New: Back in 2018, I published a summary of studies and surveys about the prevalence of racism in the criminal justice system for the Wash. Post. The idea was for it to be a regularly updated resource. The Post hasn't updated it since I left. So I've updated and reproduced it at The Watch.

Want to put up a motivational poster in this school district? You'll have to pick from one of 32 pre-approved phrases, or else there's a 4-step process that might include a lawyer's eyes. The reason? It's probably not hard to guess. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/07/08/s... via @lilyalta.bsky.social

Fake news laws -- that criminalize spreading "disinformation" -- feel intuitively useful. But they are almost always used to go after journalistic inquiry or critical reporting of govt. South Korea has begun implementing its new law; concerning for free expression: apnews.com/article/sout...

When I say press freedom is sub basement, here's some of why: Turkish officials detained 3 journalists in pre-dawn raids in eight cities, all denied lawyers for 24 hours. This after many Turkish reporters denied accreditation to cover NATO Summit: europeanjournalists.org/blog/2026/07...

Why did Greenwich Village become the heart of New York City's bohemia? Because it was home to a woman's court and prison, which brought gender non-conforming women - many of them queer and/or trans - to the Village from every other corner of the city www.gothamcenter.org/blog/village...

“Paul Bowlding said his sister is quiet and tough, yet kindhearted. “One of the amazing ones,” he said. He said he sees her strength in the photo. “I do see her as a role model of letting people know … ‘It’s going to be okay because God got us.’” www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

Some 401(k) and 403(b) plans are stuck in investments with bloated fees and costly add-ons. Help ProPublica investigate the financial products companies are pushing and the fees they’re charging workers:

"They just want to turn it off." A fascinating story of the librarians who have started teaching classes showing people how to remove AI "features" from their phones and apps. www.bangordailynews.com/2026/07/02/m...

JOURNO REQUEST: Have you or anyone you know used an AI chatbot to access information about abortion? Would you be willing to give me an interview about your experience? Anonymity is an option. Email me: [email protected]

Wanna see a simple example of why framing matters in journalism? CJR interviews Melody Mercado, staff writer for Block Club Chicago, which divides things differently. "Instead of traditional beats like business, politics, food, all the reporters have neighborhoods." www.cjr.org/kicker/why-d...

"Not a woman and not a man: Conveying my experience of gender with words is clumsy at best. I find peace when I occupy the place in between." In magazine, the photos of Jo E. Norris: www.texasobserver.org/a-mirror-and...

It's finally here!! An article on trans faggotry, powerful and orientating queer affects, gender formations that don't or can't map neatly onto essentialist binary hierarchies, and the Lou Sullivan archive(s)... among other things.

"Water used at power plants that supply their electricity can be many times as great as the water used in the data centers themselves."

NEW: The Trump administration has shut down a controversial Homeland Security tool it had touted as a way to find noncitizens who’d illegally registered to vote, @propublica.org has learned. 🧵

I'm in @slate.com writing about how this World Cup is the Diaspora World Cup, and argue there may be 48 home teams not three:

Big tech is increasingly running its data centers on behind-the-meter (i.e. not connected to the grid) gas plants and generators to deflect blame from rising energy prices. Not only does this lead to a large increase in pollution, it raises peoples' energy bills anyway. #GreenSky

Before Pride weekend ends, sharing my latest for @coyotemedia.org where I visited a new museum in SF Chinatown that’s telling queer Chinese stories while honoring, and reimagining, tradition. 🌈 (Fun fact I learned: Hu Tianbao, or The 🐰 God, is a folk deity who blesses relationships b/w men!)

Another one: In January, a guy wrote an angry (but non-threatening) letter to former ICE chief Todd Lyons after the Good, Pretti killings. Last week, ICE agents tracked him down at the NYC hotel where he and his daughter were staying after returning from a vacation in Finland.

Truly bizarre story of how two papers from the 1940s by physics pioneer Max Planck have been "retracted" from Naturwissenschaften, potentially by an algorithm, for anachronistic "plagiarism" issues, leaving the current editor baffled (but it is Springer Nature so.... www.science.org/content/arti...

Trans-inclusive health care is already hard to find in Ontario. Now, growing anti-trans rhetoric is making physicians more hesitant to get trained in gender-affirming care, experts tell @ziyajones.bsky.social. A new feature published in partnership with @script.health: thelocal.to/trans-health...

@pressfreedom.bsky.social documented 70+ journalists attacked for reporting on #LGBTQ+ issues over a period of two decades. Here's what you need to know to protect yourself ⬇️ cpj.org/2026/06/the-... #journalistsafety

If you’re in Seattle, join me + @transjournalists.org and @charliesqueerbooks.bsky.social for a showing of @heightenedscrutinydoc.com documentary. charliesqueerbooks.com/events/57372...

a lot of folks see data journalism as a very recent phenomenon. i would argue they're quite wrong. want to read one of the best and oldest pieces of data journalism out there? read A Red Record by Ida B. Wells. it's over a century old and is pure data journalism at its heart.

SCOOP: I obtained documents revealing the FBI used Cellebrite to extract data from at least 13 protesters' phones after a mass arrest at an anti-ICE protest in Spokane last summer. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Liz Soto and Savanna Batten are 2 of those sentenced to 50 years in prison for Prairieland. I visited them in a north Texas jail—11 months into their incarceration over a July 4 noise demo—to meet the Trump admin’s “Antifa terrorists”. from behind glass, Soto said, “They didn’t like my book club.”

NEW: Madison Square Garden compiled a list of activists who have publicly criticized the venue’s use of facial recognition technology, putting their tweets and comments into a document that was then accessible to other people inside the company, 404 Media has found.

Transdev holds a five-year, $651M contract with Boston Public Schools, transporting about 19,000 students every day. It is currently looking to expand in Boston, where it is one of three finalists for a multibillion-dollar commuter rail contract. Read our full investigation with @wbur.org:

Hot people support queer libraries. It’s true, we read a study about it. And every $300 your team raises in our Givebutter Pride Fundraiser just makes you hotter and hotter (plus puts your book choice on QLL's shelves). Click to start levelling up immediately! https://xqa.onlypult.me/j7Qe

Could we get this over 100 please? 💀 Please click through and sign up to be told when we go live 📚

Last fall, an energy mogul begged Wes Moore to back his data center complex. It worked. Records offer a rare window into how a wealthy & politically connected businessman won the governor’s endorsement for his controversial foray into Maryland data centers: www.thebanner.com/community/cl...

The KY Dept of Corrections was not a fan of this woman's piece. On June 13, four days after her story published, a correctional officer woke Taira Beller around midnight to hand her a disciplinary report. A DOC spokesperson did not respond to the H-L when asked specifically what Beller did wrong.

In case you missed it, we launched our 12th course yesterday:

Over 770,000 Kids No Longer Receiving SNAP Benefits After Trump Changes Food Program www.propublica.org/article/snap...

JUNE 25, 10:30 a.m. PDT: Join the Maynard Institute for a panel discussion on the State of Queer News and how news outlets can truly invest in LGBTQIA+ stories and communities Register through Zoom: https://bit.ly/Belonging-Queer-News

Kae's is the 12th course in the openvisualizationacademy.org. We're recording or editing another 12+ right now, to be released monthly. More details in the link below.

New course in the Open Visualization Academy! @petrinkae.bsky.social's 'Critical Data Exploration with Spreadsheets' openvisualizationacademy.beehiiv.com/p/new-course... Don't miss it! #dataViz #infographics #dataVisualization #dataJournalism

if I have followers who are bookers for shows, podcasts, etc., I have a big story coming next week at the intersection of repressing political dissent, anti-trans policy, censorship, and organizing against ICE, and am available to come talk your face off about it

stay tuned for a 3.5-hour deep dive into how to apply spreadsheet tools for quality assurance, analysis bulletproofing, visual mockups, and "weird data problems" spotting

Here's a starter pack to all the Neon Hemlock novella and short story collection authors who are currently on Bluesky. go.bsky.app/7tQm44B

Attention local, regional, and general assignment reporters: you’re eligible to join our peer mentoring Slack community! Learn more:

Law Dork publisher @chrisgeidner.bsky.social will join TPM Editor-at-Large @davidkurtz.bsky.social for a Substack Live on the Trump admin's sweeping assault on trans rights. See you there at 3 pm ET:

SCOOP: The Defense Department is again quietly delaying forever chemical cleanup across nearly 200 sites. This time, delays average 10 years and stretch out to 20. DOD deleted the old timeline and replaced it with a new one without any public announcement.

love the email stage with a new address where no one knows how to get ahold of you so your inbox is just peaceably empty

Will the latest Supreme Court ruling dilute Black voting power in the South? We're teaming up with The Current and Mississippi Today to answer your questions about voting rights and redistricting in Louisiana and Mississippi. https://ow.ly/u8TU50Z9Js8

SRCCON from @opennews.bsky.social is one of the most special journalism conferences there is, bringing together thoughtful people from a range of roles, disciplines, and outlets. Their call for participation is open, and I can't recommend it enough: 2026.srccon.org/participatio...

INVESTIGATION: 🚨 A Polymarket exec used a personal PayPal account to pay major political influencers like Riley Gaines and Brian Krassenstein, who then hyped how "accurate" Polymarket is at predicting outcomes. We uncovered $350,000+ flowing to influencers this way www.politico.com/news/2026/06...

Spinning in circles and crying for help. An AI robot became such a burden for nurses in a Seattle hospital that they eventually cancelled the contract and held a funeral for it. The latest from Varshal Bansal at @proofnews.bsky.social www.proofnews.org/moxi/

I went from reading a few books a year to around one a week. I wanted to write down how I got there, how it involved rethinking my relationship to attention, and why I believe reading books can heal your brain. I hope this gives you something useful! johnpaulbrammer.substack.com/p/how-i-lear...

Dentist & journalist Zain Azhar documents how extreme heat is turning Pakistani farmworkers’ mouths into hostile environments for their own teeth: "This was environmental collapse writing itself directly into human biological systems." This story first appeared on @earthislandjournal.bsky.social.

“Bari Weiss sends an email to my boss, Tanya Simon. Two of the things in the email include, can we make the protesters look more violent? Now, I’m paraphrasing... And the other thing, Renee Good’s car. You need to describe her as driving *toward* the officer.” www.nytimes.com/2026/06/07/m...