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brihreed.bsky.social
Brian Reed
@brihreed.bsky.social
550 followers 300 following 160 posts
Host of Question Everything from KCRW and Placement Theory: lnk.to/khCBOC Co-founder of Placement Theory Host of S-Town; Co-Host of The Trojan Horse Affair (Serial/New York Times); formerly senior producer at This American Life Signal: brihreed.45
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Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 10d
We are excited to be nominated for a Signal Award in three categories! Please vote for us, it helps the show. Go to vote.signalaward.com, search for “Placement Theory”, and vote for the three entries that pop up. Thank you!
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brihreed.bsky.social
Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 16h
‘I believed Sandy Hook was a hoax…”

Listen: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/q...
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Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 2d
Spotify 🎧: open.spotify.com/episode/550B...
‘I Believed Sandy Hook Was a Hoax’
open.spotify.com
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brihreed.bsky.social
Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 2d
Apple 🍎: t.co/uKSwwtxdh8
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/question-everything/id1765799296?i=1000732111368
t.co
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Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 2d
How does that happen? How did the wool finally fall from Kate's eyes? And how does she feel now about having believed something so outrageous, and painful?

Listen at the links below ⬇️
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Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 2d
I grew up 10 miles from Sandy Hook. When I was in elementary school I used to go see $2 movies with my mom at the town hall. My childhood priest officiated funerals for eight of the children.

I'd never met someone who believed the lie about Sandy Hook - and then disbelieved it.
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brihreed.bsky.social
Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 2d
At one time, one in four Americans believed that the truth about the mass shooting in Sandy Hook, CT, was being covered up.

One in four.

Kate, who I interview on Question Everything this week, was one of them. In fact, Kate believed the entire shooting was staged.
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brihreed.bsky.social
Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 4d
Question Everything: “Enhancing Trust in the Wheat.”
boysek.bsky.social Kyla @boysek.bsky.social · 4d
I think this is a big part of why I appreciate your pod Question Everything and @onthemedia.bsky.social so much. Understanding what good journalism is, and how good journalists work, helps a media consumer separate the wheat from the chaff and enhances trust in the wheat! 🌾
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brihreed.bsky.social
Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 4d
Thank you Kyla, I'm glad! Please share with your friends and family, spread the word!
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Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 4d
No replies to this ... so I'll take that as no outlet is agreeing? The Pentagon Press corps is no more?
brihreed.bsky.social Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 4d
From the Pentagon Press Association: “This Wednesday, most Pentagon Press Association members seem likely to hand over their badges..."

Does anyone know of any outlet that IS agreeing to the Pentagon’s draconian new terms for press access? I’m curious to talk to them if so.
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brihreed.bsky.social
Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 4d
From the Pentagon Press Association: “This Wednesday, most Pentagon Press Association members seem likely to hand over their badges..."

Does anyone know of any outlet that IS agreeing to the Pentagon’s draconian new terms for press access? I’m curious to talk to them if so.
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brihreed.bsky.social
Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 10d
We are excited to be nominated for a Signal Award in three categories! Please vote for us, it helps the show. Go to vote.signalaward.com, search for “Placement Theory”, and vote for the three entries that pop up. Thank you!
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brihreed.bsky.social
Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 12d
Read the full sitch here 🔗: open.substack.com/pub/question...
Why the BBC claims it had “no choice” but to nix a film about Gaza.
Let’s parse their reasoning.
open.substack.com
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Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 12d
I found the response the BBC gave to our reporting about the Gaza documentary they killed to be incredible. In what world does the BBC not have a choice about what to run or not? In what world does it not have a choice over what its own editorial and ethical policies are?

Link ⬇️
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brihreed.bsky.social
Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 14d
I gotcha
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Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 14d
Yes to be clear, I'm not proposing government fines or regulation. That, to me, is the elegance of this solution. It's *removing* a regulation -- by stripping away a special subsidy the govt has bestowed upon only tech platforms -- and forcing their business models to adapt to market forces.
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Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 14d
Their business models are built on this special liability shield in Section 230 that no other industry gets. We've seen the business model is harmful. Let's bring them on an even playing field with all other media.
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Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 14d
It's not a fine. They'd be exposed to lawsuits from those who are defamed. Most lies are not defamatory -- 99% of lies are protected speech. But for defamatory lies -- like against Dominion Voting Systems Sandy Hook families -- those who were defa med could sue the platforms. Right now, they can't.
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Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 14d
My point is: they are doing that already. They're identifying things that are false and incendiary and boosting those things. With no liability. I think the liability should be imposed for algorithmic boosting. They shouldn't censor posts. But not everybody is entitled to massive boosting.
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Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 14d
As of this week we have a new social meida app, Sora, from OpenAI, which makes powerful AI generated video in seconds and spreads it around. They need the normal liability other content creators and media companies have to force any kind of accountability.
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Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 14d
We know their algorithms are already identifying content for aspects of it that are harmful to boost it. Let's disincentivize that.
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Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 14d
Yeah, if social media as we know it went away, would that be such a bad thing? But assuming their business is so strong they're motivated to find a way to keep their model, they don't need to arbitrate the truth of every post. How about just NOT algorithmically boosting lies to travel 6X faster?
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Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 15d
Don’t forget the Ellisons getting in on TikTok too — which because of Section 230 is immune from lawsuits! That’s where I think we need to focus and can make an impact.
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Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 15d
No. We need to strip the special immunity social media companies have from lawsuits (for defamation, etc). Put them on an even playing field with the rest of the market, and expose their business models to the same liability as everyone else. Not govt intervention or regulation.
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Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 15d
This is a nightmare. Not that traditional media needs to be *the* trusted source of news, but knowing the alternative information ecosystem people are turning to, there needs to be a systemic effort to disincentivize lies there and incentivize facts.

(h/t @oliverdarcy.bsky.social at Status)
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Brian Reed @brihreed.bsky.social · 15d
Think about the role of these quotations marks in this reporting on this news about reporting, and what it says about the state of reality right now.
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