A large network of prominent regional newspapers has posted thousands of low-quality articles promoting gambling and prediction markets — and is pretending it's journalism.
They have essentially turned gambling into the newest (so far, unfettered) growth industry. Gambling. I believe that this will be a problem for sports and politics when the corruption that gambling always produces will make trust in everything suspect.
Great reporting Judd on a subject that is seldom addressed in the national news media. This topic is on track to reach high school’s where betting on outcomes will be the norm. Right now….
46 states allow high school athletes to sell their images.
Betting on games will follow.
Grade school on the horizon?
If this is capitalism it’s not regulated by caring adults.
This is great reporting on an important story. Judd Legum & Pop Info keep demonstrating journalism that makes the NYT & other big boys look lacking and unserious.
There is so much going on here it is difficult to begin. The death of journalism by a thousand cuts comes first. The cuts, of course, are all those "citizen journalists" that the internet created where opinion became news or fact. The next is gambling addiction as normal. Dad, where's your paycheck? The third is that we are all at fault, in a way, and except for the stalwarts, like Judd, and presumably his readers, the country is too passive and stupid to understand what is being done to them. What a terrible conclusion and I am sure that there are mothers and teachers screaming bloody murder over these articles - but screaming where? Into the Facebook void - where their experience watching families lose everything goes to be debated, and die.
But stop for a minute and think about how much garbage influences our lives every day. We read, listen and watch our siloed news sources and hope we don't miss the important stuff and that our trusted journalists are reporting the truth. But let's face it, except for mainstream journalists and some outliers like Judd, much of what we read, hear or watch is opinion based on other sources. I will never give up my local Berkshire paper which fights hard for its integrity. I will never ever give up on the New York Times until a billionaire buys it. I still rely on and trust the Boston Globe although it is not quite as hard hitting as it once was.
As for television, I watch some version of news shows on NBC that swings from war stories without meat to stories of bears and monkeys being alternately frightening or desperately cute. And I listen to an NPR station here in Massachusetts that I trust.
Otherwise, I know that when I watch IHIP, or any of the other left wing, democracy-first, anti-Twump YouTube content providers, I take what they say with a grain of salt. They make me laugh and they keep my blood at a level of boil that doesn't kill me, but too often their talk is filled with conjecture or missed guesses on facts.
I think we see the widespread societal results for Americans when their nightly TV news and their "printed" news, such as it exists, are spooning pablum as news. This is not new but it is dangerous because just like promoting smoking, drinking and porn, the gambling stuff is addictive and destructive beyond help.
NYT is a billion dollar company that is clearly compromised. Everything you read there is suspect. Ground News is an excellent news aggregator who pulls from international sources. They rate coverage according to left, right and centered reporting. You are further advised what kind of ownership each publication has, such as "media conglomerate." It is well worth an annual subscription. The only problem I have had is that their summaries of the news stories they aggregate sometimes lack details crucial to the story.
For media literacy and discernment, it's a valuable resource if you enjoy reading "the news." I rarely trust a single source of information unless it has been thoroughly vetted and I have observed high journalistic integrity over a sustained period of time, just as I have with Pop Info and ProPublica.
Be careful of where you sustain your attention. It is one of the most valuable resources we possess both individually and collectively or the powers that be would not be exhausting themselves to capture it and measure it and encourage it constantly.
Read up on egregores if you don't know what they are. We literally feed our energy to collective operators, kind of in a spiritual sense. They're like psychic vampires and they mean to drain and exhaust us with a continuous drip of information and disinformation combined so that you don't even know that first you're being influenced and second that you can never quite be sure what's true. Guard yourselves.
1- They finally found a way to make sports betting “legal” by reframing it.
2- This reminds me of TLC - “The Learning Channel” was actually a great channel with educational serious shows and documentaries. Then came Honey Boo-Boo.. and it continually devolved into faux reality TV slop. Once-respectable media is following the same path.
I hate sports betting, government lotteries (organized crime offered better payouts), gambling in general, day trading stocks, slots, image and likeness money ... all signs of a society with too little on offer.
It's sad that local journalism used to be so important and even reliable, and theoretically still could be. But I'm sure they are all desperate for money, making them ripe for the picking by gambling interests looking to wash their reputations.
I feel like we need to start over with these media monopolies. Shut them all down, and start over. This reporting is incredible and so important. As the economy slides into peril, we will see people go for desperate money schemes. I am fearful for the near future. This administration needs to be removed. The entire admin, before we can continue to repair and dig out of this deep hole. Thankfully we have Substack for now.
They've sold their credibility. Now, they're rankings will gradually disintegrate. I guess they bargained that they would pull a profit from the death of search engines.
If I produce this slop, could I be considered a journalist? My mom would be so proud. </sarcasm>
They have essentially turned gambling into the newest (so far, unfettered) growth industry. Gambling. I believe that this will be a problem for sports and politics when the corruption that gambling always produces will make trust in everything suspect.
Time will tell.
Great reporting Judd on a subject that is seldom addressed in the national news media. This topic is on track to reach high school’s where betting on outcomes will be the norm. Right now….
46 states allow high school athletes to sell their images.
Betting on games will follow.
Grade school on the horizon?
If this is capitalism it’s not regulated by caring adults.
Teaching greed is not an option!
This is great reporting on an important story. Judd Legum & Pop Info keep demonstrating journalism that makes the NYT & other big boys look lacking and unserious.
Thank you, Judd. As if we did not already enable addicts of every stripe!
There is so much going on here it is difficult to begin. The death of journalism by a thousand cuts comes first. The cuts, of course, are all those "citizen journalists" that the internet created where opinion became news or fact. The next is gambling addiction as normal. Dad, where's your paycheck? The third is that we are all at fault, in a way, and except for the stalwarts, like Judd, and presumably his readers, the country is too passive and stupid to understand what is being done to them. What a terrible conclusion and I am sure that there are mothers and teachers screaming bloody murder over these articles - but screaming where? Into the Facebook void - where their experience watching families lose everything goes to be debated, and die.
But stop for a minute and think about how much garbage influences our lives every day. We read, listen and watch our siloed news sources and hope we don't miss the important stuff and that our trusted journalists are reporting the truth. But let's face it, except for mainstream journalists and some outliers like Judd, much of what we read, hear or watch is opinion based on other sources. I will never give up my local Berkshire paper which fights hard for its integrity. I will never ever give up on the New York Times until a billionaire buys it. I still rely on and trust the Boston Globe although it is not quite as hard hitting as it once was.
As for television, I watch some version of news shows on NBC that swings from war stories without meat to stories of bears and monkeys being alternately frightening or desperately cute. And I listen to an NPR station here in Massachusetts that I trust.
Otherwise, I know that when I watch IHIP, or any of the other left wing, democracy-first, anti-Twump YouTube content providers, I take what they say with a grain of salt. They make me laugh and they keep my blood at a level of boil that doesn't kill me, but too often their talk is filled with conjecture or missed guesses on facts.
I think we see the widespread societal results for Americans when their nightly TV news and their "printed" news, such as it exists, are spooning pablum as news. This is not new but it is dangerous because just like promoting smoking, drinking and porn, the gambling stuff is addictive and destructive beyond help.
NYT is a billion dollar company that is clearly compromised. Everything you read there is suspect. Ground News is an excellent news aggregator who pulls from international sources. They rate coverage according to left, right and centered reporting. You are further advised what kind of ownership each publication has, such as "media conglomerate." It is well worth an annual subscription. The only problem I have had is that their summaries of the news stories they aggregate sometimes lack details crucial to the story.
For media literacy and discernment, it's a valuable resource if you enjoy reading "the news." I rarely trust a single source of information unless it has been thoroughly vetted and I have observed high journalistic integrity over a sustained period of time, just as I have with Pop Info and ProPublica.
Be careful of where you sustain your attention. It is one of the most valuable resources we possess both individually and collectively or the powers that be would not be exhausting themselves to capture it and measure it and encourage it constantly.
Read up on egregores if you don't know what they are. We literally feed our energy to collective operators, kind of in a spiritual sense. They're like psychic vampires and they mean to drain and exhaust us with a continuous drip of information and disinformation combined so that you don't even know that first you're being influenced and second that you can never quite be sure what's true. Guard yourselves.
Two thoughts:
1- They finally found a way to make sports betting “legal” by reframing it.
2- This reminds me of TLC - “The Learning Channel” was actually a great channel with educational serious shows and documentaries. Then came Honey Boo-Boo.. and it continually devolved into faux reality TV slop. Once-respectable media is following the same path.
I hate sports betting, government lotteries (organized crime offered better payouts), gambling in general, day trading stocks, slots, image and likeness money ... all signs of a society with too little on offer.
Really sad that respected journalists would stoop to this new low. Thank you for pointing it out.
It's sad that local journalism used to be so important and even reliable, and theoretically still could be. But I'm sure they are all desperate for money, making them ripe for the picking by gambling interests looking to wash their reputations.
Love you guys, Judd. Thanks for all you do.
...late Capitalism in the gutter.
I feel like we need to start over with these media monopolies. Shut them all down, and start over. This reporting is incredible and so important. As the economy slides into peril, we will see people go for desperate money schemes. I am fearful for the near future. This administration needs to be removed. The entire admin, before we can continue to repair and dig out of this deep hole. Thankfully we have Substack for now.
You really are the best.... thank you
They've sold their credibility. Now, they're rankings will gradually disintegrate. I guess they bargained that they would pull a profit from the death of search engines.
I forwarded this to The Oregonian as a "Concerned Resident" of a Portland, OR-adjacent semi-rural bedroom community.