Philosophy of Journalism:
Do you know about Ken Klippenstein’s philosophy of bringing the receipts?
- I see the publication of the entire JD Vance dossier as a high profile application of this philosophy.
Here’s a short 1.5-minute video that outlines the concept, and the next step in its implementation.
Next Step: Bringing the Receipts for Quotations?
- Ken’s Twitter ban and retraction could serve as an opportunity to take the next logical step of expanding the “bringing the receipts” philosophy by providing the context of inline quotations
- To enhance reader trust, I’ve created CiteIt, an app that pulls 500 characters of surrounding context from original sources—whether from websites, PDFs, or YouTube transcripts. This lets readers verify sources without interrupting their reading, boosting trust and engagement. By using CiteIt, writers can also hold themselves to a higher standard of transparency and preempt criticism.
Feedback Request:
Take a look at these three mockups and let me know what you think. If you’re interested, I can even do a demo of the current WordPress implementation.
My goal is to get feedback from readers and writers before I pitch it to Substack, with the goal of making the feature available to all Substack writers.
Example Quotes:
Lord Ismay on why NATO was created.
Lord Hastings Lionel Ismay was NATO’s first Secretary General. He once said that NATO was created to keep the Soviet Union out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.
Admiral Kirby: Let’s keep these documents secret from US public
Admiral Kirby said: There’s no excuse for these kinds of documents to be in the public domain, they don’t deserve to be in the public domain
Oscsar winner “Refutes his Jewishness”!
Isn’t it outrageous that this year at the 2024 Oscars, an Oscar winner Jonathan Glazer went on stage and said: Right now we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness
. What a disgraceful thing to say!
No, the director of Zone of Interest did not disavow his Jewish identity at the Oscars (Vox)
When Context is Stripped Away
I think that Judaism has the same problem that any thick civilization has in a world in which, as you say, context is stripped away. And not only is context stripped away, but attention to any one thing is scanter and less than it used to be.
New York Times: “institutional lack of skepticism”
Judith Miller says the New York Times found that the paper had lacked skepticism
, but they did not interview any of the editors or name specific reporters as responsible.
Miller disagrees that there was insufficient skepticism, but that we were accurately conveying wrong information
.
Jane Austen Quote: Pride and Prejudice: Elizabeth
Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” draws its title, in part from a line where the books’s main character, Elizabeth says: I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.
Jack Nicholson: You Can’t Handle the Truth
With CiteIt, writers can evoke the Jack Nicholson line:
You can’t handle the truth
! — by pulling in the context from a YouTube video.
‘Not The Free Speech That I Know Of’
Delegate Stacy Plaskett said: this is not the kind of free speech that I know of
Donald Trump Warns of a “Bloodbath!”
A lot of the media carried a quote in which Donald Trump says: if I don’t get elected it’s going to be a blood bath
.
Very conducive to armor operations
In Racket News, Matt Taibbi described a “Gentlemen’s Agreement” in which “TV News Won’t Identify Defense Lobbyists” who are identified by their former government titles.
In the Ukraine War, former General Jack Keane went on Fox News, “applauding $800 million” in spending, “saying areas like the Donbass are very conducive to armor operations
, which surely has nothing to do with the fact that he served for years as chair of armored vehicle maker AM General.”
Anthony Kennedy in “Citizens United”
Anthony Kennedy in “Citizens United” arguing that corporations should be allowed to spend unlimited money in elections because they have valuable information to contribute to the debate:
Corporations have lots of knowledge about environment, transportation issues, and you are silencing them during the election.
McConnell and Feinstein represent our dying democracy
This week when the world really got to see how robust our democracy is our 81 year old Senate minority leader one of the most powerful people in the entire country freezes for 20 seconds on camera
Dr. Anthony Fauci: Trump and I were both New Yorkers
Trump and I were both born and raised in New York City you know he has that New York Swagger about him that I can relate to I feel comfortable with that kind of bravado that he has
World’s Strongest Man Attacks Front Doors
Over 60 of the break-ins come through the front door so I guess that this is why labors steel door started out is because they got fed up and getting break-ins with a local area they wanted something that was reliable affordable and robust and that lasted time I see
John Stewart’s “Daily Show” had to ask Corporate Sponsors for permission to make fun of them
I was surprised that Jon Stewart’s “Daily Show” had a staff person call show sponsors to ask permission to make fun of them:
There was a certain person who was in charge of if the show wanted to make fun of a corporate sponsor or someone under the umbrella of one of the corporate sponsors, this person who worked for the Daily Show would call that company and try to convince them it’s cool to be made fun of. It’s okay to be made fun of on the Daily Show. The clear implication was if that company says no, it’s not getting on there. So imagine the level of corporations that are somehow tied to Viacom, Comcast, all of those, every entity. If they don’t want to be made fun of on the Daily Show, then they’re not going to be. Well, then the Daily Show can’t critique half of what owns this country.
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