I am so excited to share that I am going to teach a journalism course at Toronto Metropolitan University this fall semester. I’ll be teaching the Justice and the Courts course. I can’t wait to teach students about journalism!!!

So thrilled to announce that @theflytrapmedia.com has collaborated with @nwu.org on freelancer policies. As a current freelancer, it's really important to me to value and protect our freelance contributors. Proud to join other indie pubs in this! You can read all about it here:

on the one hand we should want people to change their mind so we can stop what's happening now. On the other hand there need to be costs for the ghoulish behavior that got us here, as these people absolutely will do this again given half a chance

I think some people have trouble seeing fascism as anything other than 1940s Germany. But I think 'people going to a comic convention needing to have a plan in case the government's goons show up to disappear people' is a pretty good demonstration of what it can look like in 2025.

Predictable, but no less shocking or reprehensible: Trump just signed an executive order urging states to forcibly institutionalize homeless people, defund Housing First, criminalize encampments, and cut aid to cities that don't comply.

i wish i had the power or the money to like hire thousands of out of work journalists and put them (us?) to work doing what we do best ie chipping and scraping at the lies people in power tell. horse race commenters not welcome

They ripped him apart from his pregnant wife in her last trimester. They stole from him the birth of his baby boy Dean, his graduation ceremony, his first Father's Day. They detained him illegally for 104 days. But today, Mahmoud Khalil is FINALLY FREE. 🤍✊🏼

“After more than three months we can finally breathe a sigh of relief and know that Mahmoud is on his way home to me and Deen, who never should have been separated from his father,” says Dr. Noor Abdalla, Mahmoud Khalil’s wife, in reaction to a judge granting his request for bail

I am not a cryer. I rarly cry. But the Ghorman massacre episode in Andor brought me to tears, it was to close to home. And I was waiting for a critic to write a comparison piece to our moment. So glad that @roxana-hadadi.bsky.social wrote this excellent piece www.vulture.com/article/ando...

The carceral system is inundated with crises – that's why investigative journalism is more important than ever On #WorldPressFreedomDay, here are 10 stories from 2024 that newsrooms can emulate to shine a light inside the black box of mass incarceration🧵 www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2024/12...

The Miami Herald is doing remarkable public service journalism on deported Venezuelans and the crimes being committed against them. Almost like news institutions that are located in and around the communities they serve end up being accountable for serving those communities

Listen. Media is in the toilet. As freelance media workers, sharing our rates is a simple act of solidarity — as well as a step toward a better media industry. Enter your rates at bit.ly/share-rates #FreelanceSolidarityChallenge

Is now a good time to say that people convicted of crimes deserve rights, due process, and not to be deported, let alone to a third country slave prison

The Trump admin continues to send immigrant students to remote detention centers in Louisiana. So I spent a day in court inside the ICE center holding Mahmoud Khalil. It has faced consistent allegations of medical neglect & due process issues. Here’s what I saw: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

I turned 30, last September and I was looking forward to turning 30 all year. And none of my friends who older or younger than me, understood it. They all have insecurities on getting older and I am in the best place in my life at 30. PS, I hated my 20s.

Think it’s important to highlight how everyday violence of the U.S. criminal legal system is making what ICE is doing possible: this man was convicted of a crime at *16*; he was *pardoned*; when ICE came decades later they claimed the conviction made him a felon w/ no recourse against deportation

This is going to be remembered for all time as Columbia’s response to having a student protestor kidnapped and held prisoner by a budding authoritarian regime. It is unspeakable cowardice.

Lots of new details in Mahmoud Khalil's amended complaint against the Trump admin. His lawyers are asking for more than just his release; they want the judge to order the Trump admin to stop its plan to arrest/deport protesters. Read the whole thing here: www.courtlistener.com/docket/69719...

this interview is incredible www.npr.org/2025/03/13/n...

New from @elizabethweill.bsky.social and me: The Louisiana ICE detention facility where immigration officials sent Mahmoud Khalil has a decades-long history of deaths and abuse, records show: theappeal.org/mahmoud-khal...

A new Colorado law mandates ballot access in jails but only for even-year general elections, and for just six hours on one day. Advocates say it’s a step forward—but they’re already pushing to expand it to more elections. boltsmag.org/jail-vo...

As we near the end of the Freelance Solidarity Challenge, we want to hear from you about how we should use the data we've collected along the way. We know there's no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow – unless we organize! RSVP: bit.ly/fspmarchrates

As correction officers continue their strike and Gov. Hochul brings in the National Guard, I spoke to incarcerated New Yorkers to get their take on what's happening in NY prisons for @hellgatenyc.com hellgatenyc.com/prison-guard...

I think most people are intuitively aware of this but something like the official White House account posting an “ASMR” video of shackled immigrants is not just cruel for its own sake, it’s intentional envelope-pushing to ramp up to desensitization over inhumane detention, camps, and deaths

I don't think I've ever had that happen with a FOIA request! www.cnn.com/2025/02/18/p...

This is alarming: The FCC is investigating an SF radio station for reporting on immigration sweeps. Specifically, they're taking issue w/descriptions of immigration enforcement vehicles & locations - simply conveying observable fact in real time. You know, NEWS. www.kqed.org/news/1202597...

“A lot of journalists argue that their role isn’t to advocate—that that’s not their job. But if your job isn’t to inform people in a way that will help them, then I don’t really understand what your job is.” Read my chat with @columjournreview.bsky.social:

Trump was certain to do everything he’s doing now. Instead of taking the threat of his reelection seriously or putting any effort to carve meaningful differences btwn them & him on this, they backed genocide to the hilt. Those trying to frame it differently see Palestinian lives as talking points

You cannot dissolve federal agencies through executive order. REPORTERS PLEASE DO YOUR FUCKING JOBS.

“Our ancestral lands were taken, disrupting our traditional ways of life and governance. Displacement led to economic hardship and social challenges that have made our communities more vulnerable to the criminal justice system.” Great piece by @gristnews.bsky.social grist.org/indigenous/p...

Our writer Vaughn Wright tells the story of what it was like when Luigi Mangione showed up at his Pennsylvania prison. It took a few weeks to get this out because we had to rely on postal mail to ask for the story and get it back without creating problems.

We are ecstatic to report that the charges against our member and independent journalist @alissaazar.bsky.social were DROPPED. This is a strong reminder of the power of public pressure as protecting press freedom becomes even more critical. Read Alissa's story: buff.ly/40u8Qub

hi! @teenvogue.bsky.social has been a reliable outlet for strong political journalism since at min 2016 — which was *9* years ago! you don't need to be surprised each time you're impressed by our work! (maybe other outlets would respect us more if you didn't!) signed, 1/2 of Teen Vogue Politics

This is a great piece. "As deportations ramp up again, we have a choice: We can watch as our neighbors disappear or we can build on these proven strategies to protect the diverse communities we've built together."

Thousands of people in jail are not evacuated as Hughes fire burns www.latimes.com/california/s...

I thought about this a lot when I was deciding whether to come back to work or do something else. We owe it to the people of the future to document what is happening now, with honesty and clarity, even if we can’t stop the cruelty. None of us can do that alone. We have to be one among many.

WaPo went from winning a Pulitzer for documenting, quantifying, and contextualizing the American epidemic of racist and fatal police violence (for which they owe Wesley Lowery an enormous debt of gratitude) to the paper that hired the man who covered up such violence as mayor of Chicago. Neat.

🧵 THREAD: Our reporter spent the past year reporting inside the State Department, trying to answer the central question of Biden’s foreign policy: How did the U.S. let Israel get away with widespread horrors in Gaza?

Attention Freelance Journalists: @fspnwu.bsky.social has two events this week. 1. We have a drop-in event for freelance journalists to discuss their New Year’s resolution for freelancing this year. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

I wrote about Neil Gaiman, and the women accusing him of sexual coercion, assault and abuse. www.vulture.com/article/neil...

I had a lot of people asking me so I wrote an explainer: Here's how you can help the incarcerated firefighter battling the blazes in Southern California this week: www.latimes.com/california/s...

Just two months ago, California voters rejected Proposition 6, which would've eliminated a constitutional provision allowing involuntary servitude for incarcerated persons. Instead, a majority of voters endorsed the continued use of incarcerated laborers for dangerous work like firefighting.

Breaking: We contacted 38 prison & jail facilities in the LA area to ask how they’re preparing for air quality issues, possible evacuations, and power outages. Thousands of people—including hundreds of children—sit in potentially impacted facilities. theappeal.org/los-angeles-...

Exclusive: Internal emails show VADOC staff discussing how best to punish prisoners who set themselves on fire, including criminal prosecutions and charging them thousands of dollars for their medical treatment. theappeal.org/red-onion-vi...

There are 52,000+ unsheltered people in Los Angeles facing toxic air and fire hazards. Winds are destroying tents and structures. City says it’s made available *135 hotel vouchers.* Advocates say they can’t access them “It feels like you’re breathing in lead + you can see what you’re breathing in”