Atlantic Magazine misleads readers with fictional story presented as reality
An essay in The Atlantic describes a mother who loses a son to measles. It’s presented as a true story – except it was entirely fake.
The most self-absorbed writer in the world?
64 year old freelance writer bemoans she’s saved nothing for retirement. Spends much of her time writing about how others are bad people and she is brainy and smarter than everyone else. Hmmmm. The state of freelance writing today?
Media: How travel writing became self-centered narcissism
Travel writing has become self-centered, narcissistic, female focused – because Editors and content creators are working to satisfy “The Algorithm”. Self-centered stories, about the writer, not the destination, often presented as overcoming a victim-like challenge, are what gets the clicks.
Social media: Emotional and Touching Videos are Often Fake
Touching videos, like this, of an elderly teacher reading a thank you note from a former student, who turns out to be her surgeon who has saved her life – are typically staged productions.
Misogyny alive and well at The Daily Beast
They denigrate women by referring to them as “Barbie”.
Are you being misled by emotional social media stories?
How fake emotional stories are being used for engagement farming on social media.
Social media and stress
How the culture of perpetual outrage causes some to be in a constant state of fear and anger, leading to significant health problems. It is not a healthy way to live.
Media: Everything is awful, scary, terrifying
How the media shapes your emotions – everything is awful, scary, terrifying, getting worse blah blah blah. This screen snapshot is from Drudge Report taken on July 15, 2025.
Social: Doctor fired after online posts
A surprisingly large number of supposedly smart people post things on social media – and end up being fired.
Climate: How not to do climate communications
After the attempted assassination of Trump, leading climate enthusiasts say Trump and Republicans are Nazis. Not an effective climate message.