Weekend Reads: January 29, 2021
The enduring allure of conspiracies » Nieman Journalism Lab
Conspiracy theories are alluring for a reason. They provide a well crafted explanation for things that may be more complex that we’d like to think.
“Conspiracy theories seem to meet psychological needs and can be almost impossible to eradicate. One remedy: Keep them from taking root in the first place.”
I Am Not a Soldier, but I Have Been Trained to Kill
When I finished reading this my jaw dropped. This is insane especially when you take a look at what is happening in the U.S. at the moment.
My pick of the week. This one hit it home for me. Trusting someone obviously has a cost, we can get hurt, robbed, etc but mistrust also has a huge cost, even more so when this erodes the social fabric of our societies. Great read.
COVID Alert's Privacy Promises and Surveillance Risks — Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy
We have neglected the privacy subject so this one brings it back to the fold. Great report on the effects covid will have on privacy.
Opinion: Trump’s social-media ban clouds a bigger crisis: the power and systemic failure of Big Tech
This is a very important issue we have at hand. Free speech vs big tech. I will agree with the author that we can no longer rely on the free market to fix this issues.
Saving Journalism: A Vision for the Post-Covid World
To keep the momentum going from last week’s podcast. This is an amazing report. You can get the full pdf there but some really cool ideas here. Excited to dig in the full report.