I'll add another reason to @damon.kiesow.net's list of why people stick with Substack: They are constantly being told, "Don't use this, don't use that." Get off Xitter! Boycott Amazon! Meta's platforms are kind of dubious! At a certain point, folks just tune out. (Note: I'm not on Substack.)

Will Lewis: My work here is done.

With all due respect, the idea of trying to get Bezos to sell The Washington Post’s local news and sports sections is kind of dumb. He needs to sell the whole thing — or, as I’ve said before, donate it to a nonprofit. www.status.news/p/washington...

The clip appears for less than a second toward the end of a tedious presentation on (non-existent) voter fraud. I thought the defense would be that Trump didn't watch the whole thing, but Leavitt has already blown that up. There was a time when this would have led to talk of resignation.

Proud to say that I started calling Trump a "racist hatemonger" during the 2016 campaign, on "Beat the Press with Emily Rooney" and in my @gbhnews.bsky.social column. And I appreciate that GBH never told me to stop.

Democracy dies in tax cuts

Washington State University and @reportforamerica.bsky.social aim to place a reporter in every county in Washington State. www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/a-re...

Legendary Boston Globe sports columnist Leigh Montville praises John and Linda Henry a day after Jeff Bezos eviscerated The Washington Post. www.facebook.com/leigh.montvi...

Can anyone point me to an article from approximately the past year reporting on how the Seattle Times is doing as a business? I'm coming up blank.

My new supporters newsletter asks if the AI bubble is finally starting to burst. Plus, a roundup of the week's posts on Media Nation, photography and the return of Public Enemy. Please join my Patreon for just $6 a month. www.patreon.com/posts/suppor...

I talked with @alexanderrusso.bsky.social of The Grade recently about journalism's shaky present and uncertain future. I hope you'll watch and listen. alexanderrusso.substack.com/p/bridging-t...

Washington Post newsroom when Bezos bought it from the Graham family: 560. Today: 500.

The @ajc.com has been in expansion mode. Now it's making cuts, including about 25 journalists, but it claims that its expansion plans are on track. www.ajc.com/business/202...

On the latest @whatworks-nu.bsky.social podcast, @ellenclegg.bsky.social and I talk with Charles Sennott about his journey from global correspondent to local news entrepreneur. Plus, @alexisalgazy.bsky.social on politicians and digital storytelling, and our Quick Takes on developments in local news.

The Democrats can’t win unless they run everywhere. That was a lesson Howard Dean tried to teach them when he was head of the DNC. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/u...

At The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, cutting 25 journalists in order to serve you better. Huh? www.ajc.com/business/202...

Billionaire newspaper owners aren't obliged to run their papers at a loss. The problem is that Bezos himself is responsible for running The Washington Post into the ground. He built it into something that was profitable and growing, then tore it apart. The losses are on him.

New at Media Nation: There's little new that can be said about Jeff Bezos' gutting of The Washington Post. dankennedy.net/2026/02/04/t...

I just donated to a fund to help laid-off employees of The Washington Post. Here's the link: gofund.me/c7ca58b38

Not interested in "you should have known it all along" comments about Bezos and The Washington Post. Fact: He was a model owner from 2013-23. People change. He certainly did, and much for the worse.

Baron: "Many superior journalists will remain at The Post, delivering important work." Bezos: "Damn it, Will, you told me you'd fired them all. Find them! Escort them from the building!"

Many, many questions, but among them: Why do Bezos and Lewis think cutting sports and local news will save money? Lewis' only good idea was a premium newsletter for local news. As far as I know, he brought it up once and never mentioned it again.

A staggering statement from former Washington Post editor Marty Baron: "This ranks among the darkest days in the history of one of the world's greatest news organizations."

A strong and important statement from @postbaron.bsky.social. It seems like a lifetime ago when I was interviewing Baron at the @washingtonpost.com — a time when Bezos was building up the Post and standing firm against Trump's threats. www.facebook.com/martin.baron...

Current and former faculty members of Northeastern University's School of Journalism condemn the unconstitutional arrests of independent journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort. Our statement is up at the @huntnewsnu.bsky.social. huntnewsnu.com/91095/editor...

In 2016, billionaire Gerry Lenfest ended years of chaotic ownership at The Philadelphia Inquirer by donating it to a nonprofit foundation. That would be by far the best outcome for The Washington Post now that Jeff Bezos has lost interest in it. Yet I can't see that happening, unfortunately.

Maybe 30 years ago, when Michael Wolff and I were media columnist, he at the NY Observer and I at the Boston Phoenix, we would talk from time to time. I once told him I'd written my master's thesis on the Boston Massacre and the press. He sneered, "You've been doing this since graduate school?"

The more things change: In 2009, I wrote for @cwbeacon.bsky.social that the @csmonitor.bsky.social was reinventing itself for the digital age. 17 years later, @aidanryan.bsky.social writes in the @bostonglobe.com that the Monitor is, yup, reinventing itself for the digital age. New at Media Nation.

On the new "Beat the Press," we look at Don Lemon's arrest, when journalists should (and shouldn't) use the word "murder," looming cuts at the WashPost and transitions for Scot Lehigh and David Brooks. With Emily Rooney, Scott Van Voorhis and me — plus a big assist from producer Tonia Magras.

Jonathan Kaufman, who's our director at @northeasternu.bsky.social's School of Journalism, is part of the new PBS series "Black and Jewish in America: An Interwoven History." It's hosted by Henry Louis Gates, and it premieres today at 9 p.m. www.pbs.org/show/black-a...

Isn’t the judge supposed to know the law? www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...

Important cat-related news. www.wsj.com/us-news/mamd...

Zipcar was essential for me at one time. Then it went downhill. Take six pictures before you pick it up! Take six more pictures when you drop it off! Pay extra for everything! Sorry that people are losing their jobs, but not surprised. www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/...

The @wsj.com has a hot one. The whistleblower complaint against Gabbard is so highly sensitive that few people know what's even in it. www.wsj.com/politics/nat...

The National Trust for Local News, featured in our book, "What Works in Community News," when it was flying high, attempts a reboot following devastating cuts in Colorado and significant downsizing in Maine. www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/fund...

New at Media Nation. Before Minneapolis there was the Boston Massacre. In 1983, I wrote my master's thesis on how the press of Colonial Boston covered it. dankennedy.net/2026/02/02/b...

I detest threads, and Bluesky isn't very good at them. So thanks to @danod.bsky.social for introducing me to @unroll.skywriter.blue and for gathering together @jayrosen.bsky.social's excellent thread on "the key distinctions I rely on as a critic." skywriter.blue/pages/did:pl...

Xitter is back!, writes @semaforben.bsky.social. No numbers. No mention of CSAM. All right, then. www.semafor.com/article/01/3...

I was using Gemini recently to track down some quotes and give me links. It provided very specific references — in one case attributing an aphorism to the Dalai Lama. But when I clicked through, the quotes weren't there. By contrast, Claude and ChatGPT told me they didn't know.

The annual Bedford Guide is a glossy magazine published by @thebedfordcitizen.bsky.social, a digital nonprofit. This year it's up to 80 pages and is full of ads. It's mailed to every household in Bedford, raising visibility for the Citizen as well as serving as an important fundraising tool.

Yes.

In case you missed it, the Pew Research Center — one of the true gold-standard polls — has Trump at minus-24, with 37% approving and 61% disapproving. www.pewresearch.org/politics/202...

That's BI2 Technologies, 488 State Road, Plymouth, Mass. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/28/m...

Just your standard protest-coverage video. Don Lemon enters, interviews people and leaves. Gift link. wapo.st/4t7c5VJ

The irony is that Don Lemon is more of a journalist today than when he was a CNN talk-show host.

We signed on @freepress.bsky.social in solidarity and support of this strong statement by the National Association of Black Journalists in response to the outrageous arrests of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort. nabjonline.org/blog/nabjout...

New at Media Nation: A stunning violation of the First Amendment as the Trump regime arrests two journalists. dankennedy.net/2026/01/30/a...

Statement from @pressfreedom.bsky.social on the shocking arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort. cpj.org/2026/01/cpj-...

The thing about this is that I don’t know a single journalist who will be intimidated by Don Lemon being arrested? But, then, that’s not why the administration is doing this. The founders couldn’t have imagined a president violating core freedoms for the purposes of social-media accolades.