There's been a lot of change this year, so I thought it prudent to refashion this newsletter. It'll arrive every Monday with five recommendations for articles and other matter to read or otherwise consume. I'll emphasize journalism and media, along with suggestions from across the universe of reading, watching, and listening.
At the bottom, you'll find links to the latest episodes of The Media Narrative podcast. Thanks for reading, and if you like it, please forward to a friend. – Rob
Five Worth Your Time
Ninety-Nine Days to Do Better
Jon Allsop | Columbia Journalism Review | 7/27/20
A plea to journalists as we approach November. “Those responsible for election coverage should take a moment to ask themselves how they’d like history to assess their work…if we continue to repeat the mistakes of 2016 this year, we shouldn’t expect a kinder verdict,” writes Allsop, who urges that we remember how Norman Robinson dealt with David Duke.
The Poison of Male Incivility
Rebecca Traister | The Cut | 7/26/20
By now, most of you have seen Alexandria Ocasia-Cortez's moving response to verbal abuse and an anti-apology from a Florida congressman, but if you believe a slanted New York Times report, you might think she plotted the whole thing to boost her brand. Traister eloquently straightens it out for us.
Nikole Hannah Jones on Twitter
7/26/20
The brilliant journalist and author questions Rep. Tom Cotton's proposed legislation blocking public funding for schools' use of the New York Times “1619 Project,” a deeply researched narrative history of slavery.
Digital News Startups: Hope or Disappointment?
Mark Jacob | Poynter.org | 7/27/20
As newspapers and other outlets close, digital startups arrive to narrow the gap between community readers and local news. But many of those online news operations struggle, too.
Orquesta Akokán: “Mambo Rapidito”
Feat. Pepito Gomez | Daptone Records | Rec. 2016
Everything released by the soul-forward label with the old-school sound is worth a listen. In this case, you get a killer collective of Cuban musicians grooving so hard that it'll make everyone a Latin dance practitioner. The album-opening “Mambo Rapidito” is unstoppable.
