Notable links
Notable links: February 20, 2026
Why aren't newsrooms sharing and innovating? And more.
Latest
Media
Stop calling optimization "innovation."
"The problem is, if you’re optimizing a product that fundamentally isn’t working for how people get news in 2026, all you’re really doing is riding that buggy off of a cliff with style."
Technology
The political effects of X’s feed algorithm
"Feed algorithms are widely suspected to influence political attitudes." This study shows that some do - to significant effect.
Media
In Graphic Detail: Subscriptions are rising at big news publishers – even as traffic shrinks
In a world where traffic is decreasing, publishers are moving more heavily into subscriptions - with very good results.
Democracy
An increasingly dangerous world
My underlying model for everything that's happening
Future of News
Building trust in the open
How Protocols for Publishers points to the future of journalism – and the web
Fediverse
Growing the open social web
A position statement for FediForum's unworkshop
Democracy
Palantir vs. the "Republik": US analytics firm takes magazine to court
Switzerland rejected Palantir on security grounds after independent journalism shed light on fundamental issues. Now the company is suing to tell its side of the story.
Media
Most Americans don’t pay for news and don’t think they need to
Only 8% of respondents believe individual Americans have a responsibility to pay for news. "I don't think that information should be a privilege," one respondent said.
Technology
Everyone is stealing TV
"Fed up with increasing subscription prices, viewers embrace rogue streaming boxes." The question is: what's on them?
Democracy
A note about personal security
I made a mistake last month that hopefully others can learn from. There are rumors that ICE is turning its attention to the Philadelphia area, where I live. I’m a natural-born American citizen, but based on accounts from Minneapolis, I’m not excited to run into them, and I’
Media
Journalism lost its culture of sharing
"The data are clear: The open-source culture that defined an earlier era of online journalism has collapsed."