching my goofy videos and generally along for the ride here at LNI.
Another thing I appreciate about you all as an audience (including the many lovely people who wrote into tell me they were not young men) is how many of you reached out about a misquote in last week’s newsletter. I was referencing Charlie Kirk’s racism with a quote “I hate black people.” This actually came from one of his employees at TPUSA. We’ve since replaced it with another example.
Those who wrote in didn’t do so angrily or with judgment. You all just wanted to help get the facts right. I’m honored to have followers like you, who care so much about journalism and getting it right.
Thanks, Dave.
If you’ve made it all the way to the end of this email, then my evil plan worked. Here’s a pet picture as a reward. This is Layla, and I relate to her wistful stare on a beach because I’m dreading the end of summer.
Everyone say “Hi, Layla.”
And this week’s hidden link was a wiki entry for Derek Tolliver, a character from 1980s ‘Suicide Squad’ comics who’s a member of the U.S. security apparatus interfacing with the covert ops team. I’ve been reading those comics voraciously over the last few days before my DC Universe Infinite subscription expires. Those stories pose really interesting questions around state violence, what we talk about when we talk about justice, how those issues manifested during the Reagan and Bush administrations, and how those issues are still with us today. Maybe that’ll be the subject of my inane ramblings at the top of this newsletter next week, if that sounds interesting to you! Who knows!
Until next time,
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:
📌 Early access to newsletters and long-form videos
📌 Exclusive short-form videos only for members
📌 Exclusive quarterly Q&A’s
📌 Full archive access
📌 Dave (and Lola) stickers
📌 Access to our exclusive private Slack channel (International Tier)
