{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1", "title": "journalism on Tyler Knows Nothing", "icon": "https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/aefe2471dd17582d4028c3cf27b70b0b?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fmicro.blog%2Fimages%2Fblank_avatar.png", "home_page_url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/", "feed_url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/feed.json", "items": [ { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2026/04/06/i-think-the-thing-i.html", "content_html": "

I think the thing I hate most about #CNN of late is #ScottJennings, but even more so the stupid jokes the anchors engage in with a person who is getting paid to actively feed propaganda to the people of #America. #MSM #journalism #fascism #gaslighting #TFG #uspol

\n", "date_published": "2026-04-06T13:08:31-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2026/04/06/i-think-the-thing-i.html", "tags": ["journalism","politics"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2026/04/03/kottkeorg-this-nytimes-journalism-wafflehouse.html", "content_html": "

kottke.org:

\n

This… #nytimes #journalism #WaffleHouse #teleportation #fascism

\n\"A\n", "date_published": "2026-04-03T15:22:36-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2026/04/03/kottkeorg-this-nytimes-journalism-wafflehouse.html", "tags": ["journalism"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2025/10/18/the-democrats-and-unbiased-mainstream.html", "content_html": "

The #Democrats and “unbiased” mainstream media’s handling of the #GOP and #MAGA sucks. #TFG & Co.’s messaging is all tightly coordinated. They get their marching orders, are invited onto #CNN and whatnot to spew their lies, whilst Dems change nothing of their messaging. WTAF. #uspol #NOKINGS

\n", "date_published": "2025-10-18T11:28:57-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2025/10/18/the-democrats-and-unbiased-mainstream.html", "tags": ["journalism","politics","rights","activism"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2025/10/11/the-decimation-of-the-fourth.html", "title": "The decimation of the Fourth Estate continues", "content_html": "

The decimation of the Fourth Estate continues. #cbs #bariweiss #news #maga #uspol

\n

‘We Just Got Elon Musk-ed’

\n

Bari Weiss’s first major move as CBS News chief has staffers on edge—ordering every journalist to submit a written memo justifying their work, in an apparent Elon Musk-style loyalty test.

\n\"Bari\n

Hello and happy Saturday,

\n

Bari Weiss is taking a page out of Elon Musk’s playbook. Days after taking over as editor in chief of CBS News, Weiss sent the network’s journalists an email Friday that set off alarm bells. Every staffer, she said, must write for her a memo by Tuesday detailing how they spend their working hours, what they’ve produced, what’s broken, and how they’d fix it.

\n\n

In her memo, The Free Press founder framed the directive as a way to get acquainted with her new troops. “CBS News is a big place with functional titles and reporting structures that I’m learning. But more than the hierarchical niceties, I’m eager to get to know you,” she wrote.

\n

“I’m not looking for a JD or words like synergy,” she continued. “I want to understand how you spend your working hours-and, ideally, what you’ve made (or are making) that you’re most proud of. I’m also interested in hearing your views on what’s working; what’s broken or substandard; and how we can be better. Please be blunt-it will help me.”

\n

But her closing line came with a change in tone that suggested something else: “The goal is simple: I want to familiarize myself with you—and I want you to do the same with me—to know that we are aligned on achieving a shared vision for CBS News.”

\n

If that sounds familiar, it’s because we’ve seen this play before—from Elon Musk. When The Tesla-billionaire’s short-lived and disastrous Department of Government Efficiency demanded federal workers email him lists of their accomplishments to justify their jobs, the move was merely a pretense to fire those he saw as expendable. Those who failed to do so, were told they would be fired. Weiss now appears to be running a similar experiment inside a newsroom.

\n

For many staffers of the storied outlet, the intent of the memo was clear. “We just got Elon Musk-ed,” one told Status. Another was more blunt: “It is a little bit like singing for your supper.”

\n

Of course, any new leader would understandably want to take stock of their newsroom and understand how it operates. But demanding written justifications from every staffer isn’t the way to do it—not in a profession built on trust, independence, and collaboration. Weiss’ version of a listening tour will also surely bury her in paperwork. Compared with the few dozen who work at The Free Press, CBS News employs hundreds of people. A memo from each would amount to a full-time job just to read them.

\n

Hours after Weiss’ memo landed in inboxes, the Writers Guild of America, which represents many CBS News employees, urged staffers to not respond to the request. “We are aware that Bari Weiss sent an email asking CBS employees to provide information about their jobs and feedback about CBS News,” the union wrote to members. “Many of you have expressed concern to us about the purpose of the email, and we share those concerns.”

\n

“That is why we sent the company an immediate demand to provide information about the email by Monday,” the WGA continued. “We suggest that you refrain from responding until we are able to share the information that we receive so that you can make an informed decision by the Tuesday deadline.”

\n

While Weiss was installed by Paramount owner David Ellison less than a week ago, outlining to staff what she described as 10 principles that will guide her leadership while condemning what she described as an “America-loathing far left” and “history-erasing far right,” many inside CBS are still trying to decode what that means.

\n

Now, with Friday’s memo, Weiss has made her intentions unmistakable. While characterizing her mandate as a get-to-know-you exercise to ask journalists to self-justify their jobs in writing, she’s positioning herself to audit the newsroom from the inside out, raising fears of terminations for those who do not adhere to her “anti-woke” worldview. Musk demanded “hard-core” dedication from Twitter employees before gutting the company. Weiss seems to be testing who inside CBS will align with her vision for the network.

\n

That should worry the journalists she now leads. The question at CBS is no longer what kind of newsroom she’ll run, but seemingly who will be left to run it with her.

\n

[SOURCE: www.status.news/p/bari-we…]

\n", "date_published": "2025-10-11T07:53:22-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2025/10/11/the-decimation-of-the-fourth.html", "tags": ["journalism","politics","capitalism"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2025/10/06/ugh-television-journalism-news-cbs.html", "content_html": "

Ugh. #television #journalism #news #CBS #uspol #MAGA www.salon.com/2025/10/0…

\n", "date_published": "2025-10-06T12:50:40-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2025/10/06/ugh-television-journalism-news-cbs.html", "tags": ["journalism","politics","capitalism"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2025/07/01/republicans-who-go-on-cnn.html", "content_html": "\"Jeremy\n

#Republicans who go on #CNN repeat the same talking points every time. WTF can’t the hosts and #Democrats prepare in order to respond? Do NOT give them credit for ANYTHING!! Stop them from lying. Refute their bullshit. BE PREPARED!! #journalism #uspol #NeoLibsArePartOfTheProblem

\n", "date_published": "2025-07-01T19:21:04-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2025/07/01/republicans-who-go-on-cnn.html", "tags": ["journalism","politics"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2025/06/24/a-word-to-the-weiss.html", "title": "A Word to the Weiss | An Unauthorized Reprint", "content_html": "

David Ellison has quietly courted Bari Weiss for a possible role at CBS News—a move that hints at how he may steer the network if his merger goes through.

\n

by Oliver Darcy - June 24th, 2025 [Source]

\n\"David\n

David Ellison and Bari Weiss. Bari Weiss (Status Illustration/Leigh Vogel/Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

\n

Late last year, during a trip to New York City, David Ellison quietly made time for a meeting that said as much about his worldview as it did about his interest in media. According to people familiar with the matter, the Hollywood scion set time aside on his busy calendar to meet with Bari Weiss, the founder of The Free Press. Ellison, like a number of C-suite executive types, has long been an admirer of Weiss’ style of journalism, I’m told, viewing her as one of the more compelling voices in the shifting landscape of independent journalism.

\n

During the meeting, Ellison, who is set to control CBS News once the Paramount Global–Skydance Media deal closes, expressed strong interest in recruiting Weiss to work in some capacity with the network, according to people familiar with the matter. I’m told that Ellison appeared to leave a wide range of options on the table, signaling that he sees Weiss as a valuable addition while he considers how to put his stamp on the news division. While a management role is not said to be on the table, it would not be out of the range of possibilities that she could be named as an on-air contributor or even perhaps given a coveted correspondent position on “60 Minutes.”

\n

That said, it’s unclear whether the discussions between Ellison and Weiss ever advanced beyond the meeting late last year and a representative for Skydance declined to comment. Weiss did not respond to a request for comment. Regardless, the fact that the conversation occurred at all offers an early glimpse of Ellison’s thinking and how he plans to reshape the storied news organization, once home to the likes of Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow.

\n

In recent years, Weiss has become a major star in right-wing media, known for assailing mainstream institutions as out of touch and under the trance of the “woke” left. Weiss has also gained significant notoriety for chastising and portraying mainstream news outlets, including CBS News, as biased instruments of the progressive elite. While Weiss might be popular in certain circles, many journalists view her unfavorably, criticizing both her tactics and views.

\n

That Ellison would entertain bringing her into the fold signals not only his appetite for shaking up the network, but also the kind of voices he might turn to. Not only does Ellison appear to be interested in looking beyond traditional broadcasting talent, but he appears to be on board with introducing voices that have made their names by relentlessly criticizing—or outright bashing—the legacy press.

\n

Indeed, the Weiss outreach offers one of the first tangible clues as to how Ellison might seek to chart a new course for CBS News, given that he has remained largely silent in public about his vision for the network. While Ellison hasn’t spelled out his plans, he’s recently been spotted ringside at UFC fights alongside Donald Trump as he seemingly tries to win over the president for government approval of his protracted merger. Taken together, the actions suggest Ellison may be comfortable moving the network in a direction that aims to appeal more to right-leaning audiences—whether because of his personal preference, the current political moment, or both.

\n

Of course, inside CBS News, the journalists are on edge about what their new parent company will do with the organization, particularly after network boss Wendy McMahon and “60 Minutes” chief Bill Owens both resigned earlier this year in protest over corporate interference. Morale inside “60 Minutes,” I’m told, is at a nadir, with staffers uncertain what the future holds for the crown jewel of American broadcast journalism. Moreover, broadly throughout the organization, staffers are anticipating the new owners will seek to implement budget cuts when they get the keys to the palace—and they’re not wrong to harbor such worries.

\n

For now, however, Ellison’s exact plans for CBS News remain unclear and the Skydance team is holding those cards close to the vest. But his meeting with Weiss—and the broader questions it raises about the kind of talent he might seek to bring in—is sure to add to the unease already coursing through the newsroom. What is certain is that CBS News is making its way through a period of profound uncertainty, as employees wait to see what is in store for them, just around the corner.

\n

My Words

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It’s a really bad time to be putting critical reporting like this behind a paywall. I’ll take it down if asked, but I believe everyone needs to be able to read this, not just those in the know or who can afford to. The oligarchy has been working hard for a very long time to grapple back their stranglehold over the American economy. The ultra wealthy are snapping up anything of value, monetary, production, competitive, and messaging platforms alike, in order to have greater control over what we see, hear, buy, have access to, and otherwise consume, and not for the betterment of society. Read this. Share this. We clearly can’t stop it, as much as the courts can stop the Trump Administration from breaking the law and the Constitution, but if we know, we can stop watching CBS altogether. #capitalism #journalism #uspol #editorial

\n", "date_published": "2025-06-24T20:38:56-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2025/06/24/a-word-to-the-weiss.html", "tags": ["journalism","politics","capitalism","editorial"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2025/05/29/bots-from-the-likes-of.html", "content_html": "

Bots from the likes of #Microsoft, #Amazon, #Oracle, #Tencent, #Russia and countless others are destroying the #OpenWeb. The latest casualty is Ric Ford’s legendary #MacInTouch. So terrible and disappointing. #apple #news #internet #capitalism #bullshit mjtsai.com/blog/2025…

\n", "date_published": "2025-05-29T18:58:56-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2025/05/29/bots-from-the-likes-of.html", "tags": ["journalism","Apple","capitalism"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2025/05/01/well-this-is-just-more.html", "content_html": "

Well, this is just more stupid #capitalism at work. I guess I’ll have to now unsub from #Polygon’s RSS feeds. Generic corporate villain #Valnet has laid off most of the masthead. So, so stupid. Do the new owners really think people will stick around for AI slop? #videogames kotaku.com/polygon-s…

\n", "date_published": "2025-05-01T15:58:17-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2025/05/01/well-this-is-just-more.html", "tags": ["journalism","video games"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2025/03/22/anyone-who-would-advocate-for.html", "content_html": "

Anyone who would advocate for the arrest of John Cusack and call him a “marginal success” clearly has no sense, an agenda, or both. These are the same people claiming Tesla protests are terrorism and school shootings are normal. #uspol #fascism #capitalism boingboing.net/2025/03/2…

\n", "date_published": "2025-03-22T08:24:26-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2025/03/22/anyone-who-would-advocate-for.html", "tags": ["journalism","politics","capitalism"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2025/03/02/my-wife-tracks-the-daily.html", "content_html": "

My wife tracks the daily activities of the #Trump administration so you have one place to check instead of trying to find trustworthy news outlets. Check it out, and if you find it helpful consider subscribing. Options start at free and no paywalls. #uspol #news rimaregasblog42.substack.com/p/things-…

\n", "date_published": "2025-03-02T15:02:43-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2025/03/02/my-wife-tracks-the-daily.html", "tags": ["journalism","politics"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2025/02/28/maybe-you-know-not-such.html", "content_html": "

Maybe… you know… not such a good idea to invest in new #Switch controllers, considering #Nintendo is about to roll out the #Switch2. You think, #Verge? Just seems like bad timing, no? #videogames #journalism www.theverge.com/23350899/…

\n", "date_published": "2025-02-28T23:45:11-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2025/02/28/maybe-you-know-not-such.html", "tags": ["journalism","video games"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2025/02/24/you-know-appleinsidermastodonsocial-id-love.html", "content_html": "

You know, @appleinsider@mastodon.social, I’d love to cover your piece about the Steve Jobs Archive celebrating his life on the day he died, but when you don’t include any links to anything outside of your website, I cannot. Not helpful. #tech #apple #journalism

\n", "date_published": "2025-02-24T20:36:51-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2025/02/24/you-know-appleinsidermastodonsocial-id-love.html", "tags": ["journalism","Apple","technology"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2025/02/23/censorship-isnt-limited-to-socialnetworks.html", "content_html": "

#Censorship isn’t limited to #socialnetworks. Last year there were nearly 300 #internet shutdowns in 54 countries, the worst on record. I wonder how long it will take #TFG & Co to try that here. #politics #uspol #fascism #tech www.axios.com/2025/02/2…

\n", "date_published": "2025-02-23T19:57:23-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2025/02/23/censorship-isnt-limited-to-socialnetworks.html", "tags": ["journalism","politics","technology"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2025/02/07/there-is-one-simple-question.html", "content_html": "

There is one simple question never posed by any in a position to ask:

\n

Where’s the proof?

\n

#TFG & Company have floated all manner of madness and have never furnished proof. Period. Full stop.

\n

This one exclusion could be the end of #America. #uspol #fascism #doge #racism #whitesupremacy

\n", "date_published": "2025-02-07T19:10:31-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2025/02/07/there-is-one-simple-question.html", "tags": ["journalism","politics"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2025/01/18/a-month-for-a-single.html", "title": "$15 a month for a single newsletter is unsustainable", "content_html": "\"An\n

#journalism #dollarnomics #editorial - Tyler K. Nothing reporting.

\n

DATELINE INTERNETOPIA - #Substack has created a mythology in the form of the $15 a month newsletter. The claim was that it would help support independent writers who have been driven out of organized news gathering by capitalist greed’s desire to “trim the fat” (meaning people who cost money they’d rather have in their Cayman bank accounts), but the model is unsustainable. In reality, all it does is net Substack more revenue.

\n

Of course, they need that larger cut to support the now far more bloated model that appears to include completely free hosting of a blog, unless you want to use your custom domain, and then you’ll have to cough up $50… and then do it yourself. Yeah. You pay them to then do all the legwork. Liberating, indeed.

\n

Whinging about fees nobody else charges aside, most newsletters are asking for $15 every single month. That doesn’t get you an entire newspapers worth of content, but the words of one contributor. And Substack doesn’t offer discounts for subscribing to multiple newsletters, so if you pay for three newsletters you will be forking over $45 a month.

\n

That comes to $540 a year which is more than double what we pay annually to heat our water and dry our clothes. Imagine floating an entire newspaper’s bullpen at those rates so one person could stay up-to-date with the news! Not that I would, but I can get a subscription to the Pasadena Star-News for $3.50 a week. That’s an actual newspaper with lots of contributors, sections, resources, and whatnot and it’s still a buck less a month than that single newsletter.

\n

We can’t do this. It won’t work. We cannot continue to rely on insanely wealthy oligarchs owning all of our local and national news, whose collective bias against a free press has become increasingly clear over the past few years, to transmit that bias into our consciousness on a daily basis.

\n

If there is one thing we can do as, and I’ll use the word yet again, a collective, it is to subscribe to an organic virtual bullpen of writers to produce open source news that everyone could benefit from, regardless of how deep (or shallow) their pockets are. Several such collectives would be even better. And let’s start it at $5 a month with a sliding scale so readers can select a contribution they can afford.

\n

The mainstream media, popularly known as the MSM in various circles, and the internet as a whole, has been slowly and methodically subsumed by the rich and powerful and turned into outlets for their increasingly unhinged desires to terraform society into something better suited to their wants and needs.

\n

Look no further than Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter and its rapid descent into madness. More recently Mark Zuckerberg has announced the end of fact checking on Facebook and other Meta platforms for reasons that are plainly disingenuous. X is much smaller than Facebook, but Facebook and Instagram represents 5 BILLION USERS.

\n

If Mark is able to influence a mere 1% of his global userbase, that’s 50 MILLION people.

\n

That’s just insane.

\n

A solution requires two parties, creators and readers. We have the creators, but readers need to step up and be willing to pay a small monthly fee knowing that it will go towards the production of quality, reliable, fact-checked news gathering. Getting everything on the internet for free is a zombie shambling around a china shop, smashing everything and making a chaotic mess of things and we need to put it down, for good.

\n

After all, you get what you pay for.

\n

For more on my concept of Dollarnomics, read here and here.

", "date_published": "2025-01-18T20:41:25-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2025/01/18/a-month-for-a-single.html", "tags": ["journalism","editorial","Dollarnomics"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2024/11/18/when-it-comes.html", "content_html": "

When it comes to #tech press, one thing bothers me above all else; high-end reportage that ignores the bulk of users. The vast majority of people getting a #Mac probably don’t even know what a virtual machine is, much less need one. Despite this, nerd journos almost exclusively focus on the much smaller professional slice of the market. #Apple #Journalism www.macworld.com/article/2…

\n

In short, if you want to buy a new computer and use it like an average person, go ahead and get an M4 Mac Mini base model. Grab yourself a Samsung T7 external SSD in 1 or 2TB capacity, and rest easy that your $700+ will last you for years to come. The M4 is a little terror that sips power. Your email, messaging, social media, and streaming sessions will be just fine.

\n", "date_published": "2024-11-18T14:11:45-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2024/11/18/when-it-comes.html", "tags": ["journalism","Apple","technology"] }, { "id": "http://tknblogs.micro.blog/2016/02/14/hey-msm-something.html", "title": "Hey, MSM! Something to say? Just say it!", "content_html": "

" “>

\n

The flowery language. The academia polished until the shine is almost unbearable. The suggestion of an opinion. The metaphor, obscure references, and sardonic wit. These are all hallmarks common to most pundits, and it annoys me to no end. 

\n

Can we please just get to the point?!

\n

In a piece published on the MSNBC site today, Irin Carmon discusses the hand gestures Bernie Sanders' makes while talking. This is how she sums up that piece:

\n
\n

Male politicians can face potential minefields of their own, at least when campaigning against a woman. In 2000, when Clinton ran for Senate in New York, the image of her male opponent crossing the stage during a debate and wagging his finger in her face, demanding she sign a campaign finance pledge, came to define the race. The gesture, which many saw as sexist, or as one of Clinton’s aides put it at the time, “menacing,” was credited with helping her win by 12 points. 

\n

There have been no such moments so far in the Democratic primary debates, as Clinton runs for president for a second time. Sanders has been careful to express his respect for the former secretary of state and to keep it professional and largely amiable. He’s also kept on his side of the stage. 

\n
\n

Unless you're a political junkie and/or live in the State of New York, you might not recall this event. Back in 2000, when HRC was running for the open Senate seat in New York, her opponent, Rick Lazio, left his podium, walked across the stage, handed her a piece of paper, and wagged his hand. Hillary went on to beat Rick by 12 points because the HRC campaign machine pushed out the clip repeatedly, suggesting that Lazio was being menacing and that the act was sexist in nature. I don't disagree. It was a terrible mistake to make on Lazio's part, and he paid the price for it. 

\n

Now, read Carmon's conclusion again. She states a known fact, that Sanders has been respectful of Clinton, and then references the Lazio event. From 2000. From a state Senate debate. Aired on C-Span. So, why not state clearly that Sanders hasn't been threatening, tried to get her to sign some dumb pledge, or wagged his finger in her face?

\n

Ego.

\n

You've been educated. You did 4-7 years in college for just a degree or stuck around to get your Masters. You've penned a dissertation or two. You've been working as a journalist, analyst, and/or pundit for years. You are recognized as an expert in your field. Now you get called to go on MSNBC or Fox News or CNN once, twice, a dozen times. You have arrived. You are a nationally recognized leader in your field. 

\n

So, rather than face the difficulty of determining the awareness level of your audience, you just crank up the academia, pound in the complex terms, leverage your most obscure references, and lay down some deftly complicated metaphors and hope that your readers are up to the challenge. What you won't do, however, is just say what you mean.

\n

This might surprise you, but being clear and excising complexity from your prose is not condescending. You won't talk down to your readers. They won't feel like you've abandoned your educational and professional background. To the contrary, they might just thank you. Life is difficult enough to deal with. We don't need Dianetics-grade journalism that requires a dictionary to read.* 

\n

Now, it's clear that Carmon's piece isn't anywhere near the L. Ron meter, much less high on it, but she remains unclear about what she's saying, all the way to the end. It's an opinion piece! You CAN make clear the points you want to get across. There aren't any rules, but that's the POINT of an opinion piece; share your opinion! Don't make people work hard for it. 

\n

The last thing we need in America now, at a time when class division is at an all-time high, the filters have been yanked off and tossed away, and both major political parties are embroiled in their own version of a civil war, is for our news outlets and primary voices to be unclear. We need to speak clearly, make our points crystal clear, and cut it out with the silly bits that fly over most people's heads. 

\n

* my own obscure reference to L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics book which was famously difficult to read without an Oxford dictionary that I explain here because it's the nice thing to do. Not everyone recalls this. 

\n", "date_published": "2016-02-14T15:30:59-07:00", "url": "https://tylerknowsnothing.com/2016/02/14/hey-msm-something.html", "tags": ["journalism"] } ] }