A look back at the first year of The Present Age, Part 1
A "best of" look at the first year in business
I launched The Present Age on June 7, 2021. Since then, I have published 165 newsletters. If you’ve read any of them, I’d like to thank you for doing that. If this is your first, welcome aboard! That being said…
This week, I’ll be sharing “best of” articles from the first year of The Present Age. Today is June through September 2021; Wednesday will be October 2021 through January 2022; Thursday will be February through May 2022.
June 14, 2021: I wrote about the way right-wing media frames criticism as “cancellation” in an attempt to make any and all criticism (from the left, at least) seem as though it’s part of some sort of sinister attempt to shut down conversation. Often, the exact opposite is true.
June 29, 2021: I wrote about a really interesting study about what type of content performs best on the internet. Turns out, it’s hate.
July 19, 2021: Someone tweeted that the Beijing Olympics had created special “anti-sex” beds made of cardboard, and a rumor took on a life of its own. I wrote about how false information spreads and eventually becomes the truth to some people.
July 26, 2021: Remember those old Holiday Inn Express ads? A guy would be dressed up like a surgeon, wrap up doing a procedure, and then say “I’m not a surgeon, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night!” That’s what a lot of COVID-19-related punditry has felt like.
August 9, 2021: The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department put out a video claiming to show an officer overdosing on fentanyl after touching it. The story spread widely but wasn’t true. This piece was about the importance of the press to apply scrutiny to things the police say to them. In the wake of the Uvalde shooting, this seems once again relevant.
August 11, 2021: I interviewed Joe Galbo, the man behind the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s wild social media accounts. This one was a lot of fun. If you’re not following the USCPSC’s accounts, you should. I include a bunch of links in the article here.
August 30, 2021: Here, I wrote about one of the goofier traditions in hurricane reporting: the pummeling of the meteorologists. Here’s a piece that talks a little bit about the history of that sort of on-the-ground reporting, its negative effects, etc.
September 6, 2021: In a bit of media criticism, I asked why The Washington Post would interview Alex Berenson for an article about COVID-19.
September 20, 2021: Did you know that some of the opinion columnists at The New York Times have been there for more than 20 years? That’s way too long.
September 23, 2021: When Trump argued that they needed to “get rid of the ballots,” the press shrugged it off. What the press should have done was simple.
I’m hoping to reach 10,000 subscribers by June 7. If you’re not already subscribed, please do so! If you are, please consider sharing links to TPA articles on your social media channels!
That USCPSC article is solid gold.
I sometimes look at my many subscriptions and think I really need to cull them, save some money and cut out the ones that aren't as interesting. It speaks highly to the quality and uniqueness of this newsletter that it's one of the few I never even consider culling. So much good reportage, interesting perspectives, and fine writing. I hope you hit that 10,000-subscriber mark!