BEFORE THE DEATHS of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Philando Castile and Sandra Bland were propelled into the media spotlight, their names were Twitter #hashtags. In 2020, Twitter was essential to the spread of historic Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality across the world. But Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has thrown the future of […]
Posted inPolitics
Trump tweet stalls Wampanoag bill
A TWEET BY PRESIDENT TRUMP uprooted the strategy of legislators who aim to save Mashpee Wampanoag plans for a $1 billion casino in Taunton. “Republicans shouldn’t vote for H.R. 312, a special interest casino Bill, backed by Elizabeth (Pocahontas) Warren. It is unfair and doesn’t treat Native Americans equally!” said Trump in a tweet. Democrats responded […]
Posted inUncategorized
Pipeline debate gets testy on Twitter
Tim Murray, a Worcester business leader and the former lieutenant governor, got into a testy natural gas policy debate on Twitter over the last few days with a number of pipeline opponents. It started on Tuesday when Murray, president of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, retweeted a story from the Daily Hampshire Gazette raising concerns about New England’s shortage of gas in late December and early January, which forced the region to generate […]
Posted inThe Download
Getting Trump’s attention
Someone needs to take away President Trump’s cellphone or shut down his Twitter account. Stat. Trump raised the specter of recording his January dinner conversation with now-fired FBI director James Comey in a threat that wasn’t even thinly veiled. It was downright translucent. “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations […]
Posted inThe Download
Social media’s gutless wonders
In all the years I’ve been a reporter, no one has ever sent me an anonymous message wishing I was raped again. I’ve never been the subject of tweets calling me the c-word, relating to the female anatomy. No one has ever written to me that they hoped my significant other beat me. But, then, […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Uncategorized
Hacking AP: Separating the tweets from the chaff
In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings last week, more than half of young people in Boston aged 18-29 used social media as their news conduit of choice. Daily developments sometimes produced a cascade of tweets that spread misinformation until officialdom set matters straight and counseled everyone to get a grip. Bad tweets continue […]