Keith Plocek
@keithplocek.com
USC Annenberg professor. Freelance journalist. Huckleberry.
Replacing Matthew McConaughey’s head with a Matthew McConaughey bobblehead, vol. 1
February 3, 2026 at 2:41 AM
Replacing Matthew McConaughey’s head with a Matthew McConaughey bobblehead, vol. 1
what happens when nobody is around to report the news
We dropped our paywall for this new piece.
Court Watch picked one of the largest ‘news deserts’ in the South and examined all the new court dockets that went unreported to tell a larger story about the need for local journalism
‘Dockets Die In Darkness’
www.courtwatch.news/p/the-rabbit...
Court Watch picked one of the largest ‘news deserts’ in the South and examined all the new court dockets that went unreported to tell a larger story about the need for local journalism
‘Dockets Die In Darkness’
www.courtwatch.news/p/the-rabbit...
The Rabbit Hole: Dockets Die in Darkness
Among the 17 counties in Georgia that don’t have a single local news source, 12 of the counties are in the Middle District of Georgia’s jurisdiction. This week, we sought to highlight the dockets dyin...
www.courtwatch.news
February 1, 2026 at 6:18 PM
what happens when nobody is around to report the news
Reposted by Keith Plocek
The college at which I'm employed, which has signed a contract with the AI firm that stole books from 131 colleagues & me, paid a student to write an op-ed for the student paper promoting AI, guided the writing of it, and did not disclose this to the paper. www.thedartmouth.com/article/2026...
College approached and paid student to write op-ed in The Dartmouth
The Dartmouth ran the article on Nov. 17 without knowledge that the College had been involved.
www.thedartmouth.com
January 29, 2026 at 10:40 PM
The college at which I'm employed, which has signed a contract with the AI firm that stole books from 131 colleagues & me, paid a student to write an op-ed for the student paper promoting AI, guided the writing of it, and did not disclose this to the paper. www.thedartmouth.com/article/2026...
Here's a billboard I saw this morning
January 29, 2026 at 11:08 PM
Here's a billboard I saw this morning
Reposted by Keith Plocek
In an ideal world, the general public shouldn't have to watch execution videos in slow-mo, at multiple angles, and scour the Internet for more evidence.
We should be able to trust officials and journalists to do it, but we've had to become a society of war investigators.
We should be able to trust officials and journalists to do it, but we've had to become a society of war investigators.
It's obviously good that citizens with smartphones can create multiple records of these shootings and undercut propaganda and government lies about them. But I find it a little deranging that being an informed news consumer in 2026 requires watching what are essentially snuff videos in slow-mo.
January 25, 2026 at 7:41 PM
In an ideal world, the general public shouldn't have to watch execution videos in slow-mo, at multiple angles, and scour the Internet for more evidence.
We should be able to trust officials and journalists to do it, but we've had to become a society of war investigators.
We should be able to trust officials and journalists to do it, but we've had to become a society of war investigators.
Reposted by Keith Plocek
Front page of tomorrow's Star Tribune.
January 23, 2026 at 12:00 AM
Front page of tomorrow's Star Tribune.
Reposted by Keith Plocek
I think we’ve got better and more culturally-varied street food than I could have imagined, cool jackets galore, and drugs that make us think we’re really fast and strong before they kill us.
we're getting all the downsides of cyberpunk (social alienation, ruthless hyper capitalism, digital mass surveillance state) but none of the promised upsides (cheap street food, cool jackets, super drugs that make you really fast and strong before they kill you)
January 20, 2026 at 10:02 PM
I think we’ve got better and more culturally-varied street food than I could have imagined, cool jackets galore, and drugs that make us think we’re really fast and strong before they kill us.
It’s been seven years since my friends and I sent a Vin Scully bobblehead into near space with a weather balloon.
Vin Scully in Space
YouTube video by Keith Plocek
www.youtube.com
January 19, 2026 at 5:45 PM
It’s been seven years since my friends and I sent a Vin Scully bobblehead into near space with a weather balloon.
Reposted by Keith Plocek
My dog has back issues, so I clicked on this @nytimes.com story immediately
But that last paragraph, oh, man
But that last paragraph, oh, man
Forget the Cynics. Here’s Why You Should Get Your Dog a Stroller.
www.nytimes.com
January 14, 2026 at 8:25 PM
My dog has back issues, so I clicked on this @nytimes.com story immediately
But that last paragraph, oh, man
But that last paragraph, oh, man
Reposted by Keith Plocek
I've been saying to anyone who will listen that we need to go back to Theweleit's "Männerphantasien" to understand the current moment
Interesting 1987 NYT book review of Klaus Theweleit's *Male Fantasies* "a study of the imaginative world of the German Freikorps movement."
www.nytimes.com/1987/06/21/b...
www.nytimes.com/1987/06/21/b...
January 11, 2026 at 4:33 PM
I've been saying to anyone who will listen that we need to go back to Theweleit's "Männerphantasien" to understand the current moment
Reposted by Keith Plocek
Independent journalism is absolutely a form of resistance, thanks to the important work of @marisakabas.bsky.social @autonomynews.co @404media.co @assignedmedia.org @boltsmag.org.
My latest in @theguardian.com: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
My latest in @theguardian.com: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
How independent journalism is a form of resistance: ‘I’m not answering to anyone’
Trump’s attacks on mainstream media have opened a window for journalists who want to operate independently
www.theguardian.com
January 9, 2026 at 5:02 PM
Independent journalism is absolutely a form of resistance, thanks to the important work of @marisakabas.bsky.social @autonomynews.co @404media.co @assignedmedia.org @boltsmag.org.
My latest in @theguardian.com: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
My latest in @theguardian.com: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Reposted by Keith Plocek
From an email to one of our faculty members....
Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!
Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!
January 6, 2026 at 8:15 PM
From an email to one of our faculty members....
Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!
Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!
Reposted by Keith Plocek
three bylines, six months late, almost zero new information we hadn't reported months ago. lowercased our name and mentioned deep in the story. no link to us. said they couldnt find the govt privacy document (we did). good job wall street journal
One of the WSJ's A1 stories today was reported *6 months ago* by @404media.co, a team of just four journalists.
January 5, 2026 at 10:10 PM
three bylines, six months late, almost zero new information we hadn't reported months ago. lowercased our name and mentioned deep in the story. no link to us. said they couldnt find the govt privacy document (we did). good job wall street journal
Good thing about being a journalist is there‘s always more weird shit to look up and throw the algorithm off
Never ever teach the algorithm what you like
January 3, 2026 at 3:53 AM
Good thing about being a journalist is there‘s always more weird shit to look up and throw the algorithm off
Reposted by Keith Plocek
Reposted by Keith Plocek
This👇🏼 Every damn day.
Any journalist who has not at least once committed reckless disregard of leadership is not to be trusted.
It’s interesting that the administration wants you to know that Bari Weiss is in league with them.
December 23, 2025 at 7:02 PM
This👇🏼 Every damn day.
Proud of this collab between @laist.com and the USC Open-Source Intelligence Reporting Lab
Just how much have street takeovers spun out of control in LA?
What began as an underground car scene has exploded into a violent public spectacle fueled by social media. A USC Annenberg investigation maps the toll.
laist.com
December 23, 2025 at 2:34 AM
Proud of this collab between @laist.com and the USC Open-Source Intelligence Reporting Lab
What were they supposed to do? There just aren't many photos of Los Angeles sunsets out there
Just when you thought this campaign couldn’t get worse.
This is a photo of Bali
This is a photo of Bali
December 18, 2025 at 5:35 PM
What were they supposed to do? There just aren't many photos of Los Angeles sunsets out there
There is a certain kind of person who takes pride in not being good with tech, as if that makes them better at other things, when it's also possible they just suck at a lot of things
December 17, 2025 at 2:11 AM
There is a certain kind of person who takes pride in not being good with tech, as if that makes them better at other things, when it's also possible they just suck at a lot of things
Seems like there's at least one student every semester www.youtube.com/shorts/iAUh7...
"We've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas"
YouTube video by Classified History
www.youtube.com
December 12, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Seems like there's at least one student every semester www.youtube.com/shorts/iAUh7...
Reposted by Keith Plocek
Me at McDonald's: I would like a Big Mac.
McDonald's: That'll be $5.75
Me: *sigh* paywalled
McDonald's: That'll be $5.75
Me: *sigh* paywalled
December 9, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Me at McDonald's: I would like a Big Mac.
McDonald's: That'll be $5.75
Me: *sigh* paywalled
McDonald's: That'll be $5.75
Me: *sigh* paywalled
Reposted by Keith Plocek
It’s wild that earlier this year Trump said kids only get two dolls now and they’ll cost more and nobody else seems to remember it or think it should he part of this affordability stuff.
December 9, 2025 at 3:52 PM
It’s wild that earlier this year Trump said kids only get two dolls now and they’ll cost more and nobody else seems to remember it or think it should he part of this affordability stuff.
All hail @tessastuart.bsky.social for writing this magazine story, and I don't use that phrase lightly. Not longform. Not a feature. A magnificent magazine story.
The Radicalization of Ziz Lasota: How an AI Doomer Became an Accused Cult Leader
Lasota’s friends, colleagues, and family talk about how a NASA intern and Google employee wound up at the center of a bizarre string of murders across the country.
Feature: www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...
Lasota’s friends, colleagues, and family talk about how a NASA intern and Google employee wound up at the center of a bizarre string of murders across the country.
Feature: www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...
December 2, 2025 at 11:47 PM
All hail @tessastuart.bsky.social for writing this magazine story, and I don't use that phrase lightly. Not longform. Not a feature. A magnificent magazine story.
Reposted by Keith Plocek
this is a stunning piece of data journalism/art/whatever.
omg they made Jeffrey Epstein Inbox Simulator '25 jmail.world
Jmail, logged in as [email protected]
You are logged into [email protected], Jeffrey Epstein's email. Sourced from the November 2025 House Oversight Committee data release.
jmail.world
November 21, 2025 at 5:34 PM
this is a stunning piece of data journalism/art/whatever.