Study Hall Digest 6/18/2018

By Study Hall staff writer Allegra Hobbs (@allegraehobbs)

CUNY Changes its Name to “Craig”

Craig Newmark of Craigslist fame gave $20 million to the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. If you were wondering how much money you have to give an institution if you want them to literally rename themselves after you… that’s the magic number. It’s $20 million. The school will literally now be called the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York. Lots of CUNY alums have voiced concerns, but then again, there are plenty of schools named after shady billionaires.

What Becomes of the Women Who Report on Sexual Misconduct?

When it was reported that Glenn Thrush had a history of making inappropriate advances towards younger female reporters, Thrush copped to a drinking problem and got assigned to a new beat at the Times. He’s not being impersonated on SNL anymore, but he seems to be doing just fine.

Meanwhile, the woman who broke the story, Laura McGann, has come forward with the story of how she was maligned by some in the Times newsroom, which rushed to Thrush’s defense. Nasty rumors about her sex life were circulated. One Times reporter said the general sentiment was that McGann, “was either angry about not having a job at the Times, or else too slutty to be believed.” Send this to morons who continue to insist women make up accusations for attention and career advancement.

How Should We Write About Suicide?

The question of how to thoroughly, humanely and responsibly cover the suicide of a famous person has become especially urgent over the last week in the wake of the loss of both Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain. Newsweek readily demonstrated the most soulless and cynical route available by churning out a series of sloppy headlines on Bourdain’s death, each trading on fascination with his surviving family or details about his personal life for clicks. The publication’s logic seems to hinge on the premise that news outlets exist to give the people what they want—they want the salacious or intimate details, they’re searching for them, so here they are. The global editor-in-chief of Newsweek was unapologetic about this tactic.

But to blindly mine clicks for profit is to shirk the ethical concerns that should be inherent in covering such a sensitive topic. Aside from being just flat-out gross and tasteless, it could fuel the very real phenomenon of suicide contagion. Some have implored outlets to be sparing with details that could be read as instructive — at the very least, click-hungry outlets should not be targeting those who are looking for them.

Is Journalism Becoming More Dangerous?

Journalism has always come with inherent risk — when covering conflict, there is always a chance of being caught in the crossfire. But evidence suggests the public perception of the press has made it more dangerous to cover events like protests, particularly those involving fascists and far-right activists. No longer seen as a neutral party, reporters are more often targets themselves. Hmm, could it possibly have anything to do with the President’s declaration that the media is the literal enemy of the people that produces nothing but lies?

What the Fuck is Up with the The Outline?

The Outline, beloved among this very group for taking our weirdest pitches, seems to be having some kind of meltdown. After firing two staffers of the site’s Power section, founder Josh Topolsky wrote a gross statement to Fast Company calling the axed writers “underperforming” and issuing assurances that the section is still intact. He later apologized in an email to the staff, but he still needlessly maligned two of his former staffers in written statement to a national publication, and “sorry, I wasn’t thinking” is a bit weak.

Anyway, that very same Power section, the one that’s going swimmingly, soon after published a frankly bizarre wannabe-Gonzo piece written by someone who went “undercover” as a white supremacist. In conclusion, they pretty much seem like regular regular people except for the virulent racism — so weird, right!? Really elucidating.

Longread of the Week: The House (of Lies) Shane Smith Built

New York Magazine takes a deep, deep dive into the history of VICE — the foundation of which, it turns out, is literally its meathead founders making bold, unfounded declarations about the publication’s greatness/coolness/edginess, or else straight-up LYING, and rich, powerful establishment folks going “oh ok,” and shelling out boatloads of money to access “millennials”. (Imagine, say, a woman building a brand in this way. My foremost thought while reading this piece was “Holy shit, the bar is so low, men can pretty much do anything and never apologize.”)

All the while, co-founder Shane Smith planned to sell the company once the jig was up — which, plot twist, it’s still not. The mythos Smith created around VICE, that it is valuable because it has its finger on the pulse of youth and counterculture in an unprecedented and unmatched way, still persists. VICE was also built on a culture of exploitation, of course: there’s a lot in here about the company’s toxic work culture, which is hardly a secret at this point, but it seems to be improving?