Fact-check farewell. In what CNN calls “a stunning reversal in how Facebook parent Meta handles false and misleading claims on its platforms,” the company’s lifting restrictions on discussion of some topics and replacing its third-party fact-checking program …
■ … with user-generated “community notes,” à la Twitter X.
■ Axios sees “another step toward embracing MAGA for Meta.”
■ Investigative journalist Jane Lytvynenko: The move foreshadows a loss of Meta funding for fact-checking outlets around the world.
■ Founder Mark Zuckerberg posted a video explaining the change.
■ Media watcher Brian Stelter: The announcements “seemed addressed directly to the president-elect, especially since Meta gave the exclusive to Fox & Friends.”
■ In Zuckerberg’s second key right-wing appointment in a week, he’s put the Ultimate Fighting Championship boss who played a key role in Donald Trump’s reelection on Meta’s board.
■ Columnist Neil Steinberg mocks the seemingly AI-generated gibberish tainting Facebook users’ feeds.
■ 404 Media: Meta-owned Instagram has begun randomly showing users AI-generated images of themselves.
In case there was any question … The Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post’s decision not to publish Pulitzer-winning cartoonist Ann Telnaes’ cartoon mocking Bezos and other plutocrats’ subservience to Trump has, if anything, made the cartoon far more famous than it would’ve been otherwise. Witness other cartoonists’ homage to her work, which she’s been spotlighting in her newsletter:
■ Post alumnus Gene Weingarten: “What a naive doofus I was. I had no idea of the ugly vistas that lay ahead.” (Cartoons, left to right: Emma Cook, Barry Blitt, Dave Whamond, Steve Brodner.)
■ Columnist Parker Molloy: Telnaes “exposed everything wrong with billionaire-owned media.”
■ Ex-Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times editor Norm Pearlstein: “The billionaire class has proved itself a poor steward of media.”
■ In a new post marking the 10-year anniversary of an attack on the Paris offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo—an assault that left 12 dead, including five cartoonists—Telnaes mourns a rising tide of accusations against cartoonists.
■ A Hebdo editorial in a commemorative issue: “Satire has … got us through these tragic years. … Laughter, irony and caricature are all manifestations of optimism.”
Exit to the left. To the dismay of longtime followers, the Chicago Transit Authority’s suspending its main accounts on X, encouraging users instead to check an app, Threads or Bluesky, or third-party maps for schedule and delay updates.
■ Axios: How to report problems and get help on the CTA. (Hint: Don’t count on the agency’s chatbot in an emergency.)
10 companies that kept their promises. Popular Information spotlights corporations that have stuck to their 2021 pledges not to support politicians who voted to undermine democracy.
■ Add McDonald’s to the roster of companies slinking away from commitments to diversifying employee ranks …
■ … another win for an activist responsible for similar retreats by Walmart and John Deere.
■ Stephen Colbert on audience boos as he discussed the news: “Yes, I used to feel things, too.”
Chicago media’s 2025. Axios’ Justin Kaufmann sees a bumpy road ahead.
■ New to the Tribune editorial board: Hilary Gowins, a 39-year-old alumnus of the right-leaning Illinois Policy Institute.
■ Trib commentary from education activist Juan Rangel encourages Democrats to embrace (private) school choice.
■ Education columnist Jan Resseger: “Big money pushes voucher expansion but the public is poorly informed about the danger.”
Bird flu on the wing. The United States has recorded the virus’ first human casualty here.
■ The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers guidance for avoiding it.
Speaking of birds … Sesame Street’s future is in doubt as HBO/Max pulls the plug.
■ From 1997: 17 minutes with one of the show’s creators and its first head writer.
■ Fans and former employees of Chicago’s shuttered Blue Man Group show yesterday held a silent protest outside its home for decades.
Now if only it could buckle pants. Debuting at the big consumer electronics show in Las Vegas: A robo-vacuum that can pick dirty laundry off the floor.
■ Flashback to Chicago’s 1980 version of the CES: “Consider the possibilities of turning off the sound—including the laugh-tracks—and just reading a good TV show.”
Thanks. Mike Braden made this edition better.
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