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Charlie Beckett

@charliebeckett.bsky.social

3.3K followers 270 following 900 posts

LSE journalism professor I run the LSE Polis Journalism and AI project Hammer

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Communication & Media Studies 37%

Political science 35%

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Charlie Beckett @charliebeckett.bsky.social · Dec 18

2024 was JournalismAI's busiest ever: 6,000 training participants, Our Academy programmes in Spanish, Arabic, Korean (and English!), 40 JournalismAI Fellows, and 35 news orgs getting grants in our Innovation Challenge. All the details from our latest newsletter lnkd.in/eJ-ms2b5

Charlie Beckett @charliebeckett.bsky.social · 1d

The best exceptions to this are at the BBC - WATO and PM. Their presenters are not egotistical and utterly focused on finding answers for eager listeners. Have to say LBC and Times Radio can be good, too. What's wrong with TV?

Charlie Beckett @charliebeckett.bsky.social · 1d

How about considering the failure of orthodox politics? (And media) Misinformation or conspiracy theories are therapy for those burnt by reality. The real world delivered by liberal elites is really shit for many people.

Charlie Beckett @charliebeckett.bsky.social · 1d

It's just economics. Chat is cheap.

Charlie Beckett @charliebeckett.bsky.social · 1d

That's why I go and make coffee when the Today programme interviews a politician and why I fast forward through interviews when I play back a show like @channel4news.bsky.social The interviews are the least relevant and informative parts of the programme.

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Charlie Beckett @charliebeckett.bsky.social · 1d

I'm a slow learner. As someone who has produced a million broadcast interviews I now realise why they don't work. I now tune out when they happen in that usual set piece style because they exclude me. It's just a ritual exchange. Unlike podcasts where the inclusion of the audience is implied.

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Charlie Beckett @charliebeckett.bsky.social · 3d

Kerry Marshall at the @royalacademyarts.bsky.social is hugely enjoyable

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Charlie Beckett @charliebeckett.bsky.social · 4d

This is an interesting study of how official or trade journalism publications have discussed AI and journalism: "Little focus is given to the audiences in this discussion, potentially missing the opportunity to develop strategies for responsible innovation" www.tandfonline.com/eprint/PINGA...

ChatBots as Artificial Intermediaries? Adaptation to Artificial Intelligence in Newsrooms

Journalists have long claimed authority regarding the distribution of valid knowledge and hence, have discursively placed themselves in an intermediary role between audiences and the information th...

www.tandfonline.com

Charlie Beckett @charliebeckett.bsky.social · 5d

You're assuming that academic co-authorship is always a valid reflection of mutual contribution? 🤔

Charlie Beckett @charliebeckett.bsky.social · 6d

This is a good summary of the debate at the IMEdD conference on 'navigating the age of doubt'. I welcomed the age of doubt 😀
lab.imedd.org/en/navigatin...

"Navigating the Age of Doubt": Journalists Debate Survival, Trust and the Future of their Mission - iMEdD Lab

The opening panel of the iMEdD International Journalism Forum 2025 highlighted a profession in flux, balancing threats and opportunities, technology and human values, skepticism and public service.

lab.imedd.org

Reposted by Charlie Beckett

Philip Di Salvo @philipdisalvo.bsky.social · 6d

Professional Journalism Workshop: "Leading Journalism in the Age of AI: Executive Insights and Strategy”, a course for journalists and media people at @unisg.ch this November with @charliebeckett.bsky.social, @alviani.bsky.social and me. All info: mcm.unisg.ch/en/weiterbil...

Ping me if interested!

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Charlie Beckett @charliebeckett.bsky.social · 7d

Polite question. Why, of all artistic genres, do movie makers insist on ruining the opening of their product with endless credits and production logos? What is the point? It doesn't build anticipation or improve brand recognition. New broadcasters (YT) don't do it. So why?

Charlie Beckett @charliebeckett.bsky.social · 8d

The weird thing is that it portrays extreme politics as niche and quaint when, in the US, they are now mainstream

Charlie Beckett @charliebeckett.bsky.social · 8d

It's as good as they say. Tip: get close seats to a big screen. The close ups are immense. www.theguardian.com/film/2025/se...

One Battle After Another review – Paul Thomas Anderson’s thrillingly helter-skelter counterculture caper

Anderson updates Thomas Pynchon for the era of Ice roundups, pitting shaggy revolutionary Leonardo DiCaprio against cartoonish forces of reaction

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Sander van der Linden, Laura K. Taylor, Charlie Beckett , and 3 more Sander van der Linden, Laura K. Taylor, Charlie Beckett, Stephen Cushion, Damian Trilling, Aleksandra Urman

Claes de Vreese @claesdevreese.bsky.social · 12d

Come work with us 🚨

We are looking for a #postdoc in our @aimediademlab.bsky.social lab.

Profile: Comm sci / poli sci/ computational social science.

Great team, timely topocs, fabulous city, good conditions.

DL 🗓️ November 1

werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...

Vacancy — Postdoctoral researcher Communication Science at AI, Media & Democracy Lab

Do you want to be part of the AI, Media & Democracy Lab? We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher with a profile in communication science.

werkenbij.uva.nl

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Charlie Beckett @charliebeckett.bsky.social · 12d

A good example of constructive journalism from Helen Davidson: reporting on a disaster aftermath in a serious but positive way that stresses resilience alongside grief www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Gym bros, monks, retirees: thousands descend on Taiwan town to clean up after devastating flood

Trains packed with volunteers arrive at tourist town of Guangfu, days after typhoon sent millions of tonnes of mud and water crashing through its streets

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Charlie Beckett

Reuters Institute @reutersinstitute.bsky.social · 12d

Are you a newsroom leader seeking a practical, in-person learning experience? Apply for one of our newsroom leadership courses.

We have upcoming courses in October and November.

More info: buff.ly/iVlBWgo

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Charlie Beckett @charliebeckett.bsky.social · 12d

Yes it's horrific and I've no idea how you'd stop it. Except close down OpenAI

Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 13d

I spent some time with OpenAI's new AI video app Sora. Not just slop but ragebait, fake crimes and women splattered with white goo. The implications of all of this are horrifying.

Charlie Beckett @charliebeckett.bsky.social · 12d

I'm struggling to find any decent analysis of Hamas and its response to the Trump proposal. Mainstream media seems to treat them as an homogenous but almost mythical entity. Anyone seen anything good?

Reposted by Robert W. Wallace, Charlie Beckett

Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 13d

I spent some time with OpenAI's new AI video app Sora. Not just slop but ragebait, fake crimes and women splattered with white goo. The implications of all of this are horrifying.

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Reposted by Charlie Beckett

Nieman Lab @niemanlab.org · 14d

Last week at the International Journalism Forum in Athens, Anna Bucks (@economist.com), Mari Luz Peinado (@elpais.com), and Jason Koebler (@404media.co) discussed how they bring readers directly to their platforms.

Here’s some of what they’ve tried and learned: www.niemanlab.org/2025/09/the-...

“The AI-ification of email” keeps 404 Media’s Jason Koebler up at night

For now, though, email newsletters have "completely changed" 404's business "almost literally overnight."

www.niemanlab.org

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Charlie Beckett @charliebeckett.bsky.social · 14d

I wrote a tiny blog based on a bit of what I said at the Athens iMEdD International Journalism Forum last week. Links in the piece to a recording of the whole session 'Navigating the age of doubt' and the rest of the conference blogs.lse.ac.uk/polis/2025/0...

Charlie Beckett @charliebeckett.bsky.social · 15d

It's also exemplary at showing their workings. This is not just good transparency around AI, it's also an excellent bit of media literacy that helps the public understand how hard quality journalism can be, and why you need to have resources to invest in it www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

Reading the post-riot posts: how we traced far-right radicalisation across 51,000 Facebook messages

Tracing profiles of those charged with online offences in summer 2024 helped us map a thriving social ecosystem trading far-right sentiment and political disillusionment

www.theguardian.com

Charlie Beckett @charliebeckett.bsky.social · 15d

This Guardian investigation into UK online far-right networks is a brilliant example of how to combine human journalism with LLM AI tools for long-term, in-depth, large-scale data analysis. www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...

Inside the everyday Facebook networks where far-right ideas grow

The Guardian spent a year studying an online community trading in anti-immigration sentiment and misinformation. Experts say such spaces can play a role in radicalisation

www.theguardian.com

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Charlie Beckett @charliebeckett.bsky.social · 15d

This is a fascinating journalism conference in Athens. Superbly organised and with a distinct focus on practice and mission-driven journalism. It is somewhat eccentric, but I like that. Amazing venue, too www.imedd.org/events/imedd...

iMEdD International Journalism Forum 2025 - iMEdD

We welcome ideas highlighting practical skill-building, emerging technologies, and a diversity of voices in journalism.

www.imedd.org

Charlie Beckett @charliebeckett.bsky.social · 18d

Terrific debate in Athens tonight about how we navigate the treacherous media waters: insights from across the globe #imedd forum.imedd.org/en/journalis...

Charlie Beckett @charliebeckett.bsky.social · 20d

My Department have raised their social media game 👏🏻

Charlie Beckett @charliebeckett.bsky.social · 20d

Those of us on the liberal left who think the world has gone mad forget that is exactly what those on the far right think, too

Charlie Beckett @charliebeckett.bsky.social · 20d

People's responses to Trump are more nuanced and shifting. I can't believe there isn't increased push back against the madness. But this comment on the UK Telegraph is interesting. His rhetoric makes sense as style as much as ideology

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Charlie Beckett @charliebeckett.bsky.social · 21d

The best opponents of misinformation are not political journalists because they see it as part of a power game. It takes expert journalists to expose the lies and also how dangerous they are.

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