The lab-leak mess

Last week, Jonathan Chait, of New York magazine, took the “liberal media” to task for having rushed to repudiate “the lab-leak theory”—the idea that COVID-19 may have its origins in a research institute in Wuhan, China. The theory, Chait wrote, has recently “gained more and more credibility,” in sharp contrast to last year, when many mainstream journalists dismissed it “out of hand as a conspiracy theory”; in part, “they were deceived by some especially voluble public-health experts. In part, they simply took Donald Trump’s bait, answering the former president’s dissembling with false certainty of their own.” Trump and various right-wing boosters blurred together the possibility that COVID may accidentally have escaped from the lab and the unhinged idea that China released it intentionally as a bioweapon; in story after story, the press, Chait argued, tarred both notions with the same brush of condemnation, asserting as fact that COVID was natural in origin, and that suggestions to the contrary were unscientific, “debunked,” even racist. But COVID’s true origins are unknown, and news outlets, Chait wrote, ought to have “erred on the side of uncertainty” over dogma. “The lab-leak hypothesis may well turn out to be wrong,” he argued—but that won’t make all the hasty rebuttals right. Since Chait wrote, we’ve seen a gusher of opinion essays in the same vein, indicting the mainstream press and prominent experts for characterizing a plausible hypothesis as a conspiracy theory... Continue reading at 'Columbia Journalism Review'

[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2021-06-02 12:40:56 UTC ]
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Debut Novelist Pops Up at Chicago Dinner Lab Feast

As author J. Ryan Stradal tours the country promoting his debut novel, he's being wined and dined by booksellers, and was the guest-of-honor at a Dinner Lab pop-up dinner in Chicago that featured a menu inspired by his book. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google launches News Lab to help journalists, boost its own publishing cred

Google has launched News Lab, a one-stop website that shows journalists how its tools can help them research, report and promote their stories. The intent is to "collaborate with journalists and entrepreneurs to help build the future of media." Google is joining a crowded field of websites... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2015-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #crowded field #including facebook


A View of What “Our Possible Media Futures” Might Look Like, Out of The New York Times’ R&D Lab

Last night’s news about news orgs publishing directly to Facebook wasn’t a surprise, exactly — we’ve known this was in the works for months — but it’s been a good excuse to think about the p ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Take Note, Facebook: How Colleges Are Training Designers To Treat Users Like More Than Lab Rats

Students at MIT, Stanford, and elsewhere are learning to build technology products with user well-being in mind.Facebook sparked outrage this summer when it published results of a study conducted on unwitting users. The study looked at whether people who were shown more positive or negative... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2014-11-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #study conducted #vice versa #end user


9 Lessons Publishers Should Take from Google's Leaked "Search Quality Rating Guidelines"

By D. Eadward Tree Google, the epitome of the internet ventures that have so disrupted the magazine industry, turns out to have a crush on traditional publishers, a recently leaked report reveals. But... Continue reading at Publishing Executive

[ Publishing Executive | 2014-10-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #traditional publishers #eadward tree #magazine industry


At Brand Innovation Labs, Fighting Competition of the 'Unknown'

A smart suitcase? A digitized bottle of booze? A comic book for big-box executives?Recently, several brands have carved out off-site locations devoted to innovation to stave off competition. Marketers there serve, in part, as R&D directors.Kyle Nel, the executive director of Lowe's... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2014-09-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Murdoch Follows Strategy That Won Dow Jones: Pounce, Leak, Wait

Pounce. Leak. Wait.It's the strategy Rupert Murdoch has employed in his effort to acquire Time Warner, and similar to one that proved successful in the billionaire's last big, surprising media takeover.In 2007, when News Corp. was pursuing Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones -- which it... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2014-07-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook messed with users' emotions--for science!

Facebook has gotten plenty of flack for its privacy practices, but here’s a new way to distrust the social media service: It may be playing with your emotions. As reported by The A.V. Club, in January 2012, Facebook adjusted its newsfeed algorithm for several hundred thousand users to see how... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2014-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mimi Pond’s 'Over Easy': The 1970s Were a Mess!

Mimi Pond’s new book, "Over Easy," just published by Drawn & Quarterly, is her most personal work to-date. It is a mostly-true account of her time working in a café in Hollywood in the 1970s. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Another HTC flagship leak reveals microSD slot, brushed metal finish (video)

Storage expansion went out of fashion over the last two years. Fortunate, then, for those of us wanting to take our music / audio book / photo collection everywhere, that HTC's upgraded One will see a return to microSD storage on its flagship series.... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2014-03-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Action Lab: A Small Publisher Looking To Expand

With a mix of all-ages and adult material, print and digital, Action Lab Entertainment is trying to establish itself while maintaining a balance with a staff located around the country. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gawker: Tarantino should blame himself for Hateful Eight script leak

The website which is the subject of a lawsuit by the director after it linked to a version of his script has hit back by claiming Tarantino was responsible for the media interestGawker has blamed Quentin Tarantino for generating the media frenzy that led the website to link to a leaked... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Quentin Tarantino sues Gawker over Hateful Eight film script leak

Reports are emerging that the director is taking legal action against the site which linked to his leaked screenplayQuentin Tarantino has filed a copyright lawsuit against Gawker Media for disseminating copies of his latest script, according the The Hollywood Reporter. A copy of his new script,... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-01-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lawyer behind J K Rowling 'Galbraith' leak fined

The solicitor responsible for leaking the fact that J K Rowling was the writer behind the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kobo's newest e-reader leaks, photos show Aura-inspired design

Leaked photos of the next e-reader to join the Kobo family have appeared online today, and from the looks of it, the company isn't out to reinvent the wheel. We rummaged around in the FCC filings to confirm that it'll come with a 6-inch screen and a 1,500mAh battery, which bests the 1,000mAh one... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2013-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Law firm admits leaking Galbraith identity

London law firm Russells Solicitors has apologised "unreservedly" for leaking J K... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-07-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Girls' creator Lena Dunham's book proposal leaks online

Lena Dunham's 66-page book proposal earned her $3.5 million in her deal with Random House. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New iPad Is Messing Up Magazines

Despite its many bells and whistles, Apple’s new iPad 3 has been the subject of complaints since the device’s March 16th release date. Most recently, Mashable noted that magazines have a poor appearance on the iPad 3’s high-resolution screen. The reason is relatively simple. The magazines are... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2012-03-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hearst titles #load faster #screen sizes