Technology * Innovation * Publishing Newsletter #241
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Please let me know what you think of this newsletter — I’d love to hear!
Important Items
DeSantis Signs Six-Week Abortion Ban in Florida
MT @nytimes Florida lawmakers voted to prohibit abortions after six weeks of pregnancy on Thursday, culminating a rapid effort by elected Republicans and Gov. Ron DeSantis to transform the state to one of the most restrictive in the country.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/13/us/florida-six-week-abortion-ban.html
Rape, Incest Victims Must Show Proof to Get Exception to Florida’s New Abortion Ban
RT @GavinNewsom Florida will now require rape and incest victims to show “documents” to prove they got raped. If they can’t provide them, the government will mandate they give birth to their rapist’s child.
Justice Department appeals Texas abortion pill ruling
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/10/abortion-pill-ruling-appeal/
By more than two-to-one, Americans say medication abortion should be legal in their state
Clarence Thomas’ Mom Still Lives in the House the Billionaire Bought
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/04/clarence-thomas-mom-billionaire-house.html
New (Itchy) COVID Symptom Reported as ‘Arcturus’ Fuels NY Area Spread
XBB.1.16, also dubbed Arcturus, is increasing quickly in prevalence worldwide, and it’s causing at least one symptom not typically seen in other COVID variants and subvariants — “itchy conjunctivitis with sticky eyes.”
Three Years Later, Covid-19 Is Still a Health Threat. Journalism Needs to Reflect That
There’s a hyper focus on deaths, on hospital capacity systems, which is important but public health isn’t just about whether you’ve got morgue trucks on your block. “Each Covid infection increases the risk of developing chronic health issues like diabetes — including in children — organ failure, stroke, heart conditions, kidney disease, and mental health problems. These are just the problems we know about.”
White House Launches $5B Program to Speed Coronavirus Vaccines
MT @washingtonpost The Biden administration is launching a $5 billion-plus program to accelerate development of new coronavirus vaccines and treatments, seeking to better protect against a still-mutating virus, as well as potential others.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/04/10/operation-warp-speed-successor-project-nextgen/
Had COVID? Part of the Virus May Stick Around in Your Brain
https://www.webmd.com/covid/news/20230413/part-of-coronavirus-may-stick-around-the-brain
High risk of autoimmune diseases after COVID-19
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41584-023-00964-y
Long COVID and risk of erectile dysfunction in recovered patients from mild to moderate COVID-19
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-32211-5
Patients with long COVID less likely to get needed healthcare
“Further efforts are needed to develop long COVID treatments, provide guidance to clinicians, and set standards for defining medically necessary care and other insurer practices in order to reduce delays in access to tests and treatments.”
https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2023/04/12/long-COVID-care-access/4711681318642/
Hospitals Intensify Efforts to Treat Long COVID in Kids and Teens
HT @MeetJess Doctors are struggling to meet the needs of young people suffering from a severe disease that many still question is real. “What’s the most challenging is just the sheer volume” of patients. In Ohio, between 30,000 and 70,000 children have long COVID. She sees kids whenever she can — even at night
Bans on Transition Care for Young People Spread Across U.S.
RT @nytimes Ten states in the past three months have passed laws prohibiting what is known as gender-affirming care for young people, in a rapid effort by GOP lawmakers across the U.S. Before this year, just three state legislatures had enacted full or partial bans.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/15/upshot/bans-transgender-teenagers.html
Spain might introduce a cabinet gender equality law. What would that mean?
RT @GenderAvenger Current projections estimate it will be another 155 years until we achieve #GenderParity in politics, but a recent proposal in Spain suggests we can get there sooner.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/03/spain-gender-equality-cabinet-law/
The Enduring Grip of the Gender Pay Gap
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/03/01/the-enduring-grip-of-the-gender-pay-gap/
Technology
Artificial Intelligence Index Report 2023
https://aiindex.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HAI_AI-Index-Report_2023.pdf
Amazon is Joining the Generative AI Race
Amazon announced it’s making 2 new AI language models avail through AWS, which customers will be able to use to build their own bots. — they’re trying to help corporate customers not share their data publicly, to avoid that Samsung issue. #AI
https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-is-joining-the-generative-ai-race/
You Can’t Regulate What You Don’t Understand Or, Why AI Regulations Should Begin with Mandated Disclosures
HT @jafurtado Via @timoreilly Start by formalizing and requiring detailed disclosure about the measurement and control methods already used by those developing and operating advanced AI systems. #AI
https://www.oreilly.com/content/you-cant-regulate-what-you-dont-understand-2/
Authors Guild, Creator Groups Meet Lawmakers on AI Issues
“The future of journalism, literature, and the arts depends on policies that adequately incentivize human creators to continue working,” said Mary Rasenberger, CEO of the Authors Guild. “This really is an existential issue for human arts. We were very clear in our discussions with lawmakers that we support the ongoing development of AI, including generative AI. But we also wanted to educate them on how severely human creators and artists would be impacted if Congress does not act with speed to pass legislative safeguards for human writers and artists. We detailed the potential problems and presented a few ideas for legislation. But mainly we asked for help bringing all the stakeholders to the table.” #AI
https://authorsguild.org/news/ag-and-creator-groups-meet-lawmakers-on-ai-issues/
Insider’s newsroom will start experimenting with AI
MT @sarafischer @thisisinsider newsroom is about to go all in in AI — “A tsunami is coming,” Carlson said. “We can either ride it or get wiped out by it.” #AI
https://www.axios.com/2023/04/13/insiders-newsroom-will-start-experimenting-with-ai
‘Overemployed’ Hustlers Exploit ChatGPT To Take On Even More Full-Time Jobs
“ChatGPT does like 80 percent of my job,” said one worker. Another is holding the line at four robot-performed jobs. “Five would be overkill,” he said. A marketing guy used it to reduce time to write blog posts from 3 hours to 45 minutes. A FAANG engineer works 2 jobs earning more than $500,000. #AI
35 Ways Real People Are Using A.I. Right Now
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/04/14/upshot/up-ai-uses.html
The Real-World Costs of the Digital Race for Bitcoin
RT @jg_environ The @nytimes finds that Bitcoin miners in the US get 85% of their energy from fossil fuels and emit as much CO2 as 3.5 million cars. They also raise the price of electricity for homes in the area (5% in Texas), by increasing demand.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/09/business/bitcoin-mining-electricity-pollution.html
Twitter Company ‘No Longer Exists,’ Is Now Part of Musk’s X
Twitter “no longer exists” after merging with a newly formed shell firm called X Corp, and is now incorporated in Nevada (it was previously incorporated in Delaware). #Twitter
Twitter revamps monetized subscriptions tool
A new Twitter program will let users offer their followers paid access to exclusive content, an apparent revamp of the platform’s old Super Follows subscription tool. #Twitter
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/3949153-twitter-revamps-monetized-subscriptions-tool/
Twitter partners with eToro to let users trade stocks, crypto as Musk pushes app into finance
Twitter will let users trade stocks, crypto + other assets via online brokerage eToro, as part of Musk’s strategy of diversifying revenue away from advertising & turning Twitter into a “super app” providing services such as banking and messaging. #Twitter
Elon Musk just shut down automation for important public safety accounts
Twitter’s new API rules just blocked numerous National Weather Service alert accounts and others from working. #Twitter
https://mashable.com/article/twitter-api-removal-public-safety-twitter-accounts
Spotify introduces new tech for turning radio broadcasts into podcasts
Publishing & Media
How to Find Comp Titles Using ChatGPT
Via @janefriedman.
https://www.janefriedman.com/how-to-find-comp-titles-using-chatgpt/
How Bookshop.org Survives — and Thrives — in Amazon’s World
https://www.wired.com/story/books-bookshop-org-thrives-amazon-world/
‘Amazon doesn’t care about books’: how Barnes & Noble bounced back
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/apr/15/barnes-and-noble-bookstores-james-daunt
Rakuten Kobo expands digital reading offering in the US and UK with Kobo Plus, the all-you-can-read and listen subscription
Behind the Scenes of Barack Obama’s Reading Lists
https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/a43530028/barack-obama-reading-list/
Hands-on reading
MT @NewberryLibrary From @Chicago_Reader: “Book designers have been augmenting blocks of words with fold-out extensions, rotating dials, opening doorways, & 3D elements for almost as long as there’s been a printing press.” Read more about our pop-up book exhibition.
https://chicagoreader.com/arts-culture/hands-on-reading/
The World’s First Named Author Was a Woman
HT @inkbitspixels Meet Enheduanna — a high priestess, princess and poet more than four millennia ago.
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/the-worlds-first-named-author-was-a-woman
Lemonada Media And Apple Books Launch Book Club Across Books and Podcasts
https://podnews.net/press-release/lemonada-podcasts-launch-across-media
Daily podcast industry newsletter Podnews acquires Podcast Business Journal
https://podnews.net/press-release/pbj-podnews
Saveur sold to investment group led by its longtime editor
https://www.axios.com/2023/04/10/saveur-recurrent-sold-investment-group
Sun Group dropped as lead investor in Forbes bid
The consortium of investors looking to acquire Forbes has removed Sun Group as lead investor in the bid over concerns with the Indian investor group’s ties to Russia, sources told Axios. Sun Group’s deep connections with Russia have raised concerns about the deal’s ability to clear U.S. regulatory review. Forbes hoped to close the $800 million agreement by the end of March.
https://www.axios.com/2023/04/11/scoop-sun-group-dropped-as-lead-investor-in-forbes-bid
BrandEd Acquires Condé Nast College of Fashion and Design
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/branded-acquires-conde-nast-college-100000910.html
Art Institutions Invest in Publishing
As museums and galleries seek to reach new audiences and remain relevant, their publishing operations have moved to the fore.
The Smithsonian Puts 4.5 Million High-Res Images Online and Into the Public Domain, Making Them Free to Use
HT @rupertbu
https://www.openculture.com/2023/04/the-smithsonian-puts-4-5-million-high-res-images-online.html
How America’s largest newspaper company is leaving behind news deserts
https://www.npr.org/2023/04/10/1169014791/news-us-newspaper-latest-gannet-media
How pandemic publishing struck a blow to the visibility of women’s expertise
HT @publishingtrend The biases in scientific publishing during the pandemic damaged women’s visibility, recognition, and career advancement
https://www.bmj.com/content/381/bmj.p788
Author Maggie Tokuda-Hall Calls Out Edits Proposed by Scholastic
RT @PENamerica Concerns about censorship at Scholastic’s Rising Voices Library arose on Wednesday after Maggie Tokuda-Hall was asked to revise an author’s note — cutting the words “virulent racism” — in her book about Japanese American incarceration during World War II.
Shonda Rhimes, Julia Roberts, Among Other Stars, Speak Out Against Book Banning in #LetAmericaRead Campaign
Monitoring State Legislation That Criminalizes Libraries, Schools, and Museums 2023
https://www.everylibrary.org/state_obscenity_laws_23-24
Texas County Keeps Public Libraries Open Amid Book Ban Controversy
Officials in Llano County considered closing the entire library system in lieu of returning challenged titles to its shelves.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/13/books/book-bans-libraries-texas-llano.html
Champions of Higher Education
MT @jeremycyoung @PENamerica announces a new initiative: the Champions of Higher Education. 118 former college and university presidents and system heads pledge to defend higher education against efforts to censor its classrooms and politicize its governance.
Resources & Opportunities
Cushion Your Career! How to Prepare Your Pivot Outside of Traditional Media From Women Who Did It
Wednesday, April 26, 12:00–1:00 p.m. ET. Free for WMG members, $15 for non-members. Listen to this awesome panel of experts: Carolyn Abate (Health and Wellness Editor), Kara Corridan (Director of Communications at Prudential Financial), Cristina Goyanes (Cofounder of Revel), and Jessica Torres-Cooper (Content Strategy Executive) in conversation w Chandra Turner (Founder of The Talent Fairy and Ed2010).
https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-5213728
NYPL’s World Literature Festival
The New York Public Library’s World Literature Festival (April 17–30, 2023) shines a spotlight on books and writers from around the globe and reflects some of the many languages spoken in our city’s diverse communities.
https://www.nypl.org/spotlight/world-literature-festival
WNDB Looking for Summer 2023 Auction Items
RT @diversebooks Authors & publishing professionals! We’re prepping for our summer auction and we’re looking for donations — manuscript & query critiques, AMA/phone consultations, and more. For this auction, we are focusing on adult fiction and non-fiction genres. Thank you!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeZ7nZOG8wQ1MKBxCrknfcSjvu1v5gDMViLPtwx8dFDYeG8dg/viewform
2023 Triangle Awards
RT @pubtri Come join us at the 2023 Triangle Awards on Thursday, April 27 @ 7pm ET at @TheNewSchool Auditorium!
https://publishingtriangle.org/2023/04/finalists-2023-triangle-awards/
Quill Podcast Awards 2023
RT @zaidiafatima The Annual @inc_quill #Podcast #Awards nominations are open. We launched these awards as a way to profile independent creators who often get overlooked by major awards, and networks. Get your submissions in! @CoHost_
https://www.quillpodcasting.com/qpa/quill-podcast-awards
Faultlines: Democracy — a Free Conference on Building a Democratic Press
Free Virtual Panel on The Debut Author and Modern Marketing
Via @nybookforum From traditional review outlets to BookTok and Bookstagram, this virtual panel takes on the complex world of modern book marketing.
https://www.youtube.com/@nybookforum
Afro Writing Resources
RT @wordisdiversity Are you a Black writer looking to submit to literary magazines created specifically for Black writers of the diaspora? Check out this list of resources by @afroliterary
https://www.afroliterarymagazine.com/afro-writing-resources
Women Photograph 2023 project grants for women & nonbinary photographers
https://www.womenphotograph.com/grants-2023
2023 ColorComm Mentoring Program | Cohort VII
MT @ColorCommntwk We just added a new mentor to cohort 7 of the ColorComm Mentorship Program! Members, learn from these senior level professionals, receive career guidance, coaching and more. Apply by April 17. #ColorComm #ColorCommMentorship #Mentorship
Solutions Journalism Student Media Challenge
The Student Media Challenge provides U.S. newsrooms training, funding, and support to bring solutions journalism to their coverage. This year’s theme is youth mental health.
https://www.tfaforms.com/5052196
Apply for Progressive Women’s Voices 2023
MT @womensmediacntr DEADLINE EXTENDED: Apply for WMC’s Progressive Women’s Voices 2023 cohort by midnight PST Wednesday May 3. We’re seeking women who have something to say and are eager to dive into the media conversations on the important issues of the day. More info here:
https://womensmediacenter.com/about/training/apply-for-progressive-womens-voices-2023
Cook (Almost) Anything Bundle
MT @penguinrandom Learn how #CookAlmostAnything while supporting charity! This limited-time @humble bundle supports @nokidhungry and features over $400 worth of digital cookbooks full of diverse, easy-to-learn recipes for every meal of the week (even cocktail hour😉). #teamPRH
https://www.humblebundle.com/books/cook-almost-anything-books
PEN America Free Event “Free Speech & Hate: History’s Lessons” April 27 at Tulsa Press Club, Tulsa, OK
2023 Summer on the Hudson Calendar
RT @RiversideParkNY Our 2023 Summer on the Hudson calendar is here! We’re thrilled to present 275+ free public events in partnership w/ @NYCParks. ☀️ Join us from 59th-181st Sts for festivals, educational workshops, live music, movies, health & wellness, family fun, + more.
https://riversideparknyc.org/events/
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