Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Beth Fertig

@bethfertig.bsky.social

1.7K followers 780 following 1.1K posts

I spent most of my adult life as a reporter at WNYC and NPR. Now I’m working at @PressPassNYC to rebuild trust in media by helping the next generation. We give public schools the support & tools to launch student news sites.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Beth Fertig @bethfertig.bsky.social · Nov 15

I got to record Stephen Sondheim giving a rare class for high school English and theater teachers in 2014, when I worked for WNYC. It was thrilling. He got choked up when he told them teaching is “a sacred profession.”
na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...

NYC Drama Teachers Meet Their Idol | WNYC | New York Public Radio, Podcasts, Live Streaming Radio, News

Drama teachers from across New York City were thrilled to get a master class with Stephen Sondheim. But it was the Broadway legend who got emotional praising their work.

na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com

2 21

Reposted by Beth Fertig

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 1h

Wow, wow, wow. This has always been legally possible but the law has virtually never been enforced — and now this is the SECOND case I've heard of in the last month (first involving a person with a green card) of a noncitizen being charged for failure to carry their papers.

Gregory Pratt @royalpratt.bsky.social · 2h

NEWS: ICE gave a Rogers Park man a $130 ticket for not having his papers on him. They rounded him up last week and eventually let him go, but not without a fine that some critics say is un-American. Trump admin enforcing little-used law
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/13/i...

ICE tickets Chicago man with legal residency $130 for not having his papers on him: ‘It’s not fair…I’m a resident’

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement fined Rueben Antonio Cruz $130 for not having his papers with him.

www.chicagotribune.com

47 540 1.1K

Reposted by Beth Fertig

Olivia Messer @oliviamesser.bsky.social · 5h

In which John Oliver methodically unpacks how thin it is to claim you’re all about “the truth” when you’re only running essays don’t get properly fact-checked — and don’t hold up to even basic reporting scrutiny www.youtube.com/watch?v=gieT...

Bari Weiss: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

YouTube video by LastWeekTonight

www.youtube.com

29 720 2.5K

Beth Fertig @bethfertig.bsky.social · 1d

“It's not easy to watch what is taking place in the Middle East,” he said, “but I think we have to move beyond that to see that we are all on the same board.”

gothamist.com/news/in-quee...

In Queens, a holiday effort to foster dialogue between Jews and Muslims

The interfaith gathering on Sunday will help mark the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.

gothamist.com

Beth Fertig @bethfertig.bsky.social · 1d

"In Indiana, a portal called Eyes on Education encourages parents of school children, students and educators to submit “real examples” of objectionable curricula, policies or programs."
hechingerreport.org/column-trump...

COLUMN: Trump’s push for ‘patriotic’ education could further chill history instruction

Teachers say they worry federal efforts to shift historical narratives will rob students of vital information.

hechingerreport.org

Beth Fertig @bethfertig.bsky.social · 2d

This is SUCH an interesting interview- thanks for sharing.

Reposted by Beth Fertig

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 2d

an incontestable fact of the second trump administration is it is actively trying to sicken and kill as many americans as it can

Lena Sun @lenasun.bsky.social · 2d

NEW: @CDCgov hit hard by massive firings that several staff describe to me as a “bloodbath.”
Among those RIFd:
—leadership of the center for immunization and respiratory diseases;
—leadership of global health center
—leadership of the measles outbreak response; 1/4

150 1.6K 5.6K

Beth Fertig @bethfertig.bsky.social · 3d

Someone on the Connections team loves Alex Chilton

1 2

Reposted by Beth Fertig

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 3d

Eswatini is Africa’s last remaining absolute monarchy.

In other words, it's just the kind of country—small, untroubled by democracy, and presumably eager to avoid a superpower’s wrath—with which the Trump administration has been eager to do business.

ICE is sending people to a prison in Africa’s only absolute monarchy

Inside the “legal black hole” in Eswatini, where Trump is sending detainees.

www.motherjones.com

14 130 250

Reposted by Beth Fertig

Joel Siegel @joelsiegel.bsky.social · 3d

Oopsie

29 140 830

Beth Fertig @bethfertig.bsky.social · 5d

Does exposure to social media cause violence? It's not helping, according to this Op Ed from a NYC high school newspaper.

PressPassNYC @presspassnyc.bsky.social · 5d

"Repeated exposure to this type of content on social media leads to a desensitization to violence." The Verdict at Cardozo HS weighs in on what teens are exposed to in their feeds.

cardozoverdict.com/8580/editori...

Who’s Really in Control? Teens, Threats, and the Power of the Feed

Over the past couple of years, social media has become an essential aspect of teenage life based on how it is shaping the way teenagers think, communicate, and behave. Several notable platforms such a...

cardozoverdict.com

Beth Fertig @bethfertig.bsky.social · 6d

Nice analysis from @niemanlab.org on the new principles of CBS and MSNBC

www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/msnb...

Bari Weiss’s CBS News and MSNBC both just laid out their new journalistic principles — and they’re fascinatingly different

CBS: "America," "American," "all of the tools of the digital era," and speed. MSNBC: Press freedom, the First Amendment, and ethics.

www.niemanlab.org

1 2

Beth Fertig @bethfertig.bsky.social · 6d

“The crowd stared back silently as he complained, implausibly and as he has done many times before, that one year before the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center he tried to warn the world about Osama Bin Laden” WHAT?? www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/u...

www.nytimes.com

Beth Fertig @bethfertig.bsky.social · 7d

How to nurture the next audience for news the industry needs to survive: student journalism teaches learning by doing.

PressPassNYC @presspassnyc.bsky.social · 7d

We are proud of our team at Bronx River News! They were invited to cover the NYC School's Chancellor's event last week announcing her vision for the city's public schools. bronxrivernews.org/2025/10/nyc-...

NYC DOE chancellor shares vision for future, celebrates Lehman Campus connections

[caption id=attachment_9723 align=alignleft width=300] Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos talks about her goals for New York City's public schools during her State of the Schools address. (Jamal Quinones...

bronxrivernews.org

Beth Fertig @bethfertig.bsky.social · 7d

I’m not sure how much attention this poll got given the onslaught of news over the past few days. But it’s a terrifying statement on trust and Journalism. We must build it back.

PressPassNYC @presspassnyc.bsky.social · 10d

With Gallup showing trust in news is now under 30%, it's more important than ever that we invest in the NEXT audience the industry needs to survive: teens. They need guidance on which sources to trust. That's why we help NYC schools start student news publications.
news.gallup.com/poll/695762/...

Trust in Media at New Low of 28% in U.S.

Americans' trust in newspapers, television and radio to report the news fully, accurately and fairly is at a new low of 28%.

news.gallup.com

1 3

Beth Fertig @bethfertig.bsky.social · 8d

Pritzker said he had “directed state agencies to investigate what happened at the apartment building, citing reports of ‘children who were zip-tied and held, some of them nearly naked’ and ‘elderly people being thrown into a U-Haul for three hours and detained.’” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/05/u...

Pritzker Says Federal Agents Are Trying to Make Chicago a ‘War Zone’

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Beth Fertig

David S. Bernstein @dbernstein.bsky.social · 9d

The FBI director seems like a stable, reasonable person who can be trusted to lead fair and unbiased investigations

5 20 55

Reposted by Beth Fertig

Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 9d

The fact that Democrats have a 10 point advantage over the GOP in Virginia on education shows just how wrong the national party/pundit takes on this issue have turned out to be. Virginia, of course, is where the narrative about the electoral power of school culture wars began

2 12 20

Reposted by Beth Fertig

Neil Vigdor @gettingviggy.bsky.social · 9d

The publications in Alaska lost significant staffing after the owners made changes to an article that had drawn criticism from a Republican state lawmaker. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/u...

Journalists at 3 Newspapers Quit Over Edits to a Charlie Kirk Story

www.nytimes.com

5 34 130

Reposted by Beth Fertig

PressPassNYC @presspassnyc.bsky.social · 10d

Trust in Media at New Low of 28% in U.S.

Americans' trust in newspapers, television and radio to report the news fully, accurately and fairly is at a new low of 28%.

news.gallup.com

1 2

Beth Fertig @bethfertig.bsky.social · 10d

Who is calling this “Freaky Friday”? What a cruel twist

Reposted by Beth Fertig

Aura Bogado @aurabogado.bsky.social · 10d

Shelters that house unaccompanied minors are bracing for "Freaky Friday," the start of an ICE operation that will first issue letters to children, seeking to pressure them to return to the countries they've fled in exchange for a cash payment. If they decline, their parents will be targeted by ICE.

84 1K 2.2K

Reposted by Beth Fertig

PressPassNYC @presspassnyc.bsky.social · 10d

Brave Questions. Student reporters at Cardozo HS ask whether last month's scary incident was politicized -- a sophomore was arrested for posting an online threat and bringing a loaded weapon to Benjamin N. Cardozo High School.

cardozoverdict.com/8589/editori...

Weaponizing a Student Scare: How 2025 Politics Distort New York City School Safety News

There are dozens of headlines, locally and nationally, depicting the incident that took place on Sept. 18, when a sophomore was arrested for posting an online threat and bringing a loaded weapon to Be...

cardozoverdict.com

Beth Fertig @bethfertig.bsky.social · 12d

"The federal transportation department suggested in a statement that requiring minority- and women-owned businesses to receive work for the projects makes construction less efficient." gothamist.com/news/trump-h... @stephennessen.bsky.social

Trump halts money for NYC infrastructure projects, says minority contract rules are unconstitutional

The U.S. Department of Transportation suggested requirements for minority- and women-owned businesses to receive contracts for New York's largest public works projects make construction less efficient...

gothamist.com

Reposted by Beth Fertig

PressPassNYC @presspassnyc.bsky.social · 12d

One important function of a high school newspaper: shooting down rumors. Teens need to learn reliable sources of information. The Domino, at Richmond Hill H.S. in Queens, looks at what's really going on with the school store and finds it's all about staffing. rhhsdomino.com/867/news/the...

The School Store: What’s the Confusion?

The Richmond Hill cafeteria school store has been open for years and is integral to the student experience; however, this year it’s been closed leaving many students and teachers in the dark. With the...

rhhsdomino.com

Reposted by Beth Fertig

PressPassNYC @presspassnyc.bsky.social · 12d

Lovely profile here of a high school teacher who collects plants from local vendors to share with students and their families. amsvoice.org/1267/showcas...

Green Thumb, Warm Heart: AMS Honors Ms. Cameron

September 19th is the birthday of none other than Ms. Elizabeth Cameron. She is known in our community for being a dedicated paraprofessional, always caring about her students and peers, and most of a...

amsvoice.org

1 1